(GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass.) – Once again, the summer-long Berkshire Busk! downtown music and arts festivalwill bring weekly live music and performances to downtown Great Barrington. Highlights of its fourth season include a performance by Americana group Rees Shad & The Conversations – whose new album, The Galahad Blues, reimagines the story of The Knights of the Round Table recast as gangsters in King Arthur’s Camelot as a 1940s Chicago nightclub — on Friday, July 5, and the Greg Glassman Band, led by the New York City-based jazz trumpeter, on Friday, August 16. The festival kicks off on Friday, June 28, and continues on Fridays and Saturdays through August 31.

The festival will feature music, dance, acrobatics and more every Friday and Saturday night starting at 6:30pm from Friday, June 28th (the week before July 4th Weekend) through Saturday, August 31st (Labor Day Weekend). This season, the festival will expand its repertoire of talented performers in part through partnerships with Jacob’s Pillow,Berkshire Pride and Festival Latino.

Berkshire Busk! makes the streets and sidewalks its stages, lighting up downtown with free performances targeted to audiences of all ages and backgrounds – promoting Great Barrington as a wonderful place to shop, dine, visit, and live. The immersive arts festival has programmed about 100 unique “busker” performers/groups across the 10-weekend run, performing at various outdoor street locations. Both Fridays and Saturdays will now feature main stages on Railroad Street with larger bands and internationally traveling professional street performers.

Berkshire Busk! will collaborate with additional venues on Saturdays during the summer season. Performers will be at the Great Barrington Farmers Market on Saturday mornings, while balloon artists and face painters will delight families at Robin’s Candy as the Farmers Market ends. Berkshire Busk! Roadside will also continue this year, where performerswill entertain at Berkshire Mountain Disttillers from 2pm to 4pm.

“Berkshire Busk! festival has rapidly become an eagerly anticipated tradition for locals, and a must-visit cultural experience for visitors to the Berkshires,” says festival founder/director Gene Carr. “Last season nearly 30,000 peoplewere downtown during festival hours, enhancing the downtown and simultaneously helping to bring customers to the stores and restaurants.”

“Berkshire Busk! has been a transformative addition to our downtown during the summer, significantly aiding the district’s recovery from the pandemic,” says Great Barrington town manager Mark Pruhenski. “This year, we’re onceagain closing Railroad Street to all traffic on Friday and Saturday nights, fostering a unique community experience in ourdowntown area.”

 

Festival Highlights:

June 28 – Pride Night at Berkshire Berkshire Busk!: – In partnership with Berkshire Pride, Berkshire Busk! will host a number of LGBTQ+ vendors and performers including fire dancer Opal Raven, beatboxer Galush, and drag performers Bella Santarella, Poppy DaBubbly and Vuronika Baked. The Triplex Cinema will host a pre-festival DragStory Hour in the afternoon, and a Pride-themed outdoor movie screening as the night draws to a close.

July 27 – Latin Night at Berkshire Busk! – In partnership with Festival Latino and 413 Latinas, specific acts on Railroad Street to be announced.

Aug 9 – Dance Night at Berkshire Busk! – In partnership with Jacob’s Pillow. Dancers will be stationed throughoutdowntown, including a salsa lesson with Jacob’s Pillow dancers on lower Railroad followed by a dance party with music spun by DJ Bongohead.

The complete festival schedule – along with names, dates and locations of performances – can be found at www.berkshirebusk.com.