image description — Taconic High School's 'War of 1812' float won first place in the Pittsfield Halloween parade.

Pittsfield Halloween Parade Celebrates Parades Past

By Sabrina DammsiBerkshires Staff
07:56PM / Monday, October 27, 2025Print Story | Email Story

iBerkshires joined the parade for the first time. See more photos here.

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — For nearly eight decades, downtown Pittsfield has turned its streets into a chilling spectacle for one night each year during its Halloween Parade.

This year's parade was no different with 35 community organizations showcasing the ghosts of parade past, with participants designing or dressing up as past Halloween parades.

The parade has a long history dating back to the mid-1940s, when General Electric and other local businesses created spooky floats and marched down North Street. The parade moved to Tyler Street in 2011.

When planning her first Halloween Parade, the city's new Parks and Recreation Department Recreation and Special Events Coordinator Jennifer VanBramer was inspired by the digitized Pittsfield Parks Department Scrapbooks when developing the theme.

"I was looking through all the old photos of parade floats and reading all the articles about how different local businesses got involved and participated in the parade. And seeing the growth of the parade over the years was a really cool thing to see in those scrapbooks," she said.

"So, the theme came about, I wanted to honor those past. A lot of them are very iconic parades that have taken place since the '40s, and paid tribute to the parade's rich history and legacy in the city."

High school students scored the 10 floats on their theme, effort, originality, and costumes and determined the winners as Taconic High School's "War of 1812 — Prisoner of War Cantonment" for first place, Cantarella School of Dance's "Thriller Night" for second and Berkshire Carousel's "Scare-ousel" for third.

The event had an amazing turnout and despite the rain was filled with joy and excitement, VanBramer said.

The high energy continued even after the parade, with video circulating online of the experience and a dance battle breaking out between Drury's marching band and the Berkshire BeWitches, she said.

All local elementary schools took part, and there were smiles and fun on everyone's faces. Participants and spectators enjoyed themselves, VanBramer said.

"I also really enjoyed Capeless Elementary School's float. Their float was called 'Haunted Hometown Maps for Sale,'" she said.

"So, on their float, they had printed maps of downtown Pittsfield, and on their float, they had different street signs. I remember when they passed by seeing North Street and Tyler Street, and it was just kind of a different take on the theme, more of the haunted hometown side of it, which was really fun to see."

The parade has always been community focused with schools, businesses, groups, and organizations coming together, VanBramer said.

"I think this parade just highlights the different and wonderful groups and organizations we have in Pittsfield," she said.

"So, I think that's one of the cool things about the parade. It's highlighting our schools and what they're doing, as well as the organizations that we have, and all the fun things that are going on in Pittsfield."

It was an amazing first experience and hopefully next year more organizations get involved and the parade keeps growing, VanBramer said.

Tags: Halloween, parade,

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Companion Corner: Princess at Berkshire Humane Society

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
02:17PM / Wednesday, August 05, 2026

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — There is an energetic girl waiting to find her new home at the Berkshire Humane Society.

iBerkshire's Companion Corner is a weekly series spotlighting an animal in our local shelters that is ready to find a home.

Princess is a six year old shepherd mix that has been at the shelter for just over a month.

Canine caregiver and adoption counselor Simone Olivieri told us about Princess.

"She's very social, very friendly. When you're out walking her, she just wants to go say hi to every single new person. Loves to make new friends. She's a lot of fun. She's very active. She's very spunky. She's very playful, and she's going to need a very very active family who's going to do a lot with her."

But Princess is no stranger to the shelter. She was a puppy five years ago and got adopted quickly, but now she needs a new family to take care of her.

"She was adopted out fairly quickly as a young puppy. She's been in the same home for the past five years. Unfortunately, they were moving out of state somewhere," Olivieri said. "They could not take her with them, so she ended up coming as a return to shelter, and she came back to stay with us."

Princess needs to go to a home as the only animal or with other male dogs that are her size or bigger.

"Her perfect home would be kids eight and up. No cats. No small animals. She has quite a prey drive. She could go to a home with another dog around her size or larger, preferably a male dog. She does a little bit better with male dogs, and she's looking for a home where people are home quite a bit, so that she's not left alone for too long. She has some separation anxiety," Olivieri said.

She also needs a very active home that can let her use her energy every day, as she is very rambunctious. Especially with playing with her favorite toy, the flirt pole.

"She could use a home where people are going to give her a lot of attention and more than just a few walks a day; she's going to need lots of exercise, lots of playtime, lots of mental stimulation," Olivieri said. "She likes to learn, so someone who would be willing to take her to training classes or work on some training with her, as well as hikes, getting out and about, doing new things, different things. She is very athletic. She'd excel at things like agility, some dog sports. Just someone who is really going to want to engage and do a lot of different kinds of activities with her."

Once you let her get her energy out, she is a cuddler who wouldn't mind being held like a baby from time to time.

"She's very sweet. She's very cuddly. She's very affectionate, but she is not a couch potato. She will stay on that couch with you for a little bit, and then she's ready to go off and do something else. So she's very busy. She's very active," Olivieri said. "Once all of her exercise needs are met during the day, she will settle down nicely, and she will want to be right by your side, cuddle with you at night on the couch, sleep with you."

Princess is very healthy but does experience some anxiety and is not fully potty trained and might have the occasional accident.

"She does have a little bit of anxiety, so she is on some medication for it right now," Olivieri said. "So a lot of structure, a lot of outlets, and familiarity, getting used to a new routine and everything is gonna be really good for her. I mean, she's just lovely. Like I said, she's very social. She likes to play with other dogs. She likes to meet new people."

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