Northampton Youth Cinema Festival returns
The Northampton Youth Cinema Festival, a showcase for local filmmakers ages 21 and younger, will return this year on Sunday, April 26 at 6 p.m. at 33 Hawley in Northampton.
Festival organizer Garrett Williams said in a statement, “When young people make short films, they are not just creating art. They are finding ways to express themselves in an audio-visual medium. Whether or not they realize it, their personalities emerge through the work. It’s easy to write off stop-motion films or music videos or action-comedies as ephemeral, but they reveal so much about the youthful perspectives of their makers.”
“Media literacy is so incredibly important these days. There is no better way to teach someone about media messaging than by asking them to try it,” he added. “By creating their own projects, they see first hand how creative decisions can drive a narrative. The act of producing media gives students a critical eye that is very hard to teach.”
As of this writing, the list of films that will be screened in the festival has not been finalized, but Williams said he received 19 entries from 15 applicants.
Admission is free.
Barry Searle and his Wolf Hill Band to celebrate album release at Marigold Theater in Easthampton
Local veteran musician Barry Searle and his Wolf Hill Band will celebrate the release celebrates the release of his debut solo album, “The Awakening,” at Marigold Theater in Easthampton on Sunday, April 26.
After decades as a prominent guitarist and arranger for Valley bands like Forest and The Iron Horse Band, Searle’s new original work spans Americana, rock and bluegrass. He will be backed by The Wolf Hill Band, featuring Sarah Miller, Paul Racicot, Peter Rzasa, Mark Nebvue and Clark Howell.
Tickets are available on a sliding scale, $0-$15. The bar opens at 7 p.m. For more information, visit marigold.org/barrysearle.
A ‘Woodstock-inspired’ festival comes back to Hadley
The music festival Mojofest Amherst will head back to The Club in Hadley on Saturday, April 25, from 12 to 6 p.m.
The lineup includes Moondoggy, Morrissey Blvd., Grand View Point (@grandviewpointma), Autumn Drive, Northbound, Charley Blacker, Em Donovan, Finesse, Shep, Fij, Young, Marcielo, Luca S, Steezy Dan and Mav.
The festival will also have nearly 40 vendors, food trucks, art installations and more.
Free shuttle buses will take festivalgoers to and from The Spoke in Amherst throughout the day.
Tickets start at $30 general admission via localmojobrand.com/mojofestamherst. The festival is 21 and up.
UMass Symphony Orchestra and Choirs to perform Verdi’s ‘Requiem’ on April 26
The UMass Symphony Orchestra and nearly 200 vocalists will perform Verdi’s “Requiem” at Frederick C. Tillis Performance Hall on Sunday, April 26 at 4 p.m.
The show will include vocalists from the UMass Chamber Choir, the University Chorale, students from the choral program at Mount Holyoke College, the Illumine Vocal Arts Ensemble, and four professional operatic soloists: soprano Emily Birsan, mezzo-soprano Sarah Coit, tenor Lucas Levy, and bass Kofi Hayford.
Verdi’s “Requiem,” written after the death of his friend Alessandro Manzoni, is 90 minutes long, and a press release called it “a test of stamina, endurance, flexibility and technical skill.”
Conductor Gonzalo Hidalgo Ardila said in the release, “This is an invitation for everybody to see a new experience. We are talking about Verdi, the master composer of the opera! Even though this is a (funeral) mass, you will see an opera where you can hear the complete palette of the human voice with these powerful choirs and four amazing soloists. It’s really the whole package for the audience.”
Tickets are $17 general admission or $7 for students, seniors, and UMass employees at the Fine Arts Center box office, by calling 413-545-2511, or at purchase.arts.umass.edu/events.
Community square dance returns to Ashfield
A free, all-ages community square dance will be held Saturday, April 25, from 7-9:30 p.m. at Ashfield Town Hall, 412 Main St. Lila West will call the dances, accompanied by live music from the Fall Town String Band. The event is open to everyone, and no experience is necessary. Both seasoned dancers and complete beginners are encouraged to attend. Organizers request participants arrive at 7 p.m.; at the start of the evening, the caller will help dancers form squares and guide them through simple moves that build throughout the night.
West has been square dancing since childhood and has called dances around the region, including fall 2025 dances at the Williamsburg Grange and Ashfield Town Hall. A resident of Hadley and a Clarke Teacher of the Deaf at Hampshire Regional High School, West is known for creating a fun, welcoming atmosphere and for her clear, engaging instruction.
The Fall Town String Band — Jason Burbank (keyboard and fiddle), Jack Nelson (bass), Tom Novelli (fiddle), and Marvin Shedd (guitar) — performs a mix of American roots, folk, jazz, country and blues. The band has been playing at square dances throughout the region since 1987, and also plays at clubs, fairs, festivals and private events. They have a monthly gig at the Rendezvous Restaurant & Bar in Turners Falls, every Wednesday at 8 p.m. Ashfield’s Town Hall was once a popular square dancing destination, hosting dances every weekend.
For more information or to volunteer, contact the organizers at 413-485-7285. This program is funded by grants from the Ashfield, Buckland, Goshen and Williamsburg Cultural Councils, local agencies supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
Drunk Opera Boston to perform at The Iron Horse
Drunk Opera Boston will host a show themed around composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart at the Iron Horse in Northampton on Sunday, April 26, from 1 to 3 p.m.
The show will feature singing, trivia and crowd singalongs.
The cast includes soprano Sarah Callinan, mezzo-soprano Caitlin Felsman, tenor Wes Hunter, baritone Cailin Marcel Manson, and pianist Maria Rabbia. Mike Pfitzer will be the drunk historian.
Tickets are $24, including fees, at ironhorse.org.
Historic Northampton leads free Zoom presentation
Elizabeth Sacktor, interpretive programs manager at Historic Northampton, and UMass Ph.D. student Anaëlle Cama, will host a Zoom presentation about the Watson family, a family of enslavers who lived in Northampton on Thursday, April 23 at 6:30 p.m.
Henry and Sophia Watson owned a cotton plantation in Greensboro, Alabama, but they moved to Northampton in 1861, to an estate on the property that is now Childs Park.
The talk will explore Sacktor and Cama’s research into how the Watson family profited from slavery and leveraged that wealth to fund local institutions. It will also examine life on the plantation prior to the family’s relocation, with a specific focus on enslaved women — such as Ellen, Eveline, Ann and Phillis — who likely crafted the Watson family’s clothing. These garments are now preserved in the collection at Historic Northampton.
Historic Northampton also currently has an exhibition, “Slavery and Freedom in Northampton, 1654-1783,” about the town’s connections to slavery and the at least 50 enslaved people who lived here. It opened last July and runs through Friday, Dec. 11.
Registration is required. To register, visit historicnorthampton.org.
Northampton Center for the Arts to host a free ‘Drag Lab’ workshop
As part of the Fiscal Year 2027 Annual Recommendations Report, the Massachusetts Commission on LGBTQ Youth is hosting listening sessions across the state to hear from the youth and their support systems in an effort to improve the commission’s recommendations to the state. On Sunday, April 26, the commission is partnering with the Northampton Center for the Arts to host a “Drag Lab.”
The free event, located at 33 Hawley St. in Northampton, will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and feature drag workshops, focused on dance, makeup and character building, as well as a space to share about your experiences in Massachusetts. Food will be provided. To register, visit nohoarts.org/drag-lab.
Smith College to present evening of student-directed, one-act plays
The Smith College Department of Theatre presents an evening of student directed one-act plays on April 30 and May 1 at 7:30 p.m. in Hallie Flanagan Studio Theatre in Mendenhall Center for the Performing Arts. The 2026 Spring Studio Productions include “The Mystery at Twicknam Vicarage” by David Ives, directed by Amy Lu ’28 and “Malefactions” by Matt Minnicino, directed by Kim Suarez-Villao ’28. One is a light-hearted comic take on the British murder mystery, the other is a raw look at performative activism.
Audiences should note that “Malefactions” contains strong language, onstage violence and kidnapping, descriptions of self-harm, terrorism and abuse. “The Mystery of Twicknam Vicarage” has a gun appearance and gunshots. Full details are available by contacting boxoffice@smith.edu. Tickets are free, reservations are encouraged at smitharts.ludus.com.
Northampton Arts Council opens ArtsEZ Micro-Grant applications
To support a broader and more diverse range of community projects, the Northampton Arts Council is pivoting to a high-impact, micro-grant format. For this round, the Arts Council will award 15 micro-grants of $500 each. This shift is designed to lower barriers for new applicants and provide streamlined, accessible funding for artists and cultural programmers in Northampton, Florence and Leeds.
Priority for the funding will be given to first-time applicants; projects highlighting Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) perspectives; diverse entities, including individual artists, nonprofits and public/municipal organizations; and accessible projects held in spaces that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act with free or discounted admission.
Applications close on May 14, with the project period running from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027. For more information, visit http://bit.ly/4cQ0xQB
Author Mark Roessler to speak at the Bangs Center
To celebrate Frederick Law Olmsted’s 204th birthday weekend, the Amherst Historical Society will welcome Mark Roessler to the Bangs Center, Room 101, on Friday, April 24 at noon.
Roessler, recent author of “Fairsted, Reflections on how Olmsted helped heal a fractured democracy,” published by Levellers Press, will provide a brief overview of Olmsted’s work in Amherst and a video tour inside Olmsted’s home and office in Brookline. He will conclude with the story of how Olmsted quit Central Park, vowing never to return to park design, and the journey he and his family went on that changed his mind. In the last 30 years of his life, Olmsted helped design more than 40 public parks across America and Canada.
The Bangs Center is located at 70 Boltwood Walk in Amherst. For more information, visit amhersthistory.org/events/frederick-law-olmsted.
Paddling Film Festival held on April 28
Zoar Outdoor is hosting Team JK athlete Mason Hargrove for two whitewater kayaking clinics followed by the 21st annual World Tour Paddling Film Festival at Hampshire College in Amherst on April 28. The event features afternoon pool sessions on paddling techniques and freestyle, capped with a film screening at 6:30 p.m. at Franklin Patterson Hall, located at 893 West St. Doors open at 6 p.m. with films rolling at 6:30 p.m. for approximately two hours.
Hargrove, a respected name in competitive and instructional kayaking, will lead two, 1.5-hour sessions at the pool:
- Strokes & Concepts, 1:30-3 p.m.: A focused clinic on paddling fundamentals and on-water mechanics, designed to sharpen technique for paddlers at any level.
- Freestyle Kayaking, 3-4:30 p.m.: An introduction to freestyle paddling, covering the moves and mindset behind one of the sport’s most dynamic disciplines.
Pool session registration is open through Zoar Outdoor. Film festival tickets are available separately through Berkshire East Mountain Resort. For more information, visit paddlingfilmfestival.com.
