There will be a variety of events in the Berkshires this weekend including festivals, haunted houses, and a picnic.
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Purgatory Road
Community Recreation Association, Dalton
Time: Friday and Saturday, 7 until 10 p.m.
Take a haunted hike behind the Dalton CRA this weekend to raise money for suicide prevention.
Actors will be waiting to scare your socks off during this 20-minute hike. There will be uneven terrain, strobe lights, and fog machines. Security personnel will be available for anyone in need of assistance.
Tickets are $15 and are sold at the door. This event is recommended for ages 12 and up.
It is recommended that participants show up early as there are a limited number of tickets available. Parking opens at 6:30 p.m. in the CRA parking lot. Tickets will start to be sold at 6:45 p.m.
Main School streets will be closed this Saturday to make room for a harvest festival. The event features fall activities, 50-plus vendors, food trucks, live music stages, and more.
This event is free and open to the public with plenty of parking downtown. More information here.
Friday
Pride-O-Ween
The Stationery Factory, Dalton
Time: 8 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Members of the LGBTQIA-plus community and allies aged 18 and over are welcome to get into the spooky spirit this Friday the 13th with a pride event.
The event features dancing, divination, a costume contest, live tunes by DJ Pup Daddy, and an appearance from the Sanderson Sisters, featuring Berkshire Drag Queens, Poppy DaBubbly, Bella Santarella and Vuronika Baked.
Tickets range from $13 to $50. More information here.
Saturday
'Tober Fest
Lanesborough Local Country Store
Time: noon to 4
The store will be having a festival to celebrate the fall season. The event features vendors, food, music, cider doughnut eating contests, beer stein competition and more.
Shop for a range of secondhand items from crafts and fabrics, household goods, children and pet items, art, gift raffle and more.
Items are half-price from 1-2 p.m. More information here.
Community Bike Ride
850 Crane Ave, Pittsfield
Time: 10 a.m.
Take a roughly 8-mile family bike ride from the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail parking lot on Crane Avenue to Whitney's Farm Market. This free event is open to the public. More information here.
Comedy Show Fundraiser
North Adams Elks, Eagle Street
Time: 6:30 to 9:30
Features ward-winning comedian Nancy Norton and local comedians Mark Jagiello and Charlie Nadler, as well as a silent acution, raffles, and light appetizers. Proceeds benefit the Hoosick River Revival.
Shirley Jackson, perhaps the greatest writer of the horror/gothic fiction genre in 20th-century America, lived and worked for most of her renowned literary career, from 1945 until her untimely death in 1965, in North Bennington. She's probably best known for "The Lottery" and "The Haunting of Hill House."
Join Jamie Franklin, Bennington Museum's director of collections and exhibitions, and Jackson's son Laurence Hyman in a conversation about Jackson's literary legacy, focusing on items from the collection and her local ties.
Free and open to the public. More information here.
Fall Picnic
Cricket Creek Farm, Williamstown
Time: Noon to 4 p.m.
Bring your own picnic and blanket and enjoy the fall foliage from the lawn at Cricket Creek Farm.
The picnic marks the release of a small batch of hard cider made from wild apples gathered on the farm and will be available for sale at Berkshire Cider Project’s tasting room in North Adams.
The event features sampling of the hard cider, artisanal cheese, and a grilled autumn menu provided by Door Prize. More information here.
Animal Support Project Fantasy Photos
Benson's Pet Center, Pittsfield
Time: noon until 3 p.m.
Get a Halloween or autumn-themed 4-by-6 inch framed photo of your furry babies for a $10 donation. More information here.
Quiet Riot Performance
The Stationery Factory, Dalton
Time: 7:30 p.m.
There will be a performance by heavy metal band Quiet Riot. The Los Angeles quartet is known for its 1983 smash album "Metal Health."
Bassist and founding member Rudy Sarzo has returned to Quiet Riot after almost a 20-year absence.
Opening the show is rock band Tora Tora guitarist Anthony Corder. Doors open for VIPs at 6:30 and for general admission at 6:45.
Tickets range from $50 to 75. More information here.
Multiple Days
Fall Foliage Train Rides
Hoosac Valley Train Ride, Adams
Gaze at Berkshire County’s fall foliage on Berkshire Scenic Railway Museum hour-long train ride on its fully restored, 100-hundred-year-old coaches.
The rides will take place Saturday and Sunday at 11, 1:30, and 3 p.m. Tickets cost $20 for adults and $12 for children between the ages 3 and 12. More information here.
Whitney's Farm Market & Garden Center
Route 8, Cheshire
Whitney's Farm continues its popular Pumpkin Fest this weekend. The festival is open every Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. until 5:30 p.m.
Pick pumpkins, ride on a hay wagon, get glitter tattoos, walk through a corn maze, and more every weekend until Oct. 29.
The terrifying favorite returns to provided a fright-filled weekend to participants brave enough to enter the haunted house.
Take a group of friends to participate in "13 Nights at Jiminy" every Friday through Sunday from 6:30 until 10:30 p.m. through the month of October.
The age recommendation is 10 and older. Tickets are $28.
You can also ride through the darkness with the resort's Mountain Coaster for $15; The Scream and Scare Package includes one trip through "13 Nights" and two rides on the coaster for $45.
The Christiansen's Tavern will be open to purchase drinks, dinner, or a snack Friday and Saturday.
More information here. Check out our video from last year here.
The Incredible Naumkeag Pumpkin Show
Naumkeag, Stockbridge
Naumkeag's pumpkin show is open Wednesday through Sunday throughout October.
Explore the museum's gardens that have been decorated with more than 1,500 jack o' lanterns, hundreds of mums, pumpkins and countless gourds — most of which were grown at Naumkeag.
Hot cider and fall treats will be available for sale on-site.
Advanced purchase of timed tickets is required. Tickets will not be sold on-site. Ticket time represents your arrival window.
No parking is available onsite but designated parking spaces are available on both sides of Town Hall located at 50 Main St., along Main Street or Elm Street.
The first shuttle will leave downtown Stockbridge at 5 p.m. and run every 5 to 10 minutes through the run of the show; the last shuttle will depart no later than 8 p.m.
This is the final weekend for North Adams and Pittsfield; Great Barrington runs through Nov. 11.
Pittsfield Farmers Market
The Common, Pittsfield
Time: 9 to 1.
Powered by Roots Rising, the market will conclude this Saturday rain or shine.
Each week the market will have fresh locally grown fruits and vegetables, along with meat, eggs, cheese, baked goods by local vendors. Participants can shop for flowers, and artisan goods while listening to music and participate in family activities. For more information, visit the website.
North Adams Farmers Market
St. Anthony Municipal Parking Lot
Time: 9 to 1
The North Adams market is open every Saturday and offers produce and baked goods from local retailers including Red Shirt Farm, Fahey Family Farm, Bohemian Nouveaux Bakery, Mon Artistic Pets, and more. More information here.
Great Barrington Farmers Market
18 Church St.
Time: 9 to 1.
The market is open every Saturday. Every week there will be locally grown food, flowers, and plants along with other local vendors. More information here.
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.
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Safety Solutions Proposed for Berkshire Mall Intersection
By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff
LANESBOROUGH, Mass. — A speed bump and traffic mirror have been proposed at the reportedly problematic intersection of Old State Road and the Berkshire Mall entrance.
Last week, abutters approached the Select Board with concerns about drivers ignoring stop signs and speeding through the area. Target owns its building and is the lone business left on the property.
"When you turn into Old State Road, our driveways are right there," Judy Bennett said. "Nobody stops, nobody slows down to come around that corner. They go faster and that's where someone is going to get hurt."
Carl Bennett added, "We are taking our lives into our own hands when we pull out during the day."
The Old State Road bridge connects the mall and Old State Road to Route 8. Abutter Pauline Hunt would like to see it closed entirely, making the Connector Road the access point from Route 8.
"That entrance isn't necessary," she said.
"It's chaos. There's an entrance over by the bike path that would serve everybody, there would be no problem, and there are lights at the end of it, it's a dream to get into there. I don't see the reason that chaos is there."
Last week, abutters approached the Select Board with concerns about drivers ignoring stop signs and speeding through the area. Target owns its building and is the lone business left on the property.
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Water runoff reaching the drainage outlet behind the property is flooding it, unable to reach an intermittent stream meant to carry that runoff. click for more
The $25,000 raised will directly assist the Berkshire Humane Society in funding its various programs aimed at improving the lives of animals in need throughout the Berkshire County area. click for more
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