Weekend Outlook: Welcome to November

We're heading into cozy season, so start to look for indoor events like book sales, concerts and gallery openings. And make sure to check out all of the craft fairs and bazaars in our annual guide here!

Editor's Pick

Night at the Museum
Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield
Friday, 5:30-8 p.m.

This adult-focused escape room-styled event will include light refreshments and a cash bar. Come see the museum after hours and experience the magic of "Ancient Egypt at the Berkshire Museum's Soulful Creatures" exhibition's themed event, "Creature of the Night at the Museum." Travel to the distant past thousands of years ago, learn about the practices and magic of the ancient Egyptians in this exhibition's Night at the Museum! The journey to the afterlife was a complicated process, do you have what it takes to complete the challenges necessary to earn your final rewards in the Field of Reids?

Tickets are $30. Tickets and information here.

Multiple Days

Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum book sale
Berkshire Athenaeum, Pittsfield
Friday 10 a.m.-4 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

The Friends of the Berkshire Athenaeum will hold its annual fall book sale, featuring something for everything, including books, music, puzzles and games, and more.

Information here.

Friday

Exhibition opening reception
Koussevitzky Art Gallery,
Berkshire Community College, Pittsfield
4-7 p.m.

An opening reception will be held for "Spaces Between," an exhibition of photography by Dana Willette. Willette is a multimedia artist who, for the past three years, has focused on photography and its processes while studying, working and living in Massachusetts. Her practice utilizes 35mm film and aerial photography, lighting, sculpture and alternative methods of printing. The exhibition runs through Dec. 4.

Information here.

The Lit Salon
Barrington Hall,
426 Stockbridge Road, Great Barrington
7 p.m.

The Lit Salon of the Berkshires, a new series bringing together literature and music through intimate, candlelit conversations and live performances, features Pulitzer Prize-winning author Marcia Chatelain with an accompanying performance by acclaimed singer-songwriter Chantell McCulloch. Presented by The Mount at Barrington Hall and curated by author Michelle Young ("The Art Spy"), the Salon aims to create a warm, intimate setting for the community to gather, connect, and experience the written word and music in unexpected combinations. Tickets are $20-$25.

Tickets and information here.

Berkshire Symphony Orchestra
Chapin Hall, Williams College, Williamstown
7:30 p.m.

The Berkshire Symphony will premiere "Dreamers," a new work by Williams College professor of composition Ileana Perez Velazquez. The "dreamers" of this work is an allusion to immigrants, those who left their country with a dream of a new life. It's a piece full of complex rhythms and excitement. The second half of the concert will feature Beethoven's Fifth Symphony, which depicts a journey from struggle to triumph, like that of the dreamers. Admission is free.

Information here. 

North Adams First Friday
Downtown North Adams
6-8 p.m.

Saturday

New Parents Gallery Tour
Clark Art Institute, Williamstown
10:15 a.m.

Join a Clark educator on the first Saturday of the month for an informal, thematic tour of the permanent collection, without any worries about short attention spans or fussy babies. This free event is recommended for caregivers with babies who are not yet walking. Strollers and front-style baby carriers are welcome.

Information here.

Author talk

Lenox Library and The Bookstore will host bestselling author Kurt Andersen to talk about his new book "The Breakup" in conversation with Brooke Allen. The book follows Natalie and Asher, whose 23-year marriage has long-standing fault lines over what they think of their fellow Americans and of AI-saturated modern life. In 2045, having survived the two-year civil war together, they're living separately for the first time since they met. The talk is free.

Information here.

Exhibition opening reception
Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, Pittsfield
4-7 p.m.

An opening reception will be held for "Comic and Cartoon Art: Where Art and Community Meet." This free and family-friendly exhibition celebrates the creativity, humor, storytelling, and visual artistry of comics and cartoons while bringing artists and the community together. Visitors will have the opportunity to see original artwork featuring beloved comic and cartoon characters including Daredevil, Mighty Mouse, Spider-Man, Batman and many others, offering a nostalgic and imaginative look at characters that have become part of popular culture. The exhibition runs through Nov. 20.

Information here.

Sunday

Northwestern Connecticut Waterfowl Census
Bartholomew's Cobble, 105 Weatogue Road, Sheffield
8 a.m.

This trip is an annual census of Northwest Connecticut lakes. Bring lunch and a scope. The trip ends at about 2 p.m. and is free, but registration is required.

Information here.

TLI Chamber Concert
Linde Center for Music and Learning, Lenox
3 p.m.

Tanglewood Learning Institute chamber concerts offer year-round audiences the opportunity to experience Berkshire Symphony Orchestra musicians in the intimate surrounding of Studio E. Programs range from beloved favorites and chamber music masterworks to works by today's leading composers, often featuring special guest artists. Tickets are $42.

Tickets and information here.

Farmers Markets

Great Barrington Farmers Market
18 Church St.
Saturdays 9 a.m.–1 p.m. 

The market is open every Saturday through Nov. 14. Every week, locally grown food, flowers, and plants will be available, along with other local vendors. The market accepts and offers double SNAP, HIP, WIC, and Senior market coupons. 

Information here. 

Williamstown Farmers Market
Spring Street
Saturdays 9 a.m.–1 p.m. 

The market focuses on a wide range of local food and artisan vendors, as well as local services and music through Nov. 7.

Information here.

Drury High Students Get a Taste of Local Beef

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
05:25PM / Saturday, November 07, 2026

The pilot program is being funded by a $180K federal grant and is part of a partnership of Berkshire Agricultural Ventures and Mass Farms to School. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High School students don't have to ask "where's the beef" from, now that the school has partnered to bring local meat into its food service system.

Nonprofit Berkshire Agricultural Ventures (BAV) is partnering with Mass Farms to School to bring locally produced ground beef to school cafeterias as part of a pilot initiative funded by a $180,133 USDA Patrick Leahy Farm to School Grant. The program is named for the retired Vermont senator who wrote the original legislation in 2010. 

North Adams Public Schools is one of two school district partners on the pilot project, Lenox being the other. 

BAV hopes the project can takeoff and expand into more schools or institutions. 

"We're really hoping that it takes off, and that we, in the sense of we can work with, or more schools can be part of this in the future, and we can kind of work out the kinks, which I think is part of what this is all about" said Audrey Hackett, BAV's communications and development manager.

She said part of the nonprofit's mission is to help strengthen the local food system and work with local farmers.

"Part of BAV's larger work to strengthen our local food system. So a lot of what we do is work directly with farmers and support a lot of livestock farmers," she said. "More than 40 percent of our farmers in our region are livestock, and so we work directly with them oftentimes, but it's also increasingly an opportunity to work, you know, a level up at the food system level to bring together partners for projects like this that bring more local food into to our not only our schools. I mean, there are lots of opportunities across institutions throughout our region, hospitals, prison systems, nursing homes, and all of that remains to be done." 

Last week, students were having burgers made from meat brought by Marty's Local, a regional food distributor that works with more than 160 farms and food producers. 

Marty's Local CEO Sandra Thomas said it was great to partner with BAV to help bring the meat to the school, citing that getting more local meat into the market fills a gap in the local food system. Thomas was able to work with Cherry Point Beef, a Western Mass distributor that sources cattle from four local farms.

Food Services Director Thomas Lark said they are excited to be a part of the program and that it's important to be able to showcase local food on the menu, especially for the students to be able to try these new things.

"We want them to see local food on the menu, to know that it's coming from somewhere they recognize. A lot of the time with school lunch, there's a little impression of like, oh, what's this? Where did this come from?" he said. "And so, this is a great way to say, this is what it is. This is where it comes from. Like, it's just down the road. You've driven past here before, and have them understand that, like, we're serving local stuff too. It's not mystery meat from far away."

Lark also said they have been working with the meat since earlier this year, testing out new ideas to bring to the students like a Korean beef bowl.

"Was a new thing, but we thought new ingredient, new recipe, let's really highlight it, and it was pretty successful. We're running it again next Monday. Actually, Marty's truck was here this morning delivering the beef for next Monday, and we're going to run that again. And that was one where the students who were willing to try it really liked it, and were telling their friends like, "Oh, you should have gotten this." So we're excited for Monday, we'll probably see even more kids trying it out," he said.

The North Adams Public Schools were highlighted last year by the state for its farm-to-school initiatives to bring fresh, local produce to students. 

A couple students who had the burger for lunch said it was good.