The final weekend of Berkshire Busk! ends with a fireworks display around 9:30 p.m. on Saturday. The festival is finishing the summer with several circus acts, lots of live music, palm reading, and more.
Friday Highlights: Cate Great, Aerialists, Singer-Songwriters
Top-notch circus artist Cate Great will close out the final weekend of Berkshire Busk!, as she has done for the past four summers. She returns to the Warrior Trading Stage on both Friday and Saturday nights.
Jacob Shipey, a talented singer-songwriter who splits time between upstate New York and New York City, will play on the Haddad Subaru Stage. Jacob’s songs draw on the painful, sad, or embarrassing part of life to invite audiences to relate and commiserate with a smile.
Additional singer-songwriters like Berkshire native Lily Lothrop and multi-instrumentalist Scott Hsu are just a few musical acts to be found throughout the rest of downtown. Two circus acts (aerial arts group Chalk Gremlin Circus and juggler Timbalanced) will share the lawn of the First Congregational Church. Poet Jacqueline Farrara and VonBowtie Face Painting will produce art you can take—or wear—home.
Saturday Highlights: Flamenca Dance, Katherine Winston and Michael Aaron, Fireworks
When Cate Great takes her final bows from the Warrior Trading Stage on Saturday night, the evening ends with a bang in a fireworks display produced by Santore’s World Famous Fireworks.
Earlier in the evening, Cate Great will alternate shows on Railroad Street with Katherine Winston and Michael Aaron at the Haddad Subaru Stage. Both Katherine and Michael are Berkshire Busk! regulars as solo artists, but on Saturday they come together to close the season with their beloved blend of country, folk rock, and pop.
The magnetic flamenco dancer Joanne Bockemuehl Jackson returns to the Berkshire Money Management Stage, bringing lots of flair to its final night of programming. Through her work at Berkshire Pulse, Joanne teaches flamenco dance to both children and adults.
Singer-songwriter Tyler Seton, aerialist Lia Pearl, rock duo Kajax, and jazz artist Thomas Parker are just a few of the artists joining Berkshire Busk! for its jam-packed finale. The festival has also added its first palm reader, Dani Nico, to its roster for Saturday night.
The evening also marks attendees’ last chance to peruse the Saturday Night Market and meet the artisans and nonprofit groups who make Railroad Street their temporary home during festival hours.
Extended Schedule on Saturdays
Berkshire Busk! will continue to supply great talent to the Great Barrington Farmers’ Market every Saturday through November. This weekend, market-goers will have the opportunity to catch another show by Taiwanese-American singer-songwriter Scott Hsu from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
August 30 is, however, the last date of the festival’s other Saturday afternoon programming. Balloon Ben will twist balloons in front of Robin’s Candy from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and folk artist Warren Sieme closes Berkshire Busk! Roadside from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Berkshire Mountain Distillers.
Berkshire Busk! is free to attend and takes place in downtown Great Barrington every Friday and Saturday evening, from June 27 to August 30. Primary festival programming begins at 6:30 p.m. Visit the Berkshire Busk! website for information on parking, free transportation options, and the full schedule of events.
