News/ Press | Berkshire Fools Festival

A committee of young local people from Pittsfield's booming arts and cultural scene have joined forces to present the first ever Berkshire Fools Festival in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in April 2009. The Fools Festival will bring together artists, organizations and businesses in a multi-media, multi-venue, always surprising celebration with events taking place throughout the weekend of April 3-5.

Celebrating both the richness of the area's history and the spirit of April Fool's Day, the Fools Festival will combine elements of traditional arts/music festivals, carnivals, renaissance fairs and local bicentennial holidays, with an emphasis on the fake, absurd and mysterious. The Festival celebrates the anniversary of the end of the Clown Wars, one of several mythical events in local history to be explored through art, music and theatre as part of the Festival's collaborative programming.
Sponsored in part by Zeitgeist Gallery, in conjunction with Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development and a wide variety of area organizations and businesses, the Fools Festival will take place all over Pittsfield, with programming in various venues and public spaces. The programming will feature live music, theatre, visual art, street performers, as well as historical exhibits and reenactments with a leaning toward the silly, pranksterish, fraudulent and bizarre.
""The Fools Festival brings a new, playful, and terrifically creative initiative to Pittsfield," says Megan Whilden, Pittsfield's Director of Cultural Development. "It will draw artists, visitors and residents alike to enjoy Pittsfield during an otherwise quiet season. I am especially excited that the Festival was dreamt up by a group of young Pittsfielders committed to contributing to the revitalization of their community. I look forward to seeing what surprises they bring next April!"
Many of the special exhibits, performances and activities will be free to the public, while others will have admission costs, varying from venue to venue. Passes providing free or discounted admission to all the festival's events will be available for purchase beginning February 16.
The festival will also provide a showcase for local organizations and businesses to actively promote their institutions through collaboration in this city-wide festival, by hosting events and exhibits, providing donations and discounts, and through space provided by the Festival for booths and tables in various locations throughout downtown Pittsfield.
The Festival planning committee is currently reaching out to all local artists, citizens, businesses and organizations who would like to be involved in this historic event.
For more info please contact bcfoolsfest@gmail.com or write to us at: Fools Festival C/O Zeitgeist Gallery 468 North St Pittsfield, MA 01201.

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Arts Notes

Thursday, February 05

Fools Festival

PITTSFIELD - Organizers of the inaugural Berkshire Fools Festival, set for April 1-5, will release the full schedule of events to the public as part of an intensive promotional campaign that will kick off at Pittsfield Brew Works on Saturday, Feb. 7.

The Fools Festival, a citywide inter-organizational arts festival spearheaded by Zeitgeist Gallery and Pittsfield's Office of Cultural Development, will feature a range of art exhibitions, theater, live music and activities for all ages. More than a dozen distinct events, performances, exhibits and activities will take place at locations throughout the city.

The promotional campaign for this first-ever collaborative effort will kick into high gear Feb. 7 at Pittsfield Brew Works, where members of the festival's planning committee will host an informational table in the Bier Hall from 7 to 11 p.m. Volunteers will begin to take to the streets of Pittsfield over the following weeks in a series of surprising, spontaneous live-action skits by colorful characters to engage the public and raise awareness about the festival in fun, interactive ways.

In addition, volunteers will begin taking pre-sale orders for festival admission passes, decorative buttons that will offer free or discounted admission to all of the admission-charging events that are part of the festival, including the "Spring Folly" blowout bash, plays, concerts and admission to the Berkshire Museum for the duration of the festival.

Passes will sell for $25 for adults, $10 for children under 12. The first 10 people to pre-order passes at Brew Works on Feb. 7 will receive a 50 percent discount. Info: bcfoolsfest@gmail.com or 413-629-9166.