It’s a time for list checking, so we’ve compiled one for you to make things easier when relatives or friends are visiting for the holidays and you want to (let’s be honest) get them out of the house for a few hours. Or maybe you have time to attend one of these events at last. The Rural Intelligence region is full of places and performances imbued with the holiday spirit. Which get your check mark?
Holiday Markets
Dec. 17, Great Barrington Berkshire Grown Holiday Farmers’ Market Local vegetables, apples, cheeses, meats, bread and crafts. Plus music, food and fun for kids. Monument Valley Middle School, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Dec. 18, Williamstown Berkshire Grown Holiday Farmers’ Market Local vegetables, apples, cheeses, meats, bread and crafts. Plus music, food and fun for kids. Williams College Towne Field House, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.
Dining Specials
December 15, Lee Chez Nous Manger! Boire! Eat! Drink! Discover Moldovan cuisine and wines, including traditional dishes such as layered vegetable and salmon salad; beef stew “Fripturica de vaca;” and crepe and cherry cake shaped like a hat. Reservations recommended. 6:30 p.m.
December 22, Lee Chez Nous Manger! Boire! Eat! Drink! A special holiday extravaganza menu, featuring a mushroom souffle, mushroom stuffed filet of Arctic char, and a very French creamy apple tart. Reservations recommended. 6:30 p.m.
Dec. 23 – 30, Lenox Table Six A special holiday week dinner includes warm “turkey stuffing” spoon bread, coq au vin and beef bourguignon and gingerbread cheesecake.
Take the Kids
December 17 & 18, North Adams Berkshire Scenic Railway Christmas Themed Family Train Rides: Take a one-hour, round-trip journey on the Tinseliner while enjoying 1950’s holiday music. Santa Claus will join the crew to visit with each family on the ride back. The train will make a stop for anyone wishing to purchase a Christmas tree from the nonprofit PopCares.
Holiday House Tours
Dec. 17 & 18; Dec. 26 & 27 Wilderstein Historic Site, Rhinebeck. Italianate villa of the Suckley family, including its last resident, Margaret (Daisy) Suckley, cousin and confidante of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Regular Tour Season: Thursdays through Sundays from May – October. See website for special events and holiday happenings. Holiday House Tours from 1–4 p.m.
Dec. 18, Germantown Clermont Christmas at Clermont Open House: Free admission to explore the decorated mansion at your leisure, with docents available to answer questions in each room. Cider and cookies will be available in the visitor’s center. 11 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Dec. 29 & 30, Pittsfield Candlelight and Chocolate Tour at Arrowhead Experience the house as the Melvilles lived it, then enjoy a cider and chocolate reception. Tours at 7 p.m., $25. Reservations necessary.
Performances
Dec, 15-18, Lenox It’s A Wonderful Life: A Live Radio Play The beloved holiday production returns to Shakespeare & Company, with its live sound effects and rapid character changes. Follow George Bailey as he discovers the value of this wonderful life, guided by “angel, second-class” Clarence, on his own quest to earn his wings. Elayne P. Bernstein Theatre, Lenox.
Dec. 17, Spencertown Grant and Twain Stephen Lang (Avatar) stars as Ulysses S. Grant in this reading of a new play by Elizabeth Diggs. Held at (and a benefit for) The Spencertown Academy Arts Center, 4 p.m.
Dec. 18, Hudson Hedda Lettuce Holiday Spectacular Six-time “Drag Queen of the Year” award-winner Hedda Lettuce’s annual holiday cabaret, “Lettuce Rejoice!,” includes such favorites as “Here Comes Tranny Clause,” “Do You Hear What I Hear” rendered as “Do You Think That He’s Queer” and more. Helsinki Hudson, 7 p.m.
Now – Dec. 22, Pittsfield A Christmas Carol Celebrate the holidays with the whole family and revel in the joy and redemptive power of Christmas as told in the timeless tale of Ebenezer Scrooge, the infamous miser who is shown the error of his ways and reformed by four spirits. Journey back to Victorian England and experience the classic story filled with carols and the wonderment of the season. Berkshire Theatre Group at the Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield. Sensory-Friendly Performance: Dec. 18 at 7 p.m. (Photo by Travis G. Daly)
Dec. 23, Annandale-on-Hudson Jazz darlings The Hot Sardines get into the big, brass-filled spirit of the season with “Holiday Stomp,” yuletide classics & lesser-known gems by Edith Piaf, Ella Fitzgerald & more. Bard College Fisher Center, 8 p.m.
Dec. 31, Great Barrington Berkshire Bach Society presents Bach at New Year’s. The Berkshire Bach Ensemble, under the direction of harpsichordist Kenneth Cooper for the final time, will perform the Brandenburg Concerti – all six of them. Great Barrington, 6 p.m.
Galleries and Museums
Now - Dec. 31, Pittsfield Berkshire Museum Now Playing: Festival of Trees 2016, an annual exhibition featuring 100+ decorated trees reflecting this year’s movie theme.
Through March 19, North Adams MASS MoCA Nick Cave: Until, a massive immersive installation where the artist uses the museum’s football field-sized space to create his largest installation to date, made up of thousands of found objects and millions of beads, which will make viewers feel as if they have entered a rich sensory tapestry.
Now - May 29, Stockbridge Norman Rockwell Museum Hanna-Barbera: The Architects of Saturday Morning, the first museum exhibition on the world’s most successful animation partnership, creators of The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Smurfs and many more.
As always, you can check for more upcoming events in our various “Intel” sections:
Dining Intelligence (Listings of Food and Drink Events & Restaurant Features)
Local Shopping Listings
Music & Dance Listings
Visual Arts Listings
Books Listings
Theater Listings
Local Movies Listings