Toast the Good Life
Black Birch Vineyard Wine Tasting
Photo by Lynne Graves
The good life is especially worth toasting in Western Massachusetts during the summer. Here’s our top 10 list (in no particular order).
- Gorge on our world-famous asparagus (it’s Hadley Grass, here) at our WGBH Asparagus Festival, Saturday, June 2, on the Hadley Commons and featured in Yankee Magazine. Asparagus ice cream anyone?
- Load your bike for the Pedal2Pints Summer Ride, Saturday, June 2. Bike from brewery to brewery on one of 5 different rides from the 90-mile ride to the 33-mile ride.
- Stroll the street at Easthampton’s Cultural Chaos Cottage Street festival, June 9, and Northampton’s Main Street Summer Block Party, July 7.
- Sample our award-winning craft brews, special releases and beer-inspired dinners during Western Mass Beer Week, Saturday, June 9 through Saturday, June 16.
- Dine al fresco at one of our farm dinners with white linen tablecloths and candles, right in the field where the food is grown.
Pedal 2 Pints / Fort Hill Brewery
Lynne Graves
- Bring home hand-thrown pottery for your home and table at the Hilltown Pottery Tour, July 28-29. Keep your “craft beer getaway theme” going at the Hops + Pots event, Saturday night.
- Combine your wine-tastings with a barre class, a yoga class, or a Fleetwood Mac tribute band concert at one of our vineyards.
- Food truck fan? Don’t miss Food Truck Fridays.
- Pack a picnic and take a hike on one of the dozens of trails through our state parks or along our Holyoke Range. Great for kids and adults.
- Relive the politics and social change of the Sixties at Amherst’s Ko Festival of Performance, 5 weeks of original, authentic theater. July 6 to August 5.
Read what travel writers say about visiting western Massachusetts
Thrillist Best American Vacations for beer lovers