Weekend Outlook: The Play's the Thing

Check out all the events happening this weekend, including plays, pancakes and great music. Find all the craft fairs and bazaars happening here. 

Editor's Pick

The 37th Fall Festival of Shakespeare
70 Kemple St., Lenox
Time: 6 to 9 p.m., Nov. 20 to 23

Join Shakespeare and Company's annual Fall Festival of Shakespeare. Bring your family and enjoy Tina Packer's Playhouse that comes to life on the stage.

More information and tickets here.

Multiple Days 

Oldies but Goodies Show
Wahconah High School, Dalton
Time: 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday

Enjoy music from then to now and participate in raffles all to benefit Unico of Pittsfield. Tickets are $20 at Wood Bros, Miller Supply, and Elm St. Hardware.

More information here.

Fall One-Act Plays
Hoosac Valley High, Cheshire
Time: Friday & Saturday, Nov. 21 and 22

Students will perform two one-act plays: "Roshambo," about a rock-paper-scissors championship with an unexpected twist, and "Wait Wait ... I Can Explain," about a family who was hired to impress a girl.

More information and tickets here.

Nightwood at The Mount
The Mount, Lenox
Nov. 21, 22, 26, 28, 29

The Mount has decked out its grounds for the annual Nightwood installation with lights and music to provide an immersive experience to its visitors.

More information here.

Friday

Discover Greylock Hikes
30 Rockwell Road, Lanesborough
Time: 1 to 3 p.m.

Explore Greylock with a park interpreter on a family-friendly hike. Learn about Mount Greylock's history and the plants that grow on it. Wear appropriate footwear and bring water and a snack.

Registration is recommended by calling 413-499-4262. More information here.

Saturday

Berkshire Mini March for the Food Bank
Hot plate Brewing Co., Pittsfield
Time: Saturday, 9  to noon

March to end hunger with Hot Plate Brewing Co. and the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. The food bank has a goal to raise $650,000; the 3-mile benefit walk will include local pantries like Berkshire Dream Center. After the walk, join Hot Plate Brewing Co. for snacks and drinks.

More information here.

Festive Holiday Market
508 State Road, North Adams
Time: 10 a.m.

The 8th annual festive holiday market will be held in the Weave Shed at Greylock Works. Enjoy a lineup of local and regional crafters and catering by State Food and Drink and Casita. 

More information here.

Queer Crafting at Wander
Wander, Pittsfield
Time: 12:30 to 2 p.m.

Bring whatever type of material you like to craft with and enjoy the community around you. Hangout with friends and drink tea and chat with someone new.

More information here.

Harvest and Rust
The Colonial Theatre, Pittsfield
Time: 7:30 p.m.

Neil Young tribute band Harvest & Rust celebrate the artist's 80th birthday with a showcase of his most popular songs. 

More information and tickets here.

Sunday

Pancake Breakfast
Holiday Brook Farm, Dalton
Every Sunday in November from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

Holiday Brook Farm serves its annual Sunday pancake breakfasts featuring pancakes, sausage, hash browns, and more. It's $17.95 for adults and kids 2 to 12 pay their age. 

More information here.

Beaver Detectives

North Adams, Pittsfield Mark King Day With Calls for Activism

By Tammy Daniels & Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
04:01PM / Monday, January 19, 2026

Alÿcia Bacon, community engagement officer for the Berkshire Taconic Foundation, speaks at the MLK service held Price Memorial AME Church in Pittsfield. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Wendy Penner can be found pretty much everywhere: leading local initiatives to address climate change and sustainability, championing public health approaches for substance abuse, and motivating citizens to defend their rights and the rights of others. 

 

That's all when she's not working her day job in public health, or being co-president of Congregation Beth Israel, or chairing the Williamstown COOL Committee, or volunteering on a local board. 

 

"Wendy is deeply committed to the Northern Berkshire community and to the idea of think globally, act locally," said Gabrielle Glasier, master of ceremonies for Northern Berkshire Community Coalition's annual Day of Service. 

 

Her community recognized her efforts with the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Peacemaker Award, which is presented to individuals and organizations who have substantially contributed to the Northern Berkshires. The award has been presented by the MLK Committee for 30 years, several times a year at first and at the MLK Day of Service over the past 20 years. 

 

"This event is at heart a celebration of our national and local striving to live up to the ideals of Dr. King and his committed work for racial equality, economic justice, nonviolence and anti-militarism," said Penner. "There is so much I want to say about this community that I love, about how we show up for each other, how we demonstrate community care for those who are struggling, how we support and and celebrate the natural environment that we love and how we understand how important it is that every community member feels deserves to feel valued, seen and uplifted."

 

King's legacy is in peril "as I never could have imagined," she said, noting the accumulation of vast wealth at the top while the bottom 50 percent share only 2.5 percent the country's assets. Even in "safe" Massachusetts, there are people struggling with food and housing, others afraid to leave their homes. 

 

In response, the community has risen to organize and make themselves visible and vocal through groups such as Greylock Together, supporting mutual aid networks, calling representatives, writing cards and letters, and using their privilege to protect vulnerable community members.