(PITTSFIELD, Mass.) – Hancock Shaker Village enjoyed record attendance at its tenth annual Baby Animals on the Shaker Farm. Nearly 15,000 people visited the baby lambs, piglets, calves, goats, ducklings, and chicks in the Round Stone Barn between April 7, 2012, and 29, 2012. This was a 12% increase over the previous attendance record, set in 2010.
Fifty-five field trip groups, ranging in size from ten to 200, came from schools, daycare centers, and scouting groups, traveling from all areas of Massachusetts as well as New York and Vermont. Director of Farm and Facilities Bill Mangiardi’s revamped premium Behind-the-Scenes Farm Tours, which now include narrated hayrides with animals aboard, proved especially popular, with 350 participants (up from 250 last year).
Hancock Shaker Village Director of Operations and Marketing Laura Wolf said, “After ten years, Baby Animals has become a beloved spring tradition for Berkshire families. We benefited from great word of mouth this year via social media, with lots of visitors posting their photos, videos, and rave reviews of their visit to the farm. The special David Grover concerts and children’s story times arranged by Greylock Federal Credit Union over Sheep Shearing weekend drew the largest crowd during the three-week period.”
Situated on a picturesque expanse of farm, field, and woodland in Pittsfield, Mass., Hancock Shaker Village is an outdoor living history museum and center for the study of principled living in the 21st century. The fully restored Village includes 18 historic buildings, heirloom medicinal and vegetable gardens, 22,000 examples of Shaker furniture, crafts, tools, and clothes that depict daily life at the Shakers’ City of Peace through its 220 years, as well as heritage breed farm animals and spectacular hiking trails.
There are daily tours, craft and cooking demonstrations, lectures and workshops, and a variety of activities for children and families, as well as a Museum Store and Shaker-inspired cuisine at the Village Harvest Café. The Discovery Room offers hands-on opportunities for kids of all ages to try their hand at chair seat weaving, working at a loom, trying on Shaker-style clothing, or milking a life-sized replica of a cow. An interactive audio tour (free with admission) is available in English, French, Italian, and German. For more information, call 800.817.1137 or go to Hancock Shaker Village.
Hancock Shaker Village is open daily for self-guided visits from April 7 through October 28. April 7 through June 30, the Village is open 10 to 4 daily and July 1 through October 28, hours are 10 to 5 daily.
Hancock Shaker Village members and children 12 and under are admitted free of charge. Admission for adults is $17 and youth visitors aged 13 to 17 are $8.
Hancock Shaker Village is located on Route 20 in Pittsfield, Mass., just west of the junction of Routes 20 and 41. For GPS purposes, the Village is located at 34 Lebanon Mountain Rd., Hancock, Mass. 01237. Or, enter 1843 W. Housatonic St., Pittsfield, Mass. 01201 then proceed 1/2 mile further west on Rt. 20 to the parking lot.