Berkshire County is hosting a variety of events this weekend including First Friday festivities, comedy, live music, and more.
Editor's Pick
First Friday
Downtown North Adams
Time: 5 to 9 p.m.
Downtown businesses will extend their hours and host art receptions, and other special events, focused on the theme "I love North Adams." Events include live music and mocktails, an opening for the "Glow Show," a First Friday After Party, and more.
Meet Clock Tower Artist Mark Mellinger during an opening reception. Mellinger has an eclectic background that informs his work, including woodworking, biology research, electron microscopy and psychology.
He is drawn to the physicality of the materials such as the "lusciousness of paint, the earthiness of rust, [and] the delicacy of tissue paper."
Mellinger also encourages visits at his studio in the Eagle Building.
The gallery is opening its doors and waking up winter with this inaugural event. The idea started out as an "idea to make a glow in the dark art temple in the dead of winter. "
During the free event, look at art by work that makes the gallery glow. It features work by local gay artists Eric Wallen and Ricky Darell Barton, and tunes by DJ Dub TC.
The brewery will be having a party as part of the city's First Friday Festivities. During this free event for all ages there will be tune by DJ's Dub TC, Elixer, and DJ iamsam
The country and rock band will be performing. Information here.
Saturday
Q-MoB: Broadway Cabaret Goes to the Movies
Dewey Hall, Sheffield
Time: 7 p.m.
A group of Broadway performers who move to the area during the pandemic banded together to create the "Broadway Cabaret." They are celebrating their third year together with a show featuring selections from "Anything Goes," "Amelie," "An American In Paris," "West Side Story," "The Wizard of Oz," "A Chorus Line," and more.
Tickets cost $30 and can be purchased at Christ Trinity Church. Register with Q-MoB and purchase your tickets here.
Comedy on Tap
Bright Ideas Brewery, North Adams
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Laugh over a drink at Bright Ideas located on the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Arts campus.
Headlining the event will be Sammy Anzer, known from Kevin Hart's LOL Network, Skankfest, and tours across the country. The night will also feature performances by New York City comedian Robyn Jaffe.
Join Robin Sears to explore and identify some of these vestiges of spring and summer wildflowers. Come with curiosity and outdoor clothes, but an excellent resource is the book "Weeds in Winter" by Lauren Brown. Hosted by the Rural Lands Foundation.
Cost is $15; $10 for foundation members. Register here; more information here.
Tame the Rooster Performance
The Proprietor’s Lodge, Pittsfield
Time: 8 to 11 p.m.
New York's capital region seven-piece modern country band, Tame the Rooster will be performing. Tickets cost $10. More information here.
Public Ice Skating
Boys and Girls Club, Pittsfield
Time: 3 to 4:30 p.m.
The first 100 people through the door during the public skate at the Boys & Girls Club will receive free admission for skating as well as free skate rentals. More information here.
Family Friendly Winter Walk
Mount Greylock Visitor Center, Lanesborough
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.
Take a mindful walk led by guide Sandy Wilson and experience the nature of the mountain. The free experience incorporates elements of forest bathing, mindful breathing, nature connection, and more.
Berkshire Theatre Group is hosting a mid-winter celebration to honor 59 years of Grateful Dead music.
The event will be hosted by Rev Tor's Dead Man's Waltz and features performances by Mark Mercier (Max Creek), Michael Butler (Bearly Dead), Force (The Alchemystics), Wanda Houston (The Rejuvenators) and Mike Wood (Rebel Alliance).
Tickets for the jam are $25. More information here.
Sunday
First Sunday Free Clark
The Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
The Clark Art is offering free admission to the galleries, special exhibitions, and activities.
Visitors will also be able to decorate their own teacup and create a delicious tea blend in a tea bag to take home. The event also includes tea tastings offered by local tea shop Hearts Pace and a 2 p.m. tour of the tea sets, spoons, and pots in the Clark's collection of decorative arts.
This event is free with museum admission. More information here.
Mist Blue Trio Performance
PortaVia, Dalton
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Berkshire based blues band Misty Blues Trio will be performing. More information on the band here. Performance information here.
Multiple Days
For the LOVE OF ART Exhibit
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield
Feb 2. to Feb 9
The center will be opening its newest exhibit this Friday at 5 p.m. The exhibit features midway senior portfolios, drawings & paintings, photography, and ceramics works by high school artists. More information here.
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Newly elected Moderator Seth Alexander kept the meeting moving.
CLARKSBURG, Mass. — The annual town meeting sped through most of the warrant on Wednesday night, swiftly passing a total budget of $5.1 million for fiscal 2025 with no comments.
Close to 70 voters at Clarksburg School also moved adoption of the state's Community Preservation Act to the November ballot after a lot of questions in trying to understand the scope of the act.
The town operating budget is $1,767,759, down $113,995 largely because of debt falling off. Major increases include insurance, utilities and supplies; the addition of a full-time laborer in the Department of Public Works and an additional eight hours a week for the accountant.
The school budget is at $2,967,609, up $129,192 or 4 percent over this year. Clarksburg's assessment to the Northern Berkshire Vocational School District is $363,220.
Approved was delaying the swearing in of new officers until after town meeting; extending the one-year terms of moderator and tree warden to three years beginning with the 2025 election; switching the licensing of dogs beginning in January and enacting a bylaw ordering dog owners to pick up after their pets. This last was amended to include the words "and wheelchair-bound" after the exemption for owners who are blind.
The town more recently established an Agricultural Committee and on Wednesday approved a right-to-farm bylaw to protect agriculture.
Larry Beach of River Road asked why anyone would be against and what the downside would be. Select Board Chair Robert Norcross said neighbors of farmers can complain about smells and livestock like chickens.
McCann Technical School Principal Justin Kratz announces Amy Lynn Harrington as valedictorian and Svea-Marie Meaghan Lawson as salutatorian for the graduating class of 2024. click for more
Amanda Pou was named the most valuable player of the regional final after striking out four and walking none in a complete-game effort in the circle. She also ripped a two-run double in Pittsfield’s four-run fourth-inning rally to break open a scoreless game. click for more
The annual town meeting sped through the questions on Wednesday night, swiftly passing a total budget of $5.1 million for fiscal 2025 with no comments. click for more
Dylan Turner went 2-for-3 with an RBI to give his team a 3-0 lead in the fourth, and then he left the bases loaded in the sixth and seventh innings to secure a 3-2 win over rival Drury in front of a big crowd at Joe Wolfe Field in the Class C Championship Game. click for more
Jonathan Howard and Jacob Thomas scored in a low-scoring second half Tuesday to secure a 9-8 win over Wahconah in the Western Massachusetts Class B Championship Game at BCC. click for more