FreshGrass Pauses Season, Plans for Next Year

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The annual FreshGrass Festival will be taking a pause on what would have been its 16th year.

Last week, the FreshGrass Foundation posted an update on its website that it will pause their 2026 season to reassess the festival and make next year's "the best one yet."

The annual bluegrass/folk has been held over three days in the fall on the campus of Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art. 

According to an email to iBerkshires, the Mass MoCA and FreshGrass made the decision together.

FreshGrass's  Chief Operating Officer Adam Kirr said the festival will still have a presence in North Adams with singular performances at Studio 9, at the Porches Inn.

"FreshGrass remains invested and calls North Adams our home. In fact, we just opened a new facility on the Porches Inn campus called the FreshGrass Annex, which will be used to house artists during our programs hosted by the FreshGrass Institute," he wrote. "FreshGrass will continue to host performances, open mics, workshops, camps, and other events at Studio 9 on the Porches Inn campus as well as work with Mass MoCA and possibly other venues on great performances."

The three-day event has drawn thousands to the North Adams since 2010. A second festival was established in 2021 in Bentonville, Ark., but it concluded its run last year.

The FreshGrass Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit partners "with world-class institutions to bring innovative performing arts experiences to life," according to its website.

The festival is set to return Sept. 24 to 26, 2027, with tickets going on sale this September.

Marshall Street Crash Under Investigation; Businesses Remain Closed Until Damage Repaired.

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:31PM / Friday, August 28, 2026

Glass litters Tres Ninos' floor on Friday. Right, the front logo from the truck is screwed into the plywood covering the front of the building.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Two local businesses are closed for an indefinite amount of time after a pickup truck slammed through the front of Brewster's antique shop on Marshall Street on Thursday night. 

 

Police Chief Mark Bailey said the crash is still under investigation and didn't have have any further information on Friday morning on one of the truck's occupants who was taken to the hospital. 

 

Brewster's owner Casey Albert was standing in line at another antique shop on Friday, hoping to replace some merchandise shattered in the collision. 

 

"I mean half the store is gone," she said. "He pushed a lot of things way far back, the whole front is just gone."

 

Albert said building owner David Carver said it would be months before she could re-open. Right now, she can get into the back half of the store but was told not to touch anything in the front until the insurance adjuster can look at it. 

 

It's not clear, she said, how long it will take to repair the damage to the building. But her business is taking a big hit. 

 

"You can't replace antiques," Albert said. "That's why they're usually expensive."