What’s Happening In Amherst?

More Local Events.
Events Listing Beginning The Week Of June 17, 2022

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 eclectic. 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

EVERY SATURDAY through NOVEMBER 19. Amherst Farmers’ Market. Town Common 7:30 a.m – 1:30 p.m. Farm to table produce from local growers and producers. Food, music and events. More information including a list of vendors.

EVERY SUNDAY through OCTOBER 2: Early Bird. Early Birding at the Notch Visitors Center. 1500 West Street. 9:00-9:30 a.m. Join a Park Interpreter on a fun beginner bird stroll. Learn about birds, their behaviors, their needs and habitats. Listen, watch, stroll, sketch or journal on this interactive program. We will do a moderate, 1/2 mile hike around the visitor center and down a short trail. More Information.

WEEKDAYS THROUGH WEDNESDAY JUNE 29: Wildlife Photography Exhibit by Mark Lindhuldt. US Fish and Wildlife Service, 300 Westgate Center Drive, Hadley. 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Mark Lindhult has a passion for capturing the beauty of nature and the unique behaviors of birds and wildlife in the landscape. Special moments in time are fleeting but can be frozen in our memory through the art of photography and this exhibit shows some of those moments.

As a Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a Principle Emeritus at The Berkshire Design Group, Mark brings his knowledge of landscape, ecology, design and composition to inform his photography and advocate for habitat preservation. His photographs have been exhibited at UMass Amherst in the Design Building Gallery, the US Fish and Wildlife Headquarters Gallery, the Baystate Medical Center Gallery and Franklin Medical Center. He’s also granted permission to several non-profit groups to use his photographs in newsletters, reports, notecards and postcards. These groups include the Friends of Quabbin, the Massachusetts Rivers Alliance and the Kestrel Land Trust. You can see more examples of his work at: https://www.marklindhult.com

THROUGH SATURDAY JULY 2.: Syncopate: Homage To Jazz at Gallery A3. Inspired by the syncopation of jazz, regional artists Donald Boudreaux, Andres Chaparro, Bobby Davis, Terry Jenoure, and Rodney Madison present paintings, drawings, photographs, prints, and sculptures that display a bold and beautiful interplay of complex visual rhythms in a new exhibit at Gallery A3, 28 Amity Street.   An online art forum is scheduled for June 16 at 7:30 p.m.  More Information here and here.

THROUGH SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1: Exhibit: Daniel Ellsberg, A Life Of Truth. The UMass Amherst Libraries host “Daniel Ellsberg: A Life in Truth,” a physical and digital exhibit drawing from activist and truth teller Daniel Ellsberg’s vast collection of documents, photographs, and artifacts. The Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center acquired the collection in 2019.The exhibit is located in two locations in the W. E. B. Du Bois Library until September 2022. It begins on Floor 25 in the Reading Room of the Robert S. Cox Special Collections and University Archives Research Center (open M-F 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m.) and continues on the Lower Level in the Learning Commons (accessible whenever the Library is open). More Information.

SATURDAY JUNE 18 and SUNDAY June 19: Juneteenth Weekend. Saturday: Heritage Walking Tour. Tour begins 11:00 a.m. at the West Cemetery on Triangle Street and ends at 5:00 p.m. at The Drake. A collaboration between Ancestral Bridges and the Amherst Historical Society Museum to celebrate Juneteenth in Amherst, MA. This walking tour explores the unique history and contributions of generations of Black families in Amherst curated and guided by descendants. Free and open to the public. Sunday: Jubilee on the Common. Music, food, and community beginning at noon. More Information.

TUESDAY JUNE 21: Northampton Jazz Workshop with Vocalist Giacomo Gates. The Drake, 44 North Pleasant Street. 7:30 p.m. Free (donations apprecited) Doors open at 5 p.m. Full listing of June events at The Drake.

TUESDAY JUNE 21. Mark The Summer Solstice At The UMass Sun Wheel. The public is invited to join University of Massachusetts Amherst astronomers at the standing stones of the UMass Sunwheel on Tuesday, June 21, at 5 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. to observe sunrise and sunset. UMass Amherst astronomers will describe how the Sunwheel works and explain the astronomical cause of the solstice at the roughly hour-long gatherings. More Information.

FRIDAY JULY 1: Amherst’s Independence Day Fireworks. beginning at 5:00 p.m.  behind McGuirk Stadium at UMass Amherst located on Stadium Drive. Fun for the whole family at this annual celebration. FREE parking.  Starting at 5:00 PM: Live Performances, Hot Air Balloon Rides, Beer Garden, Games, Prizes, Food, Raffles & More (Cash ONLY). Fireworks at 9:00 p.m. Questions?  rec@amherstma.gov or call (413) 259-3065

ON LINE EVENTS
ONGOING: Annual ARHS Student Art Exhibit . The Art Department at Amherst Regional High School is proud to present AR[T]HS 2022, an online exhibitehibit of outstanding student artwork from the 2021-2022 school year. This juried exhibit,  – now in its 14th year,  – includes superlative work from all of the Art Department’s course offerings. The exhibit can be viewed here.

MONDAY JUNE 20: 7:30 p.m. Reading. Poets Franny Choi & Toni Jensen will read via livestream as part of the 2022 Juniper Institute Summer Reading series.   For more information see here.

TUESDAY JUNE 21: 7:30 p.m. Reading. Novelist & short story author  Noy Holland & poet Evie Shockey will read via livestream as part of the 2022 Juniper Institute Summer Reading series.   For more information see here.

THURSDAY JUNE 23: 7:30 p.m. Book launch party. Novelist  Gina Apostol & poet Arda Collins will read via livestream as part of the 2022 Juniper Institute Summer Reading series.   For more information see here.

MONDAY JUNE 27: Age and Dementia Friendly Town Listening Project. 2:30-4:00 p.m. On Zoom. Registration required. The Age & Dementia Friendly Amherst Working Group is hosting listening sessions in the Summer/Fall of 2022 to gather input from older adults and others who are aging in Amherst (that’s all of us!). Please join us for these important conversations! SESSION 2: SOCIAL PARTICIPATION & INCLUSION, COMMUNICATION & TECHNOLOGY,CIVIC ENGAGEMENT Register for this meeting at: https://tinyurl.com/AFAmherst2. More Information.