WEST STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. —  The popular Zucchini Festival is taking a break this year.

 

Festival's committee posted on Facebook that it did not hit its volunteer recruitment goal of 100 by June. This prompted the decision to cancel for this year and think about the future of the festival. 

 

"We are so grateful to all those who had already signed up to volunteer this year and appreciate your willingness and understanding," states the post by Marjorie Powell, Chris Powell and the rest of the committee. 

 

"In the interest of all our volunteers and our community as a whole, we unanimously agreed the best path forward is to hit pause, relax a bit, dream big and focus on long-term planning for future events."

 

The annual August event started back in 2004, the brainchild of the town's Downtown Merchants Association and supported by the Cultural Council. Designed as a benchmark summer event to bring town together for food, music, shopping and, of course, all things zucchini that would also tie into the town's Italian heritage. 

 

The festival proved popular but has struggled at times with funding the number of volunteers needed to host it. It went dormant for nine years because of that, and the pandemic, but returned in 2023. 

 

The committee plans to hold meetings "to strategize and brainstorm" this summer and thanked the community for its support to date.