“My beautiful, pitiful age”: The 20th century through the Thomas P. Whitney Collection
Mead Art Museum, Amherst College
On view through Sunday, Jan. 3
Reception Thursday, Sept. 10 from 5 – 7 p.m.
This exhibition offers the first in-depth look at Amherst College’s Thomas P. Whitney Collection, a remarkable holding of art and rare books from the Russian Empire and Soviet Union. Whitney, an Amherst graduate who worked as a diplomat and journalist in Moscow during the early Cold War, gave the Mead some 700 works by more than 160 artists. The exhibition ranges from Orthodox icons and late-19th-century art to Russian modernists and Soviet nonconformist artists. The reception features curator Maria Timina as well as scholars from Rutgers University and Brown University.
The Franklin County Fair
85 Wisdom Way, Greenfield
Thursday, Sept. 10 – Sunday, Sept. 13
It’s the 177th Franklin County Fair and this year’s theme is"History Grows Here." The Fair 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 162 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 Greenfield Middle School.
Mike’s Maze
Warner Farm, 23 S. Main Street, Sunderland
Open Fridays – Sundays, from Friday, Sept 11 – Sunday, Nov. 1
This year Mike’s Maze will be “must-see corn” celebrating 100 years since the invention of television with a century of TV history, culture and trivia tucked into the corn maze. In addition to the 8-acre corn maze itself, there’s a potato cannon range, jump pad, pedal carts, giant slide, playground, rolling tubes, a Hi-Striker and a new tractor pull, Mike’s Menagerie, food at the Corn Café, and more.
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. Bring some cash! You’ll need it for the $2 cash entry ticket per person; children age 5 and under are free.
Williamstown Jazz Festival
Various venues, Williamstown
Friday, Sept. 11 – Sunday, Sept. 13
The inaugural Williamstown Jazz Festival brings three days of vibrant music to venues around town. Friday opens at the ’62 Center with harpist Brandee Younger and Grammy-winning vocalist Lisa Fischer. Saturday features a jazz film festival at Images Cinema, followed by Steve Turre’s All-Star Band and The Cookers. Sunday begins with regional ensembles at the Clark Art Institute and includes a conversation about the history of jazz in the Berkshires, performances by the Wanda Houston Quartet and Kris Allen’s Triangle Offense. Arturo Sandoval is the headlining artist for the festival’s finale, happening Sunday at 8 p.m. Single event tickets, day passes, and full-festival passes are available.
Recent History performs Weezer’s Blue Album
Shea Theater, Turners Falls
Friday, Sept. 11 at 8 p.m.
Local alternative rock ensemble Recent History will perform Weezer’s iconic 1994 debut album (commonly known as "The Blue Album") in its entirety from start to finish, followed by a selection of 1990s alternative rock classics. Expect a full-album experience, played track-for-track, complete with deep cuts and fan-favorites from the era. With the addition of a selection of other classics, this will be a powerful night of nostalgia.
Williamsburg Porchfest
Downtown Williamsburg
Saturday, Sept. 12, 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Williamsburg turns its porches, businesses and gathering spots into small stages for a day of live local music, timed to coincide with the Burgy Grange Community Fair. Performances take place at locations including the Williamsburg Market, Tangle Chocolate, Exhibit A Brewing, Angel Park, the American Legion and Williamsburg Church. Genres includes folk, Celtic music, indie, and more.
Taste of Northampton
Parking lot behind Thornes Marketplace, Northampton
Saturday, Sept. 12, 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 13, 11 a.m. – 6 p.m.
More than 30 restaurants, breweries and food vendors take over the parking lot behind Thornes Marketplace for a weekend of eating, drinking and live music. Vendors offer tasting portions on a pay-as-you-go basis, so you can graze your way through the festival à la carte; portion sizes and prices vary. A large dining tent with tables and chairs provides a place to sit down with your yummy finds. There are also two live-music stages, an expanded Kid Zone, and a new Health & Wellness Hub. Rain or shine.
Inaugural Fairy & Arts Festival
Daley Field at Nonotuck Park, Easthampton
Saturday, Sept. 12 from 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Fairies, witches, knights, princesses, elves and other magical beings are invited to Easthampton for a celebration of art, imagination and folklore. The day includes live music and performances, more than 25 artisan vendors, a fairy house trail, a crystal and gem dig, storytelling, interactive arts, food vendors and a Divination Den with tarot, oracle and intuitive readers. Come in costume with a tutu, wings and a wand!
Ashfield Lighted Boat Parade
Town Beach & Park, Ashfield
Saturday, Sept. 12 at 6 p.m.
Here’s an evening of free entertainment and the unveiling of 14 extraordinary lighted artworks on Ashfield Lake! The fun begins at 6 p.m. with Double Edge Theatre, No Loose Braids, Juggler Joseph Goldin, Western Mass Face Painting, Ashfield Community Band, and fire performances. The parade starts at 7:30 p.m. and will transform Ashfield Lake with light, color, sound, and movement. Spectators are invited to stay after the parade to see the artworks up close and talk with the artists and crew. Food for purchase? Of course!
Feet Keep the Beat
Adam’s Theater, Adams
Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Free Workshop Sunday, Sept 13 at 11 a.m.
Feet Keep the Beat brings a unique celebration of rhythm and culture to the Adams Theater. A dynamic group of artists explore movement and history told through the universal language of rhythm, offering audiences a thrilling intercultural experience that features step, flamenco, and tap. On Sunday morning there’s a free, all-levels community workshop. Participants will learn footwork, rhythm, and the cultural roots of percussive movement directly from the company artists.
Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares Season Opener
Terry Jenoure Septet: The Portal
Northampton Center for the Arts
Saturday, Sept. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
Pioneer Valley Jazz Shares works a little like a CSA: members buy shares at the start of the season, providing the money needed to produce concerts by adventurous jazz artists across western Mass. A full $125 share includes 10 admissions that can be used however you choose. individual concert tickets are also available for $20. The Season 15 opener presents the world premiere of “Unlocked: Homage to the Prisoner and the Key That Frees,” played by Terry Jenoure’s high-powered septet, The Portal.
Son Lux
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
Longtime friends of MASS MoCA Son Lux are kicking off their world tour with a concert showcasing their forthcoming album Out Into! Across nearly two decades, Son Lux has earned its reputation for splendor and sweep, but this new album is something different: a punchy suite of songs born from dazzling moments of collective improvisation. Did you know that Son Lux composed the Oscar-nominated score for the movie Everything Everywhere All at Once?
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 (see above!) 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
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.
Chamber@the Drake Season Premiere:
Edward Arron and Jeewon Park, cello/piano
The Drake, Amherst
Sunday, Sept. 13 at 4 p.m.
Founded in 2022, Chamber@the Drake is a great series where you can enjoy chamber music in a relaxed, unstuffy, and intimate environment where artists and audience connect through sound and conversation. And there’s a bar! This weekend, cellist Edward Arron and pianist Jeewon Park kick off the 2026 – 2027 series of six Sunday afternoon concerts with a program of work by Beethoven, Fauré, Janáček, and Chopin.
The Swing Era with NEPM’s Tom Reney
Greenfield Community Center Senior Symposia
John W. Olver Transit Center, Greenfield
Thursday, Sept. 17 at 2 p.m.
Tom Reney, the renowned longtime host of NEPM’s Jazz à la Mode, will discuss the rich and varied traditions of jazz during its peak popularity in the United States. He has been telling people for over 40 years about this true American art form. Tom Reney is an evangelist on the theme that the vast variety of black music and blues music, out of jazz joints and church is the bright spiritual, awe-inspired thread through his own American life.
COMING SOON
Connecticut River Watershed Partnership: Watershed Week
Friday, Sept. 18 – Sunday, Sept. 27
Watershed Week celebrates the Connecticut River with events across the region. The cornerstone is the 30th annual Source to Sea Cleanup, Sept. 18–19, when volunteers remove trash from waterways, riverbanks and communities throughout the 410-mile watershed. Last year, more than 2,000 volunteers collected nearly 35 tons of trash! Plus, there will be many events in western Mass. including museum programs, history walks and a watershed-wide BioBlitz.
Concerts at The Big E Arena
Eastern States Exposition, West Springfield
Friday, Sept. 18 – Sunday, Oct. 4
The Big E is coming, and the lineup of ticketed concerts in the Big E Arena includes some very big names. Shock-rock pioneer Alice Cooper performs Saturday, Sept. 19; Roger Daltrey of The Who takes the stage Sunday, Sept. 20; and The Beach Boys, led by founding member Mike Love with longtime member Bruce Johnston, arrive Thursday, Sept. 24. Electronic music superstar deadmau5 plays Saturday, Sept. 26. Later in the fair, rapper Ice Cube performs Saturday, Oct. 3, and classic-rock band Styx closes out the Big E on Sunday, Oct. 4. Arena concert tickets include admission to the fair.
Northampton Jazz Festival
Downtown Northampton
Friday, Sept. 25 and Saturday, Sept. 26
The Northampton Jazz Festival marks its 15th year with 80 musicians and 26 live performances at 17 downtown venues. The free Jazz Strut gets things started Friday afternoon in Pulaski Park, followed by music in restaurants, breweries and bars around downtown all evening long and finishing with a late-night jam session. Free performances continue Saturday — aka Jazz Fest Day — in various Noho performance spots. The festival concludes with the 7:30 p.m. ticketed concert at the Academy of Music by six-time Grammy-nominated alto saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin.
Golden Hour Sounds
Park Hill Orchard, Easthampton
Saturday, Sept. 26 from 4 – 6 p.m.
Easthampton City Arts is presenting a concert at one of the best places in our region to enjoy a crisp fall afternoon. Golden Hour Sounds will feature performances by Pamela Means Band and Winterpills, surrounded by the immersive seasonal beauty and dynamic outdoor art exhibit of Easthampton's beloved Park Hill Orchard. Early-Bird tickets are $25 until September 12. And tickets are $30 after that.
Lucinda Williams
MASS MoCA, North Adams
Friday, Oct. 2 at 8 p.m.
Multiple Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Lucinda Williams and her band take to the Hunter Center stage on tour with their latest record, "World’s Gone Wrong." Filled with gut-wrenching topical songs, the album’s ten tracks were written and recorded in a blast of collaborative creativity as Lucinda and her co-writers grappled with events transpiring during the spring of 2025.
Deerfield After Dark: Ghosts of the Revolution
Historic Deerfield
Friday, Oct. 9 – Saturday, Oct. 24 from 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Have you ever wanted to talk to the ghost of a Tory tavern keeper? Or have a conversation with two friends who were on different sides during the Revolution? This October, Hall Tavern will be filled with ghosts of the Revolution. Enjoy hot mulled cider, hear ghost stories, and follow a guide outside into the darkness to meet ghosts from the Stebbins and Williams families. Short guided walks begin at 7 p.m. and depart every half hour until 9 p.m.