FreshGrass Pauses Season, Plans for Next Year

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:53PM / Sunday, February 01, 2026Print Story | Email Story

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.

The announcement comes a week after Williamstown Theatre Festival announced they will not be staging any events this summer.

Tags: music festival,

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McCann Tech Deems Social Media Threat 'Not Credible' After Police Investigation

Staff Reports 09:19AM / Thursday, March 12, 2026

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — McCann Technical School officials confirmed Thursday that a threatening social media post directed at the school was found to be a illagitaemt following an investigation by the North Adams Police Department (NAPD).

School administrators notified families that the NAPD determined the social media account responsible for the post was not legitimate and there is no credible threat to the campus.

"The post did contain threatening content to McCann Tech, but after investigation by NAPD it was found that the threat was NOT credible and that the social media account was NOT legitimate," the school stated in a message to the community.

While authorities have concluded that students and staff are not in any danger, McCann officials have requested an increased police presence at the school Thursday morning. The school emphasized that this measure is being taken out of an "extreme abundance of caution" to help students and families feel comfortable starting the day.

The NAPD is asking anyone with information regarding the origin of the post to contact the department directly.

Following the internal notification from McCann, North Adams Public Schools (NAPS) issued an "all-call" to its own district families Thursday morning.

"North Adams Public Schools will continue to operate using its standard safety procedures," the NAPS statement read, echoing the police department's conclusion that there is no active threat to local students.

McCann is part of the Northern Berkshire Regional Vocational Technical School District, not NAPS.

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