Berkshires Arts Festival Returns For 11th Year

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The 11th annual Berkshires Arts Festival at Ski Butternut will offer ongoing workshops, demonstrations, talks, activities for children, and live musical and theatrical performances over the Fourth of July weekend.

More than 8,000 visitors are expected to attend this year’s festival, an annual juried show that features more than 200 artists and artisans with exceptional original works for display and sale in ceramics, painting, jewelry, glass, wood, mixed media, sculpture, fashion, and photography. The producers of Berkshires Arts Festival are Richard and Joanna Rothbard, artistic directors of American Art Marketing and owners of An American Craftsman galleries with locations in New York City, Savannah, Ga., and Stockbridge.

Ski Butternut is located on Route 23 and the festival hours are: Friday, July 6, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Saturday, July 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and Sunday, July 8, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Featured performances and activities at the 11th Annual Berkshires Arts Festival include:

Friday, July 6

Straight Ahead, performing from 1 to 3 p.m. The jazz trio is composed of guitarist John Myers, who directs the jazz program for Bard College at Simon’s Rock, flugelhornist Karl Easton and bassist Pete Toigo.

Ryan Hollander, a solo acoustic guitarist playing vibrant and passionate folk and blues music.

Saturday, July 7


The Lucky 5, performing from noon to 3 p.m. The Lucky Five is a hot jazz and swing quintet that band brings verve, high energy, and an unpredictable impulse to the tradition of jazz music from the 1920s through the 1940s. The band is composed of Kip Beacco on guitar and vocals, Matt Downing on bass, Pete Adams on pedal steel guitar, and Jonathan Talbott and Lukas Schwartz on twin fiddles.

Ryan Hollander, a solo acoustic guitarist playing vibrant and passionate folk and blues music.

Alotta Hoopla, Hoop Dance Workshop from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The Greenfield-based Alotta Hoopla, a hooping entertainment company, will demonstrate and perform hooping with handmade hoops of all sizes, weights and colors. Alotta Hoopla teaches the hoop dance through a variety of moves, exercises and technique, making it engaging, progressive, and accessible for all ages and abilities.

Sunday, July 8

Barrington Stage Company Youth Theatre, 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. Two performances of excerpts from the company’s productions of Disney’s “Beauty and The Beast” by the talented BSC Youth Theater, comprised of young Berkshire County actors, ages 13 to 19. 

Admission to the Berkshires Arts Festival is $12 for adults; $10 for seniors; $5 for students; and is free for children under 10. A weekend pass for the three-day festival is available for $13. Ample parking is available free of charge. The show will be held, rain or shine, under tents, outdoors, and in the air-conditioned lodge at Ski Butternut. Ample free parking is available. For more information about the festival, including a full list of exhibitors and works for sale, go to berkshiresartsfestival.com or call 845-355-2400.

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Pittsfield Cannabis Cultivator Plans Dispensary

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD. Mass. — A cannabis cultivator and manufacturer has opted to sell its products on site in Downing Parkway. 

The Zoning Board of Appeals this month approved a special permit for J-B.A.M. Inc. to operate a dispensary out of its existing grow facility. There will only be changes to the interior of 71 Downing Parkway, as there will be less than 500 square feet of retail space in the 20,000-square-foot building. 

"My only concern would be the impact, and really would be traffic, which I don't think is excessive, the odor, if there was one, but that doesn't seem to be an issue, and I think it's a good location for a marijuana facility," board member Thomas Goggins said. 

The company's indoor cultivation site plan was approved in 2019, an amendment to add manufacturing and processing in 2021, and on the prior day, a new site plan to add a retail dispensary was approved by the Community Development Board. 

J-B.A.M. cannabis products are available in local dispensaries. 

The interior of the facility will be divided to accommodate an enclosed check-in area, front entrance, retail lobby, secure storage room, offices, and two bathrooms. There are 27 parking spaces for the facility, which is sufficient for the use. 

No medical or recreational cannabis uses are permitted within 500 feet of a school or daycare, a setback that is met, and the space is within an industrial park at the end of a cul-de-sac. 

"The applicant desires the restructuring of the business to be more competitive in the industry with the ability to grow and sell their own cannabis products so they have more financial stability," Chair Albert Ingegni III, read from the application. 

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