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