Great Barrington — The fourth season of Berkshire Busk! ended on August 31. The season included 10 weekends of performances from musicians, magicians, circus artists, and dancers, all through downtown Great Barrington.
According to festival director Eugene Carr, the group estimates that more than 25,000 people attended throughout the summer. Members of the Berkshire Busk! staff collected 300 surveys throughout the season, and Carr said that the vast majority of attendees came to each event to dine and shop. “Which means that Berkshire Busk! incrementally generated over $1 million of economic impact [to Great Barrington],” Carr said. “According to the surveys, 97 percent said that Berkshire Busk! contributed positively to their perception of Great Barrington. The event reached all ages, particularly families with children. The audience [for the festival season] was about 50 percent local Berkshire County residents, and 50 percent tourists, with the majority of the tourists coming from the New York metro area.”
Carr said that the group “created a really unique, wonderful, and joyous experience in downtown Great Barrington.”
“The vast majority of cultural experiences in the Berkshires are ones where you need to purchase a ticket to attend,” Carr explained. “The Berkshire Busk! gave people an opportunity for people to hear, see, and experience a wide range of arts, some of which they may have never seen before, just by showing up. They didn’t need to pay for a ticket, and that’s unique to what is typically found in Berkshire County.”
“Going to see a high-caliber and quality show on stage with a family of four is very expensive in the Berkshires,” said Berkshire Busk! general manager Carli Scolforo. “A lot of the families around here would have to spend time thinking about whether it’s worthwhile to them. But during the summer, they can come and see performers of high caliber every single weekend all summer with us. It’s something really special and different that the Berkshire Busk! did this summer.”
This year’s Berkshire Busk! included several theme nights that saw the group team up with local organizations, including Berkshire Pride and Festival Latino.
“Our mission is to find ways to offer a greater depth of cultural programming,” Scolforo said. “That’s why we reached out to community groups and offered them to do guest programming with their networks of performers. Over the year, we’ve gotten many applicants from performers who all want to take part in the Berkshire Busk! events. We try to include as many as possible.”
Carr said that members of the Berkshire Busk! group are already planning out next year’s season. “We are thinking about ways to make the festival bigger and better,” Carr said. “We are also thinking about ways to address suggestions from people in town and attendees. I think we are in a constant state of improvement and looking for innovative ways to improve the festival.”
Both Carr and Scolforo said that local companies have been supportive and have sponsored this season’s Berkshire Busk!, including Warrior Trading, Big Y, Adams Community Bank, Geoffrey C. Hughes Foundation Inc., and Iredale Cosmetics Inc. “Many of these companies have all been a part of this from the very beginning,” Scolforo said. “All of our sponsors care deeply about our community.”
“The Berkshire Busk! also creates seasonal jobs, and we have eight paid employees on our seasonal staff,” Carr added. “The festival is really operated by people that we engage and we pay because we feel it’s important to also to create jobs.”
For more information about Berkshire Busk!, visit its website.
