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.

McCann Committee Gets First Look at $17M Renovation Progress

By Jack GuerinoiBerkshires Staff
05:50AM / Monday, October 12, 2026

The project is in the home stretch with roofing and some windows and doors still to be installed. Superintendent James Brosnan also pointed above to HVAC improvements in the Guidance Office. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The McCann School Committee got a first look at the final stretch of a $17 million overhaul aimed at making the 64-year-old vocational school safer, quieter and more energy-efficient.

After a brief School Committee meeting Thursday, Superintendent James Brosnan led the members through the school, highlighting some of the changes made in the 64-year-old building.

"Just seeing this gives you a magnitude of the amount of work that goes on," he said.

The upgrades are being funded through the Massachusetts School Building Authority's Accelerated Repair Program and the Northern Berkshire Vocational School District's member towns.

Work was supposed to be completed before the start of the school year, but weather and the removal of materials caused a delay.

The tour was all indoors, and Brosnan told a disappointed committee that he was hesitant to take them onto the roof at night, but said the new roof is near 80 percent down.

"We have another 10, and 10 percent of that missing 20 is in the AVB [air and vapor barrier] and removal phase," Brosnan said. "That particular area is across the front, down the post-secondary ... we are going to pick up from guidance. So we have that plan going through next week. Fingers crossed, within two weeks we will have that piece down."

He said the roof has been built up and insulated for more efficiency.