NEPM's Smart & Funny People
Hidden Brain: On Stage with Shankar Vedantam
Academy of Music, Northampton
Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.
Are there parts of our minds that are hidden from us? This question launched the Hidden Brain podcast ten years ago. Since then, Hidden Brain has helped millions of listeners accomplish their goals, improve their relationships, and develop a deeper understanding of their emotions. Now, host and creator Shankar Vedantam brings seven key insights from the first decade of Hidden Brain to the stage. Whether you’re new to the show or a longtime listener, this evening of science and storytelling will change how you think about yourself.
Summer on Strong
Strong Avenue, Northampton
Thursday, Aug. 20 – Sunday, Aug. 23
When the weather’s just right, time spent with friends at Summer on Strong makes you wish that summer will never end. This weekend, enjoy folk/Americana from Helen Hummel on Thursday, original jazz from the Shane Allessio Trio on Friday, guitar-driven jazz from the Allan Bezama Trio on Saturday and soulful vocal jazz from the Ryan Hollander Quartet on Sunday. On Saturday, WillowRoot Family Play Pop-Up returns with a relaxed outdoor play space for kids and their grown-ups from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m.
Noises Off
Barrington Stage Company, Pittsfield
Thursday, Aug. 20 – Sept. 6
Doors slam, actors don’t know their lines, the leading lady can’t find her sardines, the ingénue is on auto-pilot — and they haven’t even raised the curtain yet! Noises Off is a loving parody of theater and the wonderfully eccentric people who create it. It’s about a troubled theater production that we see first in its final, chaotic day of rehearsals, then a month into the tour where the actors are at war behind the scenes, and finally near the end of the tour when the cast, crew, scenery and props are all falling apart.”
The Songbook
'62 Center for Theatre and Dance, Williams College, Williamstown
Thursday, Aug. 20 – Sunday, Aug 21 at 7 p.m.
Erica Terpening-Romeo is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Theatre at Williams College. She holds an MFA in Directing from Boston University and runs Hilltown Theatre. The Songbook is an exploration of maps, ghosts, muses, and memory as one woman tries to get to the very bottom of something. This solo show is “a kind of haunting in reverse — roughly an hour of mostly talking, with some songs, as performer and audience build and then follow a map to the bottom. Erica will talk about the process with Monte and Kaliis on Thursday’s Fabulous 413.
Great Barrington Public Theater: Yellow Wallpaper 2.0 – 2020
The Great Hall at Saint James Place, Great Barrington, MA
Thursday, Aug. 20 – Sunday, Sept. 6
A riff on Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s classic 1892 domestic horror story about a woman driven crazy by the rest cure for postpartum depression, Yellow Wallpaper 2.0 –2020 is about a female adjunct professor trying to thrive in COVID quarantine despite her toddler and demanding husband outside her bedroom and the personal demons she faces within. There are lots of post-performance conversations with local experts, and one with the playwright, Jennifer Maisel.
Wes Brown Quartet — 50 Years of Composition
Thursday, Aug. 20 at 7 p.m.
Peskeompskut Park, Avenue A and Seventh St., Turners Falls
Turners Falls resident Wes Brown has performed throughout the world on upright and electric bass, piano, African flute and percussion. Joining Wes are three luminary performers: Royal Hartigan, who commands an immense array of instruments from Turkish bendir drums to Japanese taiko; Nigerian pan-African saxophonist and multi-instrumentalist Temidayo Balogun, and contemporary composer and pianist Dr. Matan Rubinstein. This show is free, accessible and open to the public. Bring a lawn chair and picnic dinner.
The Westfield Fair
137 Russellville Road, Westfield
Friday, Aug. 21 – Sunday, Aug. 23
The Westfield Fair packs a lot of classic country-fair fun into three days: livestock shows, ox and horse draws, truck and tractor pulls, a midway, petting zoo, live music, a demolition derby, lawn mower racing, and plenty of food. Kids get some events of their own, including a pedal-powered tractor pull on Saturday and the wonderfully photogenic Kids Power Wheels Race at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.
Music at the Amherst Dog Park
2 Old Belchertown Road, Amherst
Friday, Aug. 21 from 5 p.m. – dusk
Is this for the dogs or their people? Both! Bring a chair or blanket and settle in for an evening of live music at the Amherst Dog Park. Nectar, a local acoustic trio weaving together music of the Americas with guitar, bass, and vocals, performs with alternative-rock singer-songwriter Juliana Hatfield. Donations are appreciated, and both people and pups are welcome. Please: no food or glass bottles.
Roomful of Teeth
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Friday, Aug. 21 at 7 p.m.
This looks so interesting! Roomful of Teeth is returning to MASS MoCA to create a new concert-length work with Puerto Rican–born composer Angélica Negrón and Balún, a Brooklyn-based indie electronic transnational band. “The Puerto Rico Experiment” is a new song cycle built from a series of sonic vignettes for voices surrounded by a mosaic of acoustic and electronic textures. Drawing on the expressive possibilities of the human voice, reimagined Caribbean folk traditions, and layered electronic textures, the work creates a unique sound world that moves between history, memory, and a speculative future. Tune in to the Fabulous 413 on Friday for a preview!
Audre Lorde: Sound Bath + Plant Medicine Journey
SUSU commUNITY Farm, Newfane, VT
Saturday, Aug. 22 from 4 – 7 p.m.
Kibilio Community and Farm is rooted in Black and Queer land sovereignty — a western Mass-based intergenerational, intentional community dedicated to embodied healing, reparative, ecological, and reproductive justice. Kibilio is collaborating with SUSU commUNITY Farm for a special silent meditation, sound bath and ritual journey inspired by the life and teachings of the late poet and activist Audre Lorde.
Really Really Free Market
Easthampton Public Library Annex, 52 Main Street
Saturday, Aug. 22 from 12 p.m. – 2 p.m.
Do have things that could use a new home and like the idea of swapping them for something you could use? Bring them to Easthampton's first ever Really Really Free Market, happening at the EPL Annex in the former Bank of America building. Bring whatever you have to give — household items, clothing, art supplies, entertainment, skills, plants, pet supplies — and take what you want. What if two people want the same thing? It will be resolved by rock, paper, scissors!
Berkshire Opera Festival: Lucia di Lammermoor
The Mahaiwe, Great Barrington
Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m.
Tuesday, Aug. 25 and Friday, Aug. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
"Lucia di Lammermoor" is a jewel of bel canto opera. Set amid the foggy moors and ancient castles of Scotland, Donizetti’s masterpiece tells the tragic story of Lucia, whose forbidden love for her family’s sworn enemy drives her to the brink of madness. When her brother forces her into a loveless marriage, Lucia’s heart and mind shatter in one of opera’s most unforgettable scenes.
Ground/work 2025: A Close Look—Gathering My Thoughts
The Clark, Williamstown
Saturday, Aug. 22 at 1 p.m.
Ground/work 2025 is an outdoor exhibition of six monumental sculptures positioned across the Clark’s campus. Each participating artist reimagines a global craft tradition in contemporary form. This event looks at Gathering My Thoughts, a beautiful example of willow weaving by British artist Laura Ellen Bacon. Using willow branches that are tied, looped, and woven together, Bacon's process evokes basket-weaving and the nest-building of birds. And be sure to see the other five monumental Ground/work 2025 sculptures positioned across the Clark’s campus. They will be in place until Monday, Oct. 12. The event is free and no registration is required.
Stone Soup Café Annual Harvest Supper
Greenfield Town Common
Saturday, Aug. 22, 2026, from 4:30 – 6:30 p.m.
This year’s supper is called “The Beet Goes On: Celebrating the Bounty of the County.” More than 1,000 guests are expected to attend and enjoy a chef-prepared meal made almost entirely with ingredients grown and produced right here in western Massachusetts. More than 30 local farms contribute vegetables, fruit, meat, dairy, herbs, and other ingredients, making Harvest Supper one of the region’s largest celebrations of local agriculture. I’m signed up to be one of the 150+ volunteers. In addition to all the delicious food, there will be live music from Michael Nix, the Mill River Rounders, Matt Goulet, Annie Hassett, and others. Harvest Supper is a pay-what-you-can event, and everyone is invited.
Stephen Curry: Beyond The Arc
Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame, Springfield
Open Daily from 10 a.m. – 5 p.m.
For the first time in its nearly 75-year history, the Basketball Hall of Fame is featuring a dedicated experience honoring an active NBA player. Stephen Curry: Beyond The Arc is a limited-time exhibit that peels back the layers that have transformed a one-time underdog into the game’s greatest shooter of all time.
Chickadee Karaoke
24 Cottage Street, Easthampton
If you like the idea of the Karaoke experience, but don’t like singing to a big audience of people you don’t know, this is for you. This storefront facility has four rooms that are perfect for groups of friends as small as 3 to as big as 14. Each room is powered with an easy-to-use system with cool features like pitch and tempo adjustment and a library of 120,000 songs. They have a selection of snacks available for purchase, or you can bring your own food, or even have it delivered!
NAB TICKETS NOW
Jacob’s Pillow Fall Season
Doris Duke Theatre, Jacob’s Pillow, Becket
Friday, Oct. 16 – Sunday, Oct. 25
Last week, I finally saw a show in the Doris Duke Theatre. It’s stunning! And it allows Jacob’s Pillow to stretch beyond its traditional summer season. This October combine a trip to the Pillow with some gorgeous Berkshires fall foliage. The first weekend brings Youth America Grand Prix: Fresh Voices in Dance (Oct. 16–18), showcasing work by emerging choreographers from the ballet world. Then Doug Varone and Dancers (Oct. 23–25) celebrates the company’s 40th anniversary with Varone’s No Matter How It Ends, featuring music by Radiohead, and Lux.
COMING SOON
Arcadia Folk Festival
Mass Audubon’s Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary, Easthampton
Saturday, Aug. 29 from 10 a.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Northampton’s Signature Sounds and Mass Audubon team up for the eighth annual Arcadia Folk Festival, bringing a full day of folk and roots music to the meadows and woods of the Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary. This year’s lineup features Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Allison Russell, The Milk Carton Kids, John Craigie, Fantastic Cat, Caitlin Canty, and others. Plus, the festival is solar powered, zero waste, carbon neutral, and provides bike valet service!
Tedeschi Trucks Band with Lukas Nelson
Tanglewood, Lenox
Wednesday, Sept. 2 at 7 p.m.
This show is going to be rich! Led by powerhouse singer-guitarist Susan Tedeschi and guitar virtuoso Derek Trucks, the 12-piece Tedeschi Trucks Band brings its blend of blues, rock, and Southern soul to Tanglewood. Willie Nelson’s son, Lukas Nelson, opens the evening.
Springfield Public Forum
Jill Lepore: The Rise and Fall of the Artificial State
Springfield Symphony Hall
Thursday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
Building on an essay in The New Yorker in 2024, Jill Lepore’s clarion call traces our increasing dependence on and strangulation by data. Political campaigns, awash in an avalanche of fake bots, have been reduced to attention-mining algorithms, while multinational media corporations dictate public discourse, and the era of the liberal nation-state seems to be coming to a rapid end, replaced by billionaire technocrats reliant on autocracy and the tools of AI. As always, this Springfield Public Forum event is free and open to the public.
Glendi Greek Festival
Greek Cultural Center, Springfield
Friday, Sept. 11 – Sunday, Sept. 13
St. George Greek Orthodox Cathedral’s annual Glendi festival fills the Greek Cultural Center with Greek food, pastries, live music, dancing, and plenty of celebration. The festival has been a Springfield tradition since 1978 and offers a lively introduction to Greek culture for the whole family. Admission is $2 and includes a raffle entry.
Miles for Music: Walk or Run
Downtown Amherst to downtown Northampton
Sunday, Sept. 13 at 10 a.m.
Here’s a race with a rhythm all its own. The inaugural Miles for Music is an 8.1-mile run, walk and relay linking The Drake in Amherst with The Iron Horse in Northampton. Live music performances along the course and the finish at Taste of Northampton make it part race and part music festival, while raising funds to support and strengthen two phenomenal local music venues that you read about often here in Culture to Do!
Springfield Puerto Rican Parade
Main Street, Springfield
Sunday, Sept. 13 at 11 a.m.
The theme of the 36th annual Springfield Puerto Rican Parade is “Como el Coquí.” It’s a nod to the famed tiny tree frog that is native to Puerto Rico. Like the coquí, Puerto Rico is small in size but full of heart, rhythm, and energy. The parade steps off at Main Street and Wason Avenue and makes its way through downtown Springfield to Boland Way.