Weekend Outlook: Good Eats, Art Treats
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Save your appetite so you'll have plenty of room to sample the movable feast that will appear on North Adams' Main Street on Sunday.
That's right. The Northern Berkshire Food Festival returns for the seventh year with fare ranging from old favorites to fine wines. There'll also be entertainment, drawings, a food demonstration and a visit with the SteepleCats.
The festivities start at noon; thousands are expected to attend but you won't need reservations for this dining experience. Food tickets are 50 cents each and will be sold from two kiosks located at the entrances of the festival tents.
More Than a Museum
Before or after your Main Street meal, head over to the Clark Art Institute in Williamstown to see the brand-new Stone Hill Center.
The first phase of the museum's multimillion expansion was designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Tadao Ando; the wood and glass 32,000-square-foot building houses galleries, a meeting and studio art classroom, an outdoor cafe, and the Williamstown Art Conservation Center. The free open house for the new center will be from 11 to 5 on Sunday. The festivities kick off at noon with guided tours beginning at 12:30. A lecture on the new exhibit "Like Breath on Glass: Whistler, Inness, and the Art of Painting Softly," begins at 3 p.m.
Refreshments will be for sale on the grounds and the new trails will be open around Stone Hill.
Creating the Green Way
Head to IO Gallery in North Adams on Saturday night to see art created before your eyes. The opening reception of the gallery's second seasonal exhibit will feature five to six artists expressing their perceptions of pollution and the environment on the spot from 6 to 9.
Some 15 artists in all will be illustrate the same theme with works throughout the gallery. IO Gallery is located at 71 Main St.
Family Fun - No Butts About It
A free family carnival will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at Western Gateway Heritage State Park in North Adams. The QuitLinks program of the Reach Community Health Foundation sponsors the carnival with support from Child Care of the Berkshires and the Mayor's Office of Tourism.
There will be free sno-cones and cotton candy and healthy snacks and drinks as well. Trevor the Games Man and Bowie the Clown will entertain the crowd, which will have a chance to dunk some local celebrities. WUPE will be broadcasting live and the Heritage Park Tot Train will provide rides for kids.
Drawing the Tree of Life
Northern Berkshire Creative Arts and the North Adams Museum of History and Science will collaborate for NBCA's free Family Art Day, "Stepping into History," Saturday from 1 to 3 at Heritage State Park.
Activities will include tours of the museum, and arts and crafts related to the history of North Adams, "draw your family tree," decorative footwear and historical cards and collages.
This fun event is free and open to the public but registration is required by calling 413-663-8338 and leave name, phone number, number of people attending, as well as the ages of the children. For more information about NBCA, see www.nbcreativearts.org.
Mailer Show Opens
The Ferrin Gallery at 437 North St. in Pittsfield is hosting an opening reception for Maggie Mailer's solo show, "The Volcano Sitters," which follows her return to
a storefront studio on Fenn Street last month. Mailer will also give a free artist talk on her work and her process on Wednesday at 7 p.m.Stop by the gallery opening on Saturday from 4 to 6 p.m.
'Cats in Action
Not only will the North Adams SteepleCats take on the North Shore Navigators at Joe Wolfe Field on Saturday, they'll be pitching in the stacks at the North Adams Public Library to encourage kids to read.
Starting at 11 a.m., Children can register for the library's Summer Reading Adventure, meet a 'Cat, hear baseball stories, have a snack and enjoy a craft. Gates open at 6 for the game; there'll be a baseball book raffle, and library-themed contests between innings.
For more information call 413-662-3133 or visit naplibrary.com, steeplecats.com.
Berry, Berry Good
Second Congregational Church of Williamstown holds its Strawberry Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Hancock Road. The festival will have strawberry shortcake, lunch, bake sale, tag sale, jewelry table, Chinese auction, plants, children's games and face painting. For more information call 413-458-4450.
Great Barrington Holds Block Party
A Summer Solstice Block Party will take place at Memorial Field on Bridge Street, Great Barrington, at 10 a.m. Musical entertainment will be provided by David Grover, Sandy Lord, Evan Randall, Heather Fisch, Elana Belle and The Lix. There will also be food and craft vendors, a bouncy castle, and other fun games and activities.
Later in the afternoon at 4, there will be a skate competition at Skate Park along with deejays, a kayak launching into the Housatonic River, snow cones, a water balloon fight, and more. From 7:30 to 11:30, rock out at Searles Middle School gymnasium with local bands. For more information call 413-528-2475.
Bargain Hunters' Bounty
Berkshire South Regional Community Center is hosting a giant tag and bake sale on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. rain or shine. Drop off items from 7 to 9 a.m. that morning.
No clothing, stuffed toys or mattresses, computer monitors, broken or non-functioning electronics or toys, large exercise equipment, air conditioners, or items with toxic materials such as paints or propane tanks. Contact Jenise at 413-528-2810, Ext. 15, for more information.
Kick Off Summer on Summer Street
The merchants in the Summer Street area in Adams are hosting a festival on Sunday from 6 to 9. The Damnit Band will be providing music, food will be sold and there will be a house-key giveaway from WUPE radio.
Let Them Dance
A local community dance group for youth, Focus Is Our Children, will be featured at the 11 annual Community Recital at First United Methodist Church of Pittsfield at 55 Fenn St. at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
The benefit is $10 for adults and $5 for children and seniors. The dance group is open to all area children and is free.
