Berkshire Botanical Garden's Harvest Festival Returns

08:00AM / Monday, October 06, 2025Print Story | Email Story

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. —Berkshire Botanical Garden will hold its annual Harvest Festival, Oct. 11 and 12, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Every October, the Garden's 24-acre grounds undergo a transformation celebrating community, the natural world and the region's agricultural heritage. This year, the Garden will present an array of family-friendly activities, live music, a scarecrow design contest, a clothing and accessories sale, and a wide selection of regional artisan food and crafts vendors.

Children's activities include pony rides, a haunted house, a hay maze and hay jump, face painting, hayrides, a petting zoo, square dancing, and more. A full lineup of live entertainment for all ages will take place on the Main Stage, featuring the Wanda Houston Band, the O-Tones, the Sunday Strummers Ukulele Ensemble, and Katherine Winston.

The event is also a prime shopping opportunity with 50 craft vendors, a plant sale and the "Accessorize" pop-up shop, offering gently used clothing, jewelry, hats, scarves, and housewares.

New in 2025 is the Scarecrow Walk and Design Contest. Businesses, non-profit organizations and community groups are invited to design scarecrows for display in the Garden's Daylily Walk. Entries will be judged by Harvest Festival attendees, with fabulous prizes for the first and second place winners.

Buy tickets in advance and save. Advance tickets are $12 for adults; children under 12 are free. Same-day tickets will be available at the gate (Adults $15, children under 12 free). There is no charge for parking in the Garden's adjacent fields. Pets (with the exception of registered service dogs) are not permitted. ATMs will be available on-site.

Harvest Festival's lead sponsor is Blue Q. Other event sponsors are Berkshire Bank, Bartlett Tree Experts, and Element Lenox Berkshires. The Festival's in-kind sponsors include Berkshire Green Septic, Lime Rock Park, Meadow Farm Equipment, Naumkeag, The Red Lion Inn, Robin's Candy Shop, Sandisfield Orchard, and Six Flags New England.

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First Eagle Mill Units in Lee to Open in Springtime

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
05:02AM / Tuesday, February 03, 2026

Eagle Mills developer Jeffrey Cohen updates the Lee Chamber of Commerce as the project's phases, and the amount of heavy lifting to get it to this point.

LEE, Mass. — More than 50 affordable units are expected to come online at the Eagle Mill this spring.

This is the first of several planned development phases at the former paper mill that dates back to the early 1800s, totaling more than 200 units. The Lee Chamber of Commerce hosted an information session on the project during its Business Breakfast last Wednesday.

"We are here because we have a really big project that's happened for a very long time here in Lee, that, for myself, has provided a real sense of hope, and has has really defined this community as one of the few in the Berkshires that's really looking forward, as opposed to just being sort of stuck in the past," Chamber member Erik Williams said.

The estimated $60 million development broke ground in 2021 after nearly a decade of planning and permitting. Hundreds of workers once filed into the 8-acre complex, producing up to 165 tons of paper a week. The last mill on the property closed in 2008.

Hearthway is accepting applications for 56 affordable apartments called "The Lofts at Eagle Mill" with expected occupancy in May. The housing nonprofit was also approved for 45 additional units of new construction on the site.

Jeffrey Cohen of Eagle Mill Redevelopment LLC said the project dates back to 2012, when a purchase contract was signed for the West Center Street property. The developers didn't have to close on the property until renovation plans were approved in 2017, and the mill was sold for $700,000.

It seemed like a great deal for the structure and eight acres on the Housatonic River, Cohen explained, but he wasn't aware of the complex pre-development costs, state, and local approvals it would entail. Seven individually owned homes adjacent to the property were also acquired and demolished for parking and site access.

"If I knew today what I knew then, I'm not sure we'd be sitting here," he said, joining the breakfast remotely over Zoom.

Cohen praised the town's government, explaining that the redesigns and critiques "Could not have been done in a friendlier way, in a more helpful way," and the two Massachusetts governors serving during the project's tenure. The Eagle Mill redevelopment is supported by state and federal grants, as well as low-income housing tax credits.

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