What’s Happening in Amherst?

There’s a lot happening in Amherst! After over a year hiatus, we are bringing back our events calendar – What’s Happening In Amherst?

With the shrinkage of public events during the pandemic, we discontinued posting our weekly community calendar and opted to run individual stories about select upcoming events.  Now, with the coming of spring and the seeming attrition of the pandemic, we’ve seen the return of a full and diverse slate of local happenings in and around Amherst and our weekly dispatch is starting to be overwhelmed by stories about upcoming events.   Moving forward, we intend to run a handful of stories/annoucements each week featuring a handful of upcoming events that might be of special interest or offer unique opportunities. We will list other events here, in the What’s Happening in Amherst? column which you’ll be able to find at the end of the “events section”.   In this weekly column we’d like to offer a comprehensive weekly calendar of things to do around the Valley but we just don’t have the wherewithal to pull that off.  So our events listing will be selective. But readers can count on finding an interesting list of things to do with an emphasis on the progressive.  

You can help us to make this calendar useful by sending your events listings to amherstindy@gmail.com.

In Person Events

SATURDAY APRIL 30:  Annual Community Cleanup. 10 a.m to Noon with a celebration event at 1 p.m.  Rally at Jones Library, Groff Park or Mill River recreation area.  Post-cleanup celebration on the Town Common. More information.

SATURDAY APRIL 30:  Annual Drug Takeback Day.  10 a.m – 2 p.m.  WIldwood School. Residents are invited to bring their unwanted medicine for free and safe disposal to a variety of drop off sites throughout Hampshire County. The Amherst drop off location is Wildwood School, 71 Strong Street.  Other locations through Hampshire County are noted here. Medicines can remain in original containers with labels. Liquids, syringes, IV equipment, or chemotherapy drugs are not allowed. Prescription and non-prescription drugs, vitamins, and veterinary meds will be accepted.

SATURDAY April 30: Celebration Of The Restoration Of The Town’s “Poetic Dialogue Sculpture.  Noon. Sweetser Park.  Amherst Regional High seniors Linden Jimison and Rebekah Hong will perform their own poetic dialogue loosely following the spirit of the cento, or collage poem. Each line of their script is taken from the poems of Dickinson and Frost. Live music, performed by the Amherst College Madrigal Singers, will be part of the 30-minute program. More information.

SATURDAY,  April 30:  Loudon Wainwright III.  The Drake 44 North Pleasant Street. 8:00 p.m.  More information and tix.  Calendar of shows.

SUNDAY, MAY 1:  Open House And Community Outreach At The Jones Library. The Jones Library Outreach Committee invites the public to an open house on May 1, to share ideas about the future of the library.  The event is scheduled from Noon to 2 p.m. at the Jones. Children’s activities will be provided from Noon to 1:00 p.m.  More information here.

SUNDAY MAY 1: UMass Jazz Vocal Ensemble. 7:30 p.m. Bezanson Recital Hall,  UMass.  Tix: $10.  Students, UMass Employees, & Seniors $5.  More information and full UMass Music and Dance Calendar here.

SUNDAY MAY 1:  The Other America, A New Play. Bromery Center For the Arts, UMass, 2 p.m.  Free. The Other America is a staged reading inspired by Nobel Prize Winner Dario Fo’s Johan Padan and The Discovery of the Americas, but instead of telling the story of a stowaway in the 17th century who ends up in a whole different continent, it tells the story of João da Silva, a young man who leaves Brazil to start a new life in the United States of America in the year 2025.  More information here. 

SUNDAY MAY 1: May Day Event At Pulaski Park, Northampton.  11 a.m. – 3 p.m. Join us at Pulaski Park for a day of action, solidarity, and celebration starting at 11a.m.. We will kick off a short canvass in support of the Fair Share Amendment and the Mass Is Not For Sale campaigns then gather back at 1p.m. for lunch and to hear from speakers on current labor fights in our region. We will also host an outdoor organizing training on skills and tactics for building power in the workplace. Bring a blanket and be part of the change you want to see in your communities. Sponsored by Massachusetts Jobs For Justice and four other organizations.  More information here.

MONDAY MAY 2: Poetry Reading by Martín Espada, 5:00 p.m., Old Chapel UMass. Espada will read from his award-winning collection Floaters, which won the 2021 National Book Award for Poetry and was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. A book signing and reception will follow the event, which is free and open to the public. Registration is required.  More information here. 

TUESDAY, MAY 3:  The Energy Transition Symposium At UMass.  10:45 a.m- 4:00 p.m.  UMass Student Union.  The Energy Transition Symposium at UMass Amherst is a showcase for energy transition research and campus climate action at UMass Amherst, including (but not limited to) work in STEM, social sciences, humanities, business, and interdisciplinary studies. All members of the UMass and the five-college community with projects related to energy transition, environmental justice, and sustainability will have an opportunity to present at the poster session.  Read more about it in The Indy.

WEDNESDAY MAY 4: UMass Chapel Jazz Ensemble, Benzanson Recital Hall, UMass. 7:30-9:00 p.m.  General Admission: $10.  Students, seniors, and UMass Employees $5.  Tickets and more information here. Full UMass Music and Dance Calendar here

FRIDAY, MAY 6:  Ultimate Disc Showcase. Amherst Regional High School Athletic Fields. 7:00-8:30 p.m.  Players from the women’s professional teams Portland Rising and NY Gridlock will play with Amherst girls in this first-ever showcase event that kicks off the weekend tournament. Come watch some amazing action!

On Line Events

WEDNESDAY MAY 4:  Community Chat On Bears In Amherst, 6:30-8:30 p.m. on Zoom. Dave Wattle, Bears and Furbearer Project Leader for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts & Carol Hepburn, Animal Control Officer for the Town of Amherst will lead a question and answer session on bears in Amherst on Wednesday, May 4, from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.  The event will be held on Zoom. Residents  can send questions to the experts ahead of the meeting at getinvolved@amherstma.gov.
Click here to join the webinar.
Webinar ID: 873 3625 7479
Or Telephone:
Dial(for higher quality, dial a number based on your current location):
US: +1 646 876 9923  or +1 301 715 8592  or +1 312 626 6799  

FRIDAY MAY 6 – Cuppa Joe With Paul Bockelman and Sean Mangano On The Town Budget. 8:30- 9:30  a.m. on Zoom. Staff will be on hand to discuss and answer your questions on Amherst’s FY 23 Proposed Budget. You can learn more about the upcoming budget here, documents and resources will be added as they become available.  You may access current and previous years’ budgets at www.amherstma.gov/budget . The session will be recorded and added to the Town’s YouTube Channel. You may view previous virtual community meetings and chats by clicking here.  Guests will have the opportunity to ask questions live, or you may submit questions in advance to sunrydb@amherstma.gov with the e-mail subject line “Cuppa”  To join: via Zoom https://amherstma.zoom.us/j/93952241687, via Phone: Dial (646) 876-9923 with webinar ID: 939 5224 1687 

THURSDAY MAY 19: Webinar. Homelessness In Amherst.  Zoom. 7:00 – 8:30 p.m. The Racial Justice Committee of the League of Women Voters Amherst  hosts a “brown bag event”, featuring Kevin Noonan, Executive Director of Craig’s Doors.  Zoom link will be posted here.