Pittsfield Parks Commission OKs Outdoor February Events

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
06:09PM / Saturday, January 24, 2026Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Locals can experience the snow-covered Berkshire landscape during outdoor February events in Pittsfield.

The Parks Commission on Tuesday approved a winter festival, fireworks at The Common, and a fishing festival at Onota Lake for the upcoming month.

The winter festival and fireworks are part of the 15th annual 10x10 Upstreet Winter Arts Festival, which runs from Feb. 12 to Feb. 22. More than a dozen organizations collaborate to offer ten days of events that bring the community downtown during the winter.

The third annual Winter Festival will bring people of all ages to Clapp Park on Presidents' Day, Feb. 10. It will kick off at 10 a.m. and run to 1 p.m, and is free.

Recreation and Special Events Coordinator Jennifer VanBramer explained that the family-friendly event includes a cardboard sled design contest, sled races, snowshoeing with Mass Audubon, and a snow sculpture building contest.

There will also be carnival field games, a campfire, and the city will bring back its touch-a-truck area with vehicles from Pittsfield's various departments.

VanBramer pointed out that this will happen during the week of school break.

The 10x10 fireworks will occur on Feb. 21 at The Common. The display can be seen from the public parking lot on First Street.

"We've been doing fireworks for almost 10 years now," Director of Cultural Development Jennifer Glockner reported.

She added that the winter fireworks go off when it gets dark around six o'clock, rather than 10:30 p.m. or 11 p.m. in the summer. This means that younger community members can enjoy them before bedtime.

Also part of the 10 x 10 Winter Arts Festival, the Berkshire Environmental Action Team will hold a free winter tree identification walk at Springside Park on Feb 14, from 10 a.m. to noon. It will be led by BEAT Naturalist Chelsey Simmons.

BEAT will also offer a walk during the Westside Legends' Westside Block Party on May 23 at Riverway Park.

The commission also approved the MassWildlife's Lake Onota Family Ice Fishing Festival on Feb. 28 at Burbank Park from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The event is held at the boat launch, and registration is in the boat launch parking lot.

"It's just a nice family event," explained James Legacy, of MassWildlife.

He reported that they must have six inches of black ice to hold the event, and it isn't held if there is heavy rain or snow. The fishing festival typically draws hundreds of people throughout the course of the event.

Roots Rising was also approved for the Pittsfield Farmer's Market, which was launched in 2013. The market will be at The Common from May 9 to October 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Tags: winterfest,

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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