Pittsfield's 10x10 Upstreet Arts Festival Returns with Music, Art, and Outdoor Activities

07:51AM / Monday, February 10, 2025Print Story | Email Story

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The 14th annual 10x10 Upstreet Arts Festival, presented by the City of Pittsfield and Barrington Stage Company in partnership with Mill Town Foundation, will take place February 13-23, 2025.

The festival features a range of events including theater, music, visual arts, dance, outdoor activities, and fireworks.

Highlights include the 10x10 New Play Festival at Barrington Stage Company, A Taste of Downtown coordinated by Downtown Pittsfield, Inc., and beer releases at Hot Plate Brewing Company. The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts will showcase OFF the STREETS, a group exhibition of local mural artists, from February 5-28, with an opening reception on February 13.

Outdoor activities include the Winter Festival at Clapp Park on February 17, featuring sled races, snowshoeing, and a snow sculpture contest. Ice sculptors Peter Vacchina and Robert Markey will create installations at Palace Park on February 14, weather permitting. The festival's fireworks display will take place at 6 p.m. on February 22 at the Common on First Street, with a pre-fireworks event hosted by Berkshire United Way.

Additional programming includes dance workshops at Jacob's Pillow, historical exhibits by the Berkshire Historical Society, and Hancock Shaker Village's The Big Chill event. For more details, visit the festival's official website or social media pages.

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Fenton: Governor's Council Must Deliver for the Berkshires

Community submissionGuest Column
10:22AM / Friday, August 28, 2026

I am a Springfield lawyer running for Governor's Council and I am asking for Berkshire County residents to support me over an incumbent from North Adams.

Here's why: Last year I learned about staffing issues in our regional courts that I could not ignore. In 2025, it was reported that four of Western Massachusetts' 11 Superior Court judgeships were vacant, all at the same time. A few weeks later, that grew to five vacancies. This meant there were only six Superior Court judges serving all of Western Mass at a time when Berkshire, Hampshire, Franklin, and Hampden counties had more than 100 pending homicide cases.

Those numbers were alarming to me, so I started to engage with leaders in the community who work most closely with the court system and I came to learn that these vacancies were only the tip of the iceberg here in Berkshire County.

I learned that no Superior Court or District Court judge had been appointed from the Berkshires since the current incumbent took office. As a result, there is not a single Superior Court judge who lives in the Berkshires today, and several of the District Court judges drive in from other counties to support Berkshire courts in Pittsfield, Great Barrington, and North Adams. Court staff also informed me about severe staffing shortages at the Berkshire Clerk of Courts office resulting in other counties needing to loan staff to the Berkshires just so hardworking employees can take a brief and planned summer vacation. This is not normal. These issues are a reflection of genuine problems with the Berkshire County court system and show a lack of proactive attention from our Governor's Councilor.

Instead of focusing on regional equity, I watched as the current incumbent celebrated that she has voted against the governor's nominees more than any other councilor, without much explanation as to why. Most recently, she voted against two extremely qualified former prosecutors for the Parole Board. This was despite an in-person plea from the governor and a letter of support from all the three of the district attorney's from Western Mass. Those votes do not show independence or standing up for principles, they demonstrate naivete, and an unwillingness to work with the key stakeholders.

I had seen and heard enough. I decided to jump in the race and challenge the incumbent to address these problems head-on.

I am a partner of a regional law firm. I understand our courts and the importance of having qualified, fair and hardworking judges. And I know how important it is to have judges from the Berkshires serving the Berkshires. To achieve that, you need strong relationships with the legal community and local stakeholders. You need to know how to use the power of the Governor's Council to fight forcefully for our region. And you need to be laser focused on identifying vacancies before they occur so that they can be filled quickly with local candidates.

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