BerkChique! 2026 Raises Record $80,000 for Berkshire Non-Profits

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LENOX, Mass. — The annual BerkChique! pop-up fashion fundraiser broke its previous fundraising records during its event on June 5–7, raising more than $80,000 to support seven regional cultural and non-profit organizations.
 
The event, held at the Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion & Museum, marks the third year of partnership between the fundraiser and the museum. Co-founded 14 years ago by Vicki Bonnington, BerkChique! features high-end and unique clothing pieces, including items from the Bonnington Collection.
 
According to organizers, the 2026 event saw its highest levels of donations, volunteer participation, and shopper attendance since its inception in 2012.
 
"This is absolutely a community effort for a community cause, and we are filled with gratitude," said Chelsea Gaia, Director of Programming & Events for Ventfort Hall.
 
Proceeds from the three-day event will be distributed among seven Berkshire County organizations:
 
Ventfort Hall Gilded Age Mansion & Museum
  • Berkshire Art Center
  • Berkshire Humane Society
  • Berkshire Immigrant Center
  • Community Access to the Arts (CATA)
  • Elizabeth Freeman Center
  • WAM Theatre
Local business sponsors for this year's fundraiser included the Hideaway Inn Lenox, NeJaimes Wine Cellars, Blue Q, Studio Two, and Your Color Connection.
 
If you would like to contribute information on this article, contact us at info@iberkshires.com.

The Classical Beat: Tanglewood Music Festival Concludes Its Classical Season

By Stephen DanknerSpecial to iBerkshires

This week, the Tanglewood Music Festival concludes its magnificently curated, presented and performed 2026 classical season, culminating with the traditional performance of Beethoven's enthralling Symphony No. 9 ('Choral'.) Read below for the details.

THREE TANGLEWOOD CLASSICAL HIGHLIGHTS THIS WEEK

• Thursday, Aug. 20, 8:00 p.m. in Ozawa Hall: The world-renowned Silk Road Ensemble presents "Sanctuary: The Power of Resonance and Ritual." Led by North Carolinian musician, actor and author Rhiannon Giddens, this program explores how we can experience music to better understand our world, find comfort, process loss and a changing environment, and rebuild community, based upon our mutual humanity.

• Saturday, Aug. 22, 8:00 p.m. in the Shed: Conductor Thomas Wilkins leads the Boston Symphony, with violinist Randall Goosby, a 2022 Avery Fisher Career Grantee, boy soprano Edward Njuguna and the Tanglewood Festival Chorus in an uplifting program of Leonard Bernstein's mellifluous "Chichester Psalms," Florence Price's Violin Concerto No. 2 and Dvorak's sumptuous Symphony No. 8.

• Sunday, Aug. 23, 2:30 p.m. in the Shed: Maestro Gustavo Gimeno, Music Director of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra conducts Beethoven's magisterial Ninth Symphony, with vocal soloists soprano Mané Galoyan, mezzo-soprano Zoie Reams, tenor Ben Bliss and bass Solomon Howard.

For tickets for all Tanglewood/BSO concerts (lawn and Shed seating) and for special events call (617) 266-1200 or (413) 637-5180; online: tanglewood.org or customerservice@bso.org. In Lenox, visit the Tanglewood box office at the Main Gate located at 297 West Street.

 

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