ADAMS, Mass. — The Adams Theater presents the MA250 Festival: People, Poetry, Perspective, a state-validated celebration of Massachusetts' 250th anniversary, funded by the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. 

 

The festival runs from June 12–21, 2026 at The Adams Theater, 27 Park Street, Adams, MA, 01220. 

 

Featured guests of the festival include Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff, set for a June 20 appearance, as well as Massachusetts Poet Laureate Regie Gibson and the Guy Mendilow Ensemble. Festival tickets range from pay-as-you-wish to $45, depending on the event, and can be purchased here.

 

"We are honored to be a recipient of the MA250 grant, which allows us to curate a program that reflects the deep historical and creative roots of our region. By bringing home world-class voices and community-initiated programs in the same space, we are making the past feel present, personal, and profoundly local," said Yina Moore, Founder and Artistic Director of The Adams Theater

 

Friday, June 12, 2026: 6PM

Ten Toasts Dinner: Laughter, Realness, and Connection

 

A structured dinner experience with thematic storytelling, the dinner unfolds with a specific theme, drawn from conversations and site visits with community members. The toasts celebrate moments, small and large, or people in the teller's life. By listening to, and sharing, meaningful stories from each other's lives, participants wind up celebrating one another. They see each other's humanity, what matters to each person, and feel valued as their stories are heard and toasted. The stories shared are ones that no one at the table has heard before, participants understand more of each other's formative aspects, beyond usual roles/contexts, and those who already know one another — sometimes for years — often discover stories about each other they didn't previously know.

 

Saturday, June 13, 2026: 7:30PM

Different Ships, Same Boat

An interactive, multidisciplinary performance combining powerful spoken word, music and song. An exploration of the multifaceted ways in which Americans live, love, and laugh. Through a series of chapters – each curating true stories – MA Poet Laureate and former Poetry Slam Champion Regie Gibson and composer/storycatcher Guy Mendilow guide audiences with humorous, poignant and poetic narration over an evocative musical score spanning lyrical American Blues, classical and songs from older immigrant homelands. Different Ships, Same Boat is a stirring journey of the joys, tensions and complexities of what it means to celebrate, even love, not only America, but Americans.

 

Sunday, June 14, 2026: 2PM

MA250 High Tea with Friends of the Adams Library and the Adams Historical Society

 

As a part of the MA250 Festival in Adams, the Friends of the Adams Library, the Adams Historical Society, and the Adams Theater will host a High Tea and Speakers Event. Attendees will enjoy a classic English High Tea with savory quiches and freshly prepared finger sandwiches followed by warm scones with clotted cream, and a variety of homemade sweets and pastries. A selection of teas and other beverages will also be served. Your teacup and saucer are yours to keep!

 

Saturday, June 20, 2026: 4PM

Keynote at The Adams Theater: Stacy Schiff

 

Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer and Adams native Stacy Schiff returns home for a special MA250 Festival keynote on June 20, 2026.

 

In conversation with interlocutor Sara Houghteling, Schiff will explore the fiery origins of the American Revolution as detailed in her latest work, The Revolutionary: Samuel Adams, while offering an exclusive look at her current research into the final years of Benjamin Franklin. This homecoming event offers a rare opportunity to engage with one of the preeminent writers of our time in an intimate setting. The program includes live readings, a direct audience Q&A, and a post-event book signing, celebrating the enduring power of perspective and historical storytelling in the heart of the Berkshires.

 

Sunday, June 21, 2026: 2:30PM

Screening of 1776

 

Join a screening of 1776, a musical drama adapted from a hit broadway show about the debates among America's Founding Fathers leading to the Declaration of Independence.

 

 

Funded in part by the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.