Hampshire County in western Mass. is a festival destination 2016
Pines Theater at Look Park, Northampton
Photo by Lynne Graves
Warmer weather brings live music, arts, food, and Pride celebrations visitors won’t want to miss.
Northampton, MA – March 2016– As winter begins to fade into spring, it’s time to start planning travel for spring and summer festival season now. Hampshire County of Western Massachusetts, or The Other Side of Massachusetts, might as well be known as The Festive Side of Massachusetts for its abundance of summer festivals celebrating music, arts, food, and LGBT Pride. In 2016 many of the region’s festivals celebrate milestone anniversaries, making this year one not to miss.
- Northampton Pride - May 7- Long-known for not just welcoming, but also celebrating the LGBT community, Northampton is home to a Pride Day worth traveling for. Always a festive event, this year’s 35th anniversary promises to be the best-ever celebration of inclusion and diversity in western Massachusetts.
- Paradise City Arts Festival - May 28 - 30 - Spend Memorial Day Weekend at a world-class arts fair right in the cultural heart of New England. 260 carefully selected artists and makers from every corner of America descend upon Northampton for three days of astounding visual arts, eye-popping design, scrumptious food, fabulous live music and great fun. The event also returns every Columbus Day weekend during the peak of fall foliage season.
- Taste of Amherst - June 16 - 19 - Amherst has so many delicious culinary offerings that it would be easy to spend weeks eating your way around town. If you don’t have that kind of time, the 25th Annual Taste of Amherst, a four day festival of food and family, gives you the opportunity to sample the town’s food scene in one place.
- Green River Festival - July 8 - 10 - Celebrating 30 years in 2016, the Green River Festival presented by Northampton’s Signature Sounds Recordings has in the past been named a “Must See Music Festival” by Rolling Stone. A signature event of western Massachusetts, the weekend includes great music, local wine and beer, food from area restaurants, crafts, games and family activities, camping, all nestled among the beautiful scenery of the region. Lineup announcement coming March 1, 2016.
- Yidstock - July 14 - 17 - The Yiddish Book Center in Amherst brings the best of klezmer and new Yiddish music to the public during this festival, which marks its 5th year in 2016. Workshops, talks, dance lessons, and more make it a one-of-a-kind event where you are guaranteed to learn something new.
- Cummington Fair - August 25 - 28 - The biggest and best little fair in the country celebrates 148 years of farming, food, and family fun. Agricultural pride is on display during the event, and local delights like Hampshire County maple syrup appear in the form of fair-worthy treats such as maple cream on fried dough.
- Amourasaurus II - August 27 - 28 - Outdoor music is what summer is all about, and Lake Street Dive’s Amourasaurus II, presented by Signature Sounds, brings musical favorites Josh Ritter and Mavis Staples to the beautiful Pines Theater at Look Park in Northampton for two days this summer. Music goes from afternoon into the evening at this family-friendly event, making it the ideal way to spend a late-summer weekend.
- Three County Fair – September 2-5 - The Three County Fair in Northampton is the oldest continuously running agricultural fair in the country. It’s not just agriculture that you’ll find here though. Past fairs have included motorcycle shows, a logging demonstration, baking contests, livestock shows, pig races, live music and a lot more. Fun fact: the fairgrounds are at the geographical center of New England.
For additional festivals and updates, stay tuned to www.visithampshirecounty.com.
About the Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council
The Hampshire County Regional Tourism Council is a destination marketing partnership of the Amherst Area, Greater Easthampton, and Greater Northampton Chambers of Commerce. One of 16 Regional Tourism Councils in Massachusetts, the HCRTC works in close partnership with the Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism. Learn more at http://visithampshirecounty.com or visit Hampshire County on Facebook www.facebook.com/visithampshirecounty or Twitter www.twitter.com/othersidema.
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