Great Barrington — After some deliberation, the Selectboard approved the next season of Berkshire Busk! during the board’s regular meeting on Monday, October 21.
The vote to allow the festival during the summer 2025 season was unanimous, with Selectboard member Ben Elliott recusing himself. Elliott is the creative director for The Triplex, which is used as a location for Berkshire Busk! performances throughout the season, and the theater also joined with Berkshire Busk! for various events.
Berkshire Busk! Festival Director Eugene Carr and General Manager Carli Scolforo gave a presentation during the meeting.
The Berkshire Busk! kicked off in 2020 during the pandemic to bring people to the downtown area through live musical performances and performances by magicians, circus artists, and dancers. As part of the event, musicians, dancers, and various performers all perform at various locations up and down Main Street on Friday and Saturday nights during 10 weekends stretched across the summer. Railroad Street is closed off to automobile traffic on the evenings of the festival in order to allow for performances and outdoor dining at various restaurants.
Scolforo told the Selectboard that 25,000 people attended this past season of Berkshire Busk! “Through the random sampling [of attendees], we found that 50 percent of those in attendance were in town specifically for Berkshire Busk! as opposed to kind of happening upon it because something else was going on downtown,” Scolforo said. “We found that 60 percent of attendees were from Massachusetts, including Great Barrington, Lee, and Pittsfield.” Scolforo said that the other 40 percent came from metropolitan areas in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
She said that, of the surveyed attendees, 70 percent found no issues when it came to finding parking for the event, while 20 percent walked downtown to attend the event. “About 4.6 percent reported lots of problems finding parking,” Scolforo said. “But we’re continuing to find ways that we can sort of open that up and eliminate the barriers to get people in downtown Great Barrington in the next few years.”
Carr told the board that, on average, attendees who planned to shop in the downtown area spent about $91 a person over the season, and that this season created $1 million of economic impact for the town.
Carr added that next year’s season will run from June 27 to August 30.
However, as happened at a Selectboard meeting in April before the start of the 2024 season of Berkshire Busk!, several Railroad Street merchants spoke against closing the street for performances.
Resident James Garzon read a statement by Karen Allen, owner of Karen Allen Fiber Arts on 8 Railroad Street. “It’s the closing of Railroad Street that we oppose,” Allen writes in her statement. “The Busking, per se, could still happen at other locations without having to close Railroad Street.”
Allen, who does not disclose the other store owners she said she was speaking on behalf of, says that the performances could be relocated to Castle Street. “The most significant effect [on our stores] due to the road closure is that we have virtually no business between the hours of 4 and 6 p.m. during the summer months,” Allen writes. “This used to be our busiest time for customers coming into town on the weekends. Since the busk started with street closures, our business during this time has plummeted to just about zero. Customers have told us that they can’t shop for clothes during this time when they have to watch the clock so their cars don’t get towed.”
Allen goes on to write that the “no parking” signs put up on Railroad Street before the busk “make Railroad Street look chaotic” and “the signs discourage parking instead of encouraging potential customers.” “The restaurant scene is chaotic and crowded with limited choices for relaxing evening meals,” Allen argues. “We have experienced a negative effect on our business during what used to be a very busy shopping period. It does not make sense for us to pay for our help to wait it out for two hours because maybe we’ll get some business later. Shopping for clothes is different than shopping for impulse items like trinkets or other smaller items that can fit in your pocket. Also, the street vendors set up for this occasion are a distraction and detour from our businesses in buildings. The whole closing of the street and street vendors created a tourist impulse-buy environment that does not encourage any serious shopping for many of our businesses. We hope that our shop and all the other unique stores and galleries can survive the limited weekend hours of closing Railroad Street. It would be a shame to make Railroad Street about trinkets for tourists.”
Paula Friedman, co-owner of Bernay Fine Art, at 296 Main Street on the corner of Railroad Street, spoke against the event closing down Railroad Street. “Karen and I both feel very strongly that the busk is extremely hurting our businesses,” Friedman said. “In the summertime, which is the peak time for our businesses, both Friday and Saturday nights were traditionally the best times for our customers to come, whether they come from New York, Lennox, or Stockbridge down to Great Barrington to shop, have dinner, go to the movies, or go to the Mahaiwe. Our business has suffered tremendously from the street closures on Friday and Saturday nights for the whole summer. The restaurants are different from the retail shops, and I know that Gene presents information about the economic benefit of the busk, but we’re the retailers on the street, and we’re telling you that it’s tremendously hurting our businesses. We would like for the town to understand that we’ve lost a couple of businesses this year, Familiar Trees, the Dare Bottle Shop, and we’re about to lose Griffin.”
While there were a few business owners who spoke against closing Railroad Street for the Berkshire Busk! season, there were many others who countered Allen and Friedman’s comments, including Michael Marcus, owner of Bizen Japanese Restaurant. “This is really a story about entrepreneurship and community,” Marcus said. “I really believe that it’s counterintuitive to think that [the Berkshire Busk!] isn’t the most amazing opportunity for all the businesses on Railroad Street. People are competing to get spots on the street to show and promote their wares and to do business. If you think about it, 2,500 new people every single day the busk is in operation is an incredible opportunity for any business, art gallery, fabric stores, and pot stores. It’s an opportunity to show your work, to sample your products, and to invite people into your place of business.”
Marcus recounted growing up in the Berkshires in the 1970s when there was a Great Barrington Fair at the fairgrounds. “It was the most joyous experience for the town,” Marcus said. “There were people running around, children eating cotton candy and hot dogs. Everybody was having the best time of their lives. We don’t have the fairgrounds anymore, but we do have Railroad Street. If you’ve been [to Berkshire Busk!], you’ve seen the jubilation and the joy people have been experiencing. It’s been a boon for business and a boon for the community.”
Kristen Kanter, co-manager of Railroad St. Collective at 25 Railroad Street, spoke strongly in favor of the concert series and added that Allen did not speak for the collective store owners on Railroad Street. “When we stay open on Friday and Saturday nights, we average at least 600 [customers] or more,” Kanter said. “We don’t sell trinkets. We sell fine handmade crafts from local and regional artists. The customers that are coming into the busk are not there to buy trinkets. They’re there to support the town of Great Barrington, the retailers, the people that own the stores that make fine crafts, and the restaurants. It would be an absolute shame to stop it.”
Brooke Redpath, owner of Matrushka Toys & Gifts, which recently moved its location from Main Street to 28 Railroad Street, also advocated for the festival. “We completed our move in two days just so we could be open for the last busking weekend,” Redpath told the Selectboard. “We were able to do that, and we got a fair amount of business. I am speaking out in support of [the Berkshire Busk!]. I watched it from across the street for 15 years [from the old store location], and I wanted to be part of it. There is a quiet period before [the busk starts], so I can understand that other businesses might experience that. But this is something that we’re excited to participate in, and I hope it will continue to be improved in the future. It’s not just about tourism, it’s about building community.”
