Berkshire Idol 2014 Finale Festival

02:37PM / Wednesday, April 23, 2014Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Berkshire Idol 2014 Finale Festival will take place Saturday and Sunday, May 3-4, at Barrington Stage Company at 30 Union St.

Online voting will begin on Saturday at 4 after the completion of the semifinals. Register to vote at any time at www.iBerkshires.com/BerkshireIdol by clicking "Vote Now"; voting closes at noon on Sunday.

Amanda's on Wheels food truck will be at the venue with hot dogs, meatball sliders, cucumber carrot salad with cranberries, cookies and drinks from 11 to 3.

Semifinals on Saturday, May 3, 10-4

Youth Category (7 to 11), performances begin at 10

Gwendolyn Farnsworth, Dominick Green, Lynneiah Green, Hailey Lenski, Micayla Lenski, Sabrina Lewis, Olivia McKeon, Aviva Skoblow, Emily Spencer and Fiona Trimararchi

Teen Category (12 to 16), performances begin at 11

Savonna Almquist, Marleigh Briggs, Chelsea Brien, Lauren Diamond, Jake Dougherty, Alana Dubie, Miranda Frederick, Isabelle Grady, Komeja Green, Haley Honig, Katherine McNeice, Brianna Nicola, Isabella Plankey, Alyssa Puntin, Kiana Redd, Jaelyn Roberts, Kaylee Salatino, Shyla Sexton, Sarah Thomas, Hannah Trimararchi, Melia White, Hannah Woods and Elsbeth Wright

Adult Category, performances begin at 12:45

Vlad Bogomolov, Samantha Boni, William Brown, Samantha Cooper, Danielle Davis, Rachel DiMouro, Amanda Garcia, Danielle Gismondi, Lindsey Gray, Kristen Gregory, Sarah Harris, Brandon Haskell, Christine Haskell ,Stephanie Higgins, Scott Keough, Johanne Gorge Kesten, Brittany Kish, Kim Lavigne, Melissa Levesque, Michael Lewis, Jose Lu, Brittany Lutz, Roy Moriarty, Bronwyn Niece, Tori Osterhout, Jessica Passetto, Aneli Poland, Christina Riley, Dave Robbins, Faleisha Stone, Mark Turner, Cassandra Vallieres, Ashley Volff, Nikita Walton and Jacob Wilcox

Finals on Sunday, May 4, 2 p.m.

Berkshire Idol contestants who will be moving on to the finals will be announced, and the performances will begin. Live audience voting will be tallied and the 2014 winners and highest fundraiser will be awarded.

Back this year are celebrity judges Alex Lee-Clark, Bernice Lewis and Larry Stevens. A reception with the judges at Spice Dragon on North Street will follow the performances.

2013 Berkshire Idol winners Rafael Duran, adult; Tara Gilardi, teen, and Sophie Lane, youth, will be performing at the opening of each age category at the finals.

Two-day weekend pass tickets may be purchased at the door, at Barringtonstageco.org/rentals/upcoming-rentals, or at 413-236-8888. Tickets are $30 for general admission, $25 for students and seniors. The 2014 Berkshire Idol DVD set will be available to order for purchase, courtesy of Berkshire Productions.

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Berkshire Towns Can Tap State Seasonal Communities Resources

10:54AM / Monday, December 29, 2025

BOSTON — Governor Maura Healey announced that 18 additional municipalities across Massachusetts have been designated as Seasonal Communities, opening up new tools, support and grant funding to help them manage seasonal housing pressures.

Created as part of the historic Affordable Homes Act signed into law by Governor Healey in 2024, the Seasonal Communities designation was designed to recognize Massachusetts communities that experience substantial variation in seasonal employment and to create distinctive tools to address their unique housing needs. The law also established the Seasonal Communities Advisory Council (SCAC).

The Affordable Homes Act identified several communities to automatically receive the designation, including:

All municipalities in the counties of Dukes and Nantucket;
All municipalities with over 35 percent seasonal housing units in Barnstable County; and
All municipalities with more than 40 percent seasonal housing units in Berkshire County.

To identify additional communities, the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities (HLC) reviewed available data, specifically focusing on cities and towns with high levels of short-term rentals and a high share of second- or vacation homes.

In Berkshire County, Egremont, Great Barrington, Lee, Lenox, New Marlborough, Richmond, Sandisfield, Sheffield, West Stockbridge and Williamstown have been designated.

"Our seasonal communities are a vital part of Massachusetts' cultural and economic fabric, but they're also home to essential workers, families, seniors, and longtime residents who deserve a place to live year-round," said Governor Healey. "That's why we're committed to supporting these communities with innovative solutions like the Seasonal Communities designation to meet their unique needs, and I'm thrilled that we're offering this opportunity to 18 additional communities across the state. Everyone who calls these places home should be able to live, work and grow here, no matter the season."

As with the statutorily identified communities, acceptance of the designation for municipalities is voluntary and requires a local legislative vote. HLC will open an application for newly eligible communities that haven't accepted the Seasonal Communities designation to request consideration.

The Affordable Homes Act created several new tools for communities who accept the Seasonal Communities designation to be able to:

Acquire deed restrictions to create or preserve year-round housing
Develop housing with a preference for municipal workers, so that our public safety personnel, teachers, public works and town hall workers have a place to live
Establish a Year-Round Housing Trust Fund to create and preserve affordable and attainable housing for year-round residents
Create year-round housing for artists
Allow seasonal communities to develop a comprehensive housing needs assessment
Permit tiny homes to be built and used as year-round housing
Permit year-round, attainable residential development on undersized lots
Increase the property tax exemption for homes that are the owners' primary residence