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Learn Local. Play Local.
By mid-October, autumn color shifts from the treetops to the ground as leaves fall across Western Massachusetts. As the growing season ends and nights grow longer, we might notice what the landscape is letting go of and what it holds onto as daylight retreats. As gardens fade, a seed-saving workshop in Pittsfield helps gardeners plan for next year. In Longmeadow, heirloom apples reveal the diversity of older orchards, while cider pressing in Plainfield brings families together around the late harvest and New England orchard traditions. Out in the woods, a mushroom hunt in Rowe, the Hopkins Forest Fall Festival in Williamstown, and a program about beavers in Sunderland show how forests remain lively even as the leaves come down.
Local traditions mark the season too, from drumming at the Berkshire Drum Fest to a harvest square dance in Williamsburg. Pumpkins appear everywhere, from Hancock Shaker Village and Westfield PumpkinFest to Halloween gatherings across the region. In Amherst, the Halloween BOO-k Bash brings picture-book art and seasonal stories together, while productions of Dracula and The Addams Family explore familiar spooky tales through ballet and musical theater. These mid-October events show how the region lets go of one growing season while carrying seeds, community traditions, and seasonal stories into the next.
Discover more events in our list of
Weekly Suggested Events:
Thurs, October 15 | Fri, October 16 | Sat, October 17 | Sun, October 18 | Mon, October 19 | Tues, October 20 | Wed, October 21 | Thurs, October 22 | Fri, October 23
| | HILLTOWN FAMILIES FEATURED SPONSORS | | FEATURED EVENTS, RESOURCES, OPPORTUNITIES, AND MORE IN WESTERN MA! | |
Put on your costumes and join The Carle's not-so-scary Halloween BOO-k Bash in Amherst on Oct 17, 10am-4pm! Enjoy a costume parade, dance party, scavenger hunt, and storytimes with Christy Mandin, Shawn Harris, E.B. Goodale, Hayley and John Rocco, and Wunneanatsu Lamb-Cason. Free with Museum admission. | | | The ALLURA Pumpkin Art Spectacular debuts at Look Park's Wildlife Sanctuary in Florence, MA, through Nov 1, 2026, with 15 nights of illuminated, hand-carved "forever" pumpkins. Stroll through a magical forest transformed by creative lighting and soundscapes, offering an unforgettable experience for all ages. | | | FEATURED EVENT
Cirque Us Stories
Northampton, MA | Cirque Us brings its award-winning production "Cirque Us Stories" to Northampton, MA, where audiences will learn the power of community through thrilling circus arts. The show on Oct 21 invites families to experience a high-energy story that blends athleticism and heartfelt theater. | | | The Academy of Music Theatre in Northampton will present Pinocchio: My Puppet Pal on Friday, Oct 23, inviting families to enjoy a new adventure that reimagines classic characters. Audiences will learn about friendship as Katie and her puppet pal Pinocchio journey to the Harvest Festival and discover what it means to be a real friend. | | | FEATURED CLUBS & CAMPS
The Common School
Amherst, MA | The Common School in Amherst, MA, offers after-school clubs and vacation camps for ages 3-14, with registration now open for all programs. Art, Magic: The Gathering, and Dungeons & Dragons clubs are available, along with Winterfun and Springfun camps during February and April vacations. | | | |
FEATURED PRESCHOOL
The Hartsbrook School
Hadley, MA
| The Hartsbrook School in Hadley, MA offers a nurturing early childhood program where children ages 2-6 learn through play, nature, and meaningful activities on a 54-acre campus. Families can explore nursery, preschool, and kindergarten options with both half- and full-day programs available. | | | The Montessori School of Northampton will host its annual Children's Fall Fair on Saturday, Oct 24, from 11am-2pm, celebrating the school's 50th anniversary and featuring live entertainment, games, and activities for children. Admission is $5 per child, and food will be available for purchase. | | | | HILLTOWN FAMILIES YEARLY SPONSORS | | FEATURED EVENTS, CLASSES, SCHOOLS, & MORE IN WESTERN MA! | |
Join the River Valley Co-op Fall Festival & Artisan Fair outdoors at the Easthampton store on Saturday, Oct 24. Shop handmade art, enjoy cider donuts and apples from Park Hill Orchard, and celebrate with live music and kids' activities like pumpkin decorating and face painting. | | | |  |
Discover the stories of Black craftspeople who helped shape American homes and history at an illustrated presentation based on the DAR Museum exhibition Fighting for Freedom. The event, on Oct 24 at 11am at the Clapp House in Northampton, explores the achievements and challenges of Black artisans across generations. | | | |
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FEATURED SCHOOL
The Academy at Charlemont
Charlemont, MA
| The Academy at Charlemont is an all-gender day school for grades 6-12, offering small classes, rigorous academics, inclusive arts and athletics, and a welcoming community. Located in Charlemont, MA with bus transportation and financial aid, the Academy hosts an Open House on Sun., Oct. 25 from 1-3pm. | | | | |
Are you looking to promote your event, organization, or venue? A Featured Ad is an affordable and effective way to reach a regional audience. Featured Ads are ideal for promoting time-sensitive offerings, such as events, open houses, classes, and fundraisers. They also serve as a valuable outreach tool and a great way to partner with Hilltown Families! | | | | HILLTOWN FAMILIES ANNUAL DIRECTORIES | | HILLTOWN FAMILIES ANNUAL SPONSORS | |
Classical music offers families a chance to learn together. From Halloween favorites to local symphonies, shared listening builds curiosity and a lasting sense of connection to the arts. | | | | |
Pumpkins once called "pompions" were vital food for colonists, later carved into Jack O'Lanterns by Irish immigrants. Learn how history, folklore, and artisan techniques shaped this cultural tradition. | | | |
Explore haunted tales and historic sites across Western Massachusetts where ghost stories meet real events. Learn how cemetery tours and local lore spark multidisciplinary curiosity, connecting history, architecture, psychology, and the study of paranormal phenomena. | | | | |
Halloween fun meets science in these hands-on experiments that are spooky without the fright. Kids can learn STEM concepts through candy chromatography, glowing drinks, flying ghosts, and gooey eyeballs, turning seasonal play into a creative way to explore science. | | | |
Caves are shaped by geology and filled with biology lessons, from bats to blind fish. Studied by speleologists, these underground spaces invite us to learn about erosion, adaptation, and survival in darkness while reflecting on how humans have used caves for art, ritual, and shelter. | | | | |
Halloween brings forward masks shaped for ceremony, costumes marked by careful design, and performances that echo through community gatherings. Observing these traditions alongside stories of illness and medicine reveals how meaning is carried in gesture, material, and shared practice. Each detail offers a glimpse into how cultures mark this season, leaving space for new questions to emerge. | | | | |
🎶📻 HFVS Sweets Episode with Guest DJ, Again Again
Guest DJs Anne and Jen of Again Again serve up a sweets-inspired episode of the Hilltown Family Variety Show with music from The Beatles, Little Richard, ABBA, and other favorites. Along the way, food words take on new meanings, offering a playful introduction to figurative language. Families can follow their curiosity beyond the music by choosing a food from the playlist and investigating where it comes from, how it grows, or why it tastes sweet.
Every Saturday, listen to the Hilltown Family Variety Show either on your FM dial at 103.3FM WXOJ (Northampton, MA) or on our website for a full hour of commercial-free, quality family programming! Encores air Sunday mornings from 7-8am.
Hilltown Families eNewsletter subscribers are invited to an exclusive preview each week!
➡️ Click here for a speak preview of this weekend's episode. ⬅️
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The annual Halloween Party at Red Gate Farm in Buckland blends celebration with learning. Guests press cider, explore farming traditions, and connect community with the rhythms of the harvest. | | | |
After dark, large-scale pumpkin art sculptures transform Look Park in Florence into a glowing Halloween landscape. Haunted Harvest fills the park with seasonal entertainment, including Kidzland and a family-friendly Haunted Train. The Allura Pumpkin Art Spectacular puts pumpkin carving art sculptures at the center of the evening. | | | |
Experience the Naumkeag Pumpkin Show in Stockbridge, where glowing jack-o-lanterns illuminate the Berkshires. Get curious about its roots in Celtic folklore and how Irish immigrants introduced pumpkin carving to America. | | | | What is Hilltown Families? | | | Hilltown Families’ mission is to support the common good of our community through the development of a sense of place by a shared understanding in the value of self-directed learning through community engagement. These learning values are referred to as “community-based education” and are accessible and inclusive to an intergenerational audience. This process of learning unites community members through shared interests, establishes a shared history, and deepens a connection to place. | | Your finacial support keeps Hilltown Families freely shared and community-driven after 20 years of service. We’re grateful for your help in continuing this work. | | |
Hilltown Families’ list of Suggested Events is supported in part by grants from the Agawam, Ashfield, Bernardston, Chester, Deerfield, Goshen, Hadley, Heath, Lee, Leyden, Mount Washington, Orange, Plainfield, Richmond, South Hadley, Washington, Westhampton, and West Springfield Cultural Councils, local agencies which are supported by the Massachusetts Cultural Council, a state agency.
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