The Franklin County Fair
89 Wisdom Way, Greenfield
Thursday, Sept. 5 – Sunday, Sept. 8
It’s the 175th Franklin County Fair and this year’s theme is aptly "Rooted in Our Community." It debuted as a cattle show on the Greenfield Town Common, and has been held every year since, through world wars, dust bowl droughts, even stock market collapses. For the past 160 years, the Fair has never failed, year after year, to bring together the entire community in a shared, positive, educational experience. Today it has all you want: music, food, rides, demos and much more. The annual kick-off parade starts Thursday at 5 p.m. at the Greenfield Middle School.
Latino Arts Festival
Springfield Museums
Friday, Sept. 6
In partnership with the Mi Museo Committee, the Springfield Museums are presenting the 2nd annual Latino Arts Festival. The Festival is a celebration of the myriad arts and rich cultures of the Puerto Rican, Cuban, Afro-Cuban, Portuguese, Mexican, Dominican, and Central and South American populations of Greater Springfield.
“It's Never Too Late To Create” Solo Exhibition by Tim Gorts
Artspace, Greenfield
Opening reception Friday, Sept. 6 from 5 – 8 p.m.
Artspace Community Arts Center is a school for the arts, in downtown Greenfield, dedicated to making music and the arts affordable in Franklin County. They are excited to start their Artspace Gallery season with a solo exhibition by a beloved community member: Tim Gorts. It wasn’t until he was 41 and needed a way to save a cherished family heirloom that Tim had his first encounter creating something from nothing. This exhibit has been curated so you can walk along through Tim’s creative journey from that first creation until today.
Five College New Music Festival 2024 “In a New Light”
Bezanson Recital Hall, UMass
Friday, Sept 6 – Sunday, Sept. 8
This free festival takes over Bezanson Recital Hall this weekend, with contemporary music performed by faculty of the Five Colleges. The festival weekend will feature five programs of new and recent compositions by nineteen composers representing a range of contemporary music being created in our region, the U.S., and around the world. This music speaks not only to the present but to a living history working to reclaim neglected figures and currents from the classical tradition.
Jeffrey Foucault
The Iron Horse
Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
In two decades on the road Jeffrey Foucault has become one of the most distinctive voices in American music, refining a sound instantly recognizable for its simplicity and emotional power. This month, Jeffrey Foucault is releasing The Universal Fire, his first album of entirely new material since 2018. A series of high-voltage performances cut live in one room, the album is both a working wake —Foucault lost his best friend and drummer Billy Conway, to cancer in 2021 — and a meditation on the nature of beauty, artifact, and loss. You may have heard him on The Fabulous 413 on Tuesday.
The Beginning After the End of Humanity Circus
Bread & Puppet Theater
Park Hill Orchard, Easthampton
Friday, Sept. 6 at 7 p.m.
This new Bread & Puppet Theater show draws on traditional circus tropes and familiar Bread and Puppet iconography to draw attention to the urgent issues of the day. Stilt dancers, paper maché beasts of all sizes and a riotous brass band make a raucous, colorful spectacle of protest and celebration. Location, location, location. I can’t think of a more magical place than Park Hill Orchard for this event!
Artful Collaboration: Eric Carle & Ann Beneduce
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art
Opens Saturday, Sept. 7
The author-editor relationship is a collaborative partnership built on mutual respect, trust, and a shared commitment to creating the best possible work. Eric Carle and editor Ann Beneduce worked together over five decades and developed a steadfast friendship. Ann published the first picture book Eric wrote and illustrated in 1968,and she played a vital role in bringing The Very Hungry Caterpillar to life. The exhibition includes never-before-exhibited art, correspondence, and photographs.
The Mattoon Street Arts Festival
Near Springfield Museums
Saturday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 8 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Held in Springfield’s first historic district, on a street lined with restored brick Victorian row houses, this is the longest-running arts festival in the Valley. There’s something for everyone — over 90 exhibitors, delicious food, and strolling musicians. It’s a great place to find unique gifts.
Special Living History Event: Ladies’ Association of Revolutionary America
Historic Deerfield
Saturday, Sept. 7 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The Ladies’ Association is a researched-based 18th century living history group that encourages, supports, and promotes increased women’s voices and stories at historical sites and events. They will be portraying Deerfield in 1774, on the eve of the American Revolution. This event is included with general admission to Historic Deerfield.
Worker Weekend
Springfield Armory National Historic Site
Saturday, Sept. 7 and Sunday, Sept. 8 from 10a.m. – 4 p.m.
A weekend of free activities and programs explores the history of labor at the Armory and in Springfield and surrounding communities. Both days will offer hands on family activities, historical craft demonstrations such as blacksmithing and tool making, blank firing demonstrations, and special talks and tours. In addition, Saturday will feature a WWII era big band music concert with the Heritage Pops Orchestra from 2 to 4 p.m.
Arcadia Players: Music for Friends
South Church, Amherst
Saturday Sept. 7 at 3 p.m.
Here’s your chance meet Arcadia Players’ new Artistic Director Andrus Madsen and enjoy an intimate program of chamber music performed by Madsen on harpsichord with Julia Glenn, violin and Douglas Kelley, gamba. The program includes pieces by Buxtehude, Bach and Telemann that were written to play with their musical colleagues. In that spirit, you are invited a casual reception after the performance.
Baye and Asa Presents: Suck it Up, Second Seed
Adams Theater, Adams
Saturday, Sept. 7 at 7:30 p.m.
Amadi ‘Baye’ Washington and Sam ‘Asa’ Pratt have been in residence at the Adam Theater’s Incubator, which invites artists from the Berkshires and beyond to develop bold, original works that foster cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary collaborations. They will perform two of their most thought-provoking and impactful pieces “Suck it Up” confronts the violent fallout of male insecurity and entitlement. “Second Seed” responds to D.W. Griffith's 1915 silent film The Birth of a Nation. Check out Amadi and Sam’s interview with The Fabulous 413.
Solomiya Ivakhiv & Melvin Chen
The Drake, Amherst
Sunday, Sept. 8 at 4 p.m.
This concert opens the Drake’s 2024–2025 Sunday afternoon chamber music series. Ukrainian born violinist Solomiya Ivakhiv is a highly celebrated soloist, chamber musician and educator who was named one of the “major artists of our time” by Fanfare Magazine. A native of Tennessee, Dr. Melvin Chen has received acclaim for solo and chamber performances throughout the United States, Canada, and Asia. They will be joined by clarinetist Romie de Guise-Langlois.
Younes Rahmoun: Here, Now
Smith College Museum of Art
Open through July 13, 2025
Younes Rahmoun: Here, Now is the first North American exhibition devoted to the art of Younes Rahmoun, one of Morocco’s leading contemporary artists. It takes place at four distinct locations with different hours and access considerations. It is possible to visit all of the sites in one day. Rahmoun transforms simple shapes, materials and gestures from his daily life into sculptures and installations.