What’s Happening In Amherst?

You can help us make our events calendar more useful by sending us your listings and including contact information and/or a link for more information. Send 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 SATURDAY THROUGH NOVEMBER 5: SPECIAL EXHIBIT – BLACK AND AFRO-INDIGENOUS FAMILIES IN AMHERST. Amherst History Museum, 67 Amity Street. 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. Historic images of Amherst’s Black and indigenous families plus artifacts dating back to the pre-Emancipation era. More information

LAST FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH : LAST FRIDAYS AT THE DRAKE POETRY SERIES HOSTED BY LYRICAL FAITH. 44 North Pleasant Street. Join us every last Friday of the month* for Last Fridays at The Drake hosted by Lyrical Faith for an unforgettable open mic and poetry night experience featuring award-winning spoken word artists from across the country. Come through for music, drinks, and artistic expression where poets take center stage to share new work, old work, or any work that helps them get free. Doors and bar open at 5PM. Early arrival is encouraged to get a slot on the sign-up sheet. The cover charge is $5 with a college ID or $10 general admission. More Information. Full Events Calendar at the Drake.

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.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1 THROUGH SATURDAY OCTOBER 1: THEN AND NOW AT GALLERY A3.
28 Amity Street 1D. A new exhibit,  Then and Now, by Ron Maggio and Rochelle Schicoff. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, September 1 from 5-8:00 p.m. and an online art forum on Thursday September 15, at 7:30 p.m.  Gallery hours are Thursday through Sunday, 3-8:00 p.m. More Information.

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19- WEDNESDAY APRIL 3: Feinberg Lecture Series On US Imperialism: Confronting Empire Events are online or hybrid. This free public lecture series brings together scholars, journalists, educators, writers, community organizers, and survivors of state violence to examine global histories of U.S. imperialism and anti-imperialist resistance.The series traces the history of U.S. imperialism from the conquest of North America to the creation of an overseas empire in the late 19th century and to the present day. It also offers a critical historical analysis of the various traditions and movements that have opposed U.S. empire, including Black radicalism, Marxism, revolutionary feminism, armed struggle, international solidarity, pacifism, and liberal, electoral, and diplomatic activism.  The series kicks off Monday, September 19 for the Keynote Address, US Policy In the Global South by Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, joined by journalists Vincent Bevins and Amy Goodman. 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Register here.
Full listing of series events and more information

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30- SATURDAY OCTOBER 1: NORTHAMPTON JAZZ FESTIVAL. Multiple venues. 4:30 p.m. – 10:30 p.m. Friday. 11:15 a.m. -6:30 p.m. Saturday. Featuring The Ron Carter Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Academy of Music. More information, lineup and tix.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 -SUNDAY MAY 14. 60 YEARS OF COLLECTING -AN ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART PERMANENT COLLECTION. Bottom Floor of the UMass Fine Arts Center. Look here for gallery hours and additional information. Free. The exhibit can be viewed on line here.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 – MONDAY OCTOBER 31: AMHERST SURVIVAL CENTER HIKE FOR HUNGER
What: Sign up as an individual or team. Registration is $25 and includes a 2022 Hike for Hunger t-shirt. Once you register, you’ll be prompted to set up your personal fundraising page. All the details are ready for you, but you are welcome to personalize your page. You can share your page with family and friends via email and Facebook. There is no fundraising minimum, but you will earn rewards for your fundraising efforts. You could win a Downtown Amherst Night Out gift basket, a private wine and cheese tasting hosted by Provisions, tickets to a UMass Hockey game, and more

Where: Anywhere, anytime. Set your own path, whether it’s hiking local peaks, walking your dog on a nearby trail, or even fishing for hunger! You can also join us on a group hike. Check out the hikes we have planned and reserve your spot today. 
More information.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1: BANDTOBERFEST, A FAMILY FRIENDLY MUSICAL EVENT ON THE AMHERST COMMON. 2-5 P.M. The UMass Wind Ensemble, conducted by Matthew Westgate, and the UMass Symphony Band, conducted by Lindsay Bronnenkant, will perform on the Amherst Common as part of the second annual “Bandtoberfest” event sponsored by the Amherst Downtown Business Improvement District. The family-friendly event will feature performances of marches, polkas, and band favorites by the two ensembles. A rain date has been set for Sunday, October 2. More information

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1: AIZURI QUARTET. Amherst College, 8 p.m. Buckley Recital Hall. Winner of the Cleveland Quartet Award in 2022, the Aizuri Quartet took home the Grand Prize at the 2018 M-Prize Chamber Arts Competition and top prizes at the 2017 Osaka International Chamber Music Competition and the 2015 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. The quartet’s debut album, Blueprinting, featuring new works written for them by five American composers, was released by New Amsterdam Records to critical acclaim (“In a word, stunning” —I Care If You Listen), nominated for a 2019 GRAMMY Award and named one of NPR Music’s Best Classical Albums of 2018. Tix and more information

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2: IMMIGRATION JUSTICE EVENT MARKING THE END OF THE JEWISH HIGH HOLIDAYS. People of all faiths are invited to an immigration justice ritual. 2 p.m. at the bikeway entrance on the DCR Connecticut River Greenway State Park, on the Northampton side of the Coolidge Bridge.  More information

MONDAY OCTOBER 3: SCREENING OF THE FILM BLACK PANTHER AND BOOK SIGNING FOR THE WAKANDA COOKBOOK. 7:00 p.m. Amherst Cinema, 28 Amity Street, Amherst, will screen the great epic of Wakanda, Black Panther, with guest Nyanyika Banda, author of Marvel’s Black Panther The Wakanda Cookbook, for a discussion around The Marvel Comic Universe, Foodways of the African Diaspora, & the fictional nation of Wakanda.   Books will be available to purchase & be signed. More information

THURSDAY OCTOBER 6 READING BY VIRGINIA GRIESE. Robert Frost Library, 2nd Floor, Amherst College. 7 p.m. Virginia Grise, playwright & director, will speak at the CHI Think Tank, Frost Library (2nd floor), Amherst College, Amherst as part of Amherst College’s Visiting Writers Series.   She is author of, among others, Your Healing is Killing Me, & blu, which won the Yale Drama Series Award & was a finalist for the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts’ Latino/a Playwrighting Award.   For more information about the event, see here.   N.B. Masks must be worn.

FRIDAY OCTOBER 7: THE LEGACY OF JULES CHAMETZKY. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. (Conference, panel, memoirs, book signing). The Legacy of Jules Chametzky: “Honoring the Intellect, Fostering Justice & Equality”   A day-long event at the Old Chapel, 144 Hicks Way, UMass, Amherst, to celebrate the legacy of Jules Chametzky, founding editor of the Massachusetts Review, early president of the Massachusetts Society of Professors, first director of UMass’s Interdisciplinary Studies Institute, & co-signatory at the founding of the national Community of Literary Magazines & Presses.  

FRIDAY OCTOBER 7 THROUGH SATURDAY OCTOBER 29. EXHIBIT – ACCORDION BOOKS BY LAURA HOLLAND AT GALLERY A3 In Deciphered Objects, Laura Holland explores the actual or imagined stories that animate seemingly ordinary objects like empty paper bags, an antique pickle fork, a colorful raincoat, and an old ceramic platter in a series of handmade accordion books. The exhibit opens at Gallery A3 28 Amity Street 1D on Friday, October 7 and runs through Saturday, October 29. There will be an opening reception on Thursday, October 6 from 5-7:00 p.m. and a free, online art forum on Thursday, October 20, at 7:30 p.m. More information and register for online art forum here.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 8: THE NIELDS AT THE DRAKE. 8 p.m. 44 North Pleasant Street. Tix $20/$25 advance, $25/$30 at the door. Katryna and Nerissa Nields have been part of the Valley’s musical DNA since they formed their beloved folk rock band The Nields in 1991. They’ve been lauded for their gorgeous, lilting, sibling harmonies, their wise, classic, folk/pop songs, their hilarious banter on stage, and the generosity and warmth in their engagement with fans. Well into their third decade as musical partners the Nields are at the very top of their game. More information. Full Events Calendar at the Drake.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 11: UMASS JAZZ ENSEMBLE. 7:30 p.m. Bowker Auditorium. UMass. The UMass Amherst Department of Music and Dance will present a performance featuring Jazz Ensemble I, led by Jazz and African American Music Studies Director Jeffrey W. Holmes, and Chapel Jazz Ensemble, led by Professor Felipe Salles. Jazz Ensemble I, the university’s top jazz ensemble, will perform a variety of works including Thad Jones’ “Three and One,” Bob Mintzer’s “Home Basie,” Billy Strayhorn’s “Chelsea Bridge,” Radiohead’s “Bodysnatchers,” and Hank Mobley’s “Minor’s Holiday.” During their portion of the program, Chapel Jazz will also be presenting works by Jones and Mintzer plus the music of Ray Bryant and others.   Tickets prices are $10 for general admission, $5 for senior citizens and non-UMass students, and free for UMass students. Tickets may be purchased at the Fine Arts Center Box Office, by phone at 413-545- 2511, or online at fineartscenter.com/musicanddance. Bowker Auditorium is located at 80 Campus Center Way; free and secure parking is available in the nearby Campus Center Garage. Visit the Fine Arts Center website or more information

THURSDAY OCTOBER 13: 23rd Annual Eqbal Ahmed Lecture. Franklin Patterson Lecture Hall, Hampshire College, 4:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m. EST. The State We Are In: Building an Intersectional Movement for Reproductive Justice. Join scholar-activists Dorothy Roberts and Michele Goodwin in conversation with Black feminist reproductive justice educator and activist Loretta Ross and Amherst College Professor Jallicia Jolly. The Eqbal Ahmad lecture series is an annual event in honor of the scholarship, teaching, and activism of former Hampshire faculty member Eqbal Ahmad. This event is free and open to the public. Free and open to the public. Masks required. More information

SUNDAY OCTOBER 16: HITCHCOCK HARVEST BENEFIT. Hitchcock Center, 845 West Street. 3:00-6:00 p.m. Celebrating 60 years of planting seeds for change. Enjoy local seasonal fare, sample local beer, cider, wine, kombucha, live music, garden and building tours. More information

WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 19: COMMON SHARE FOOD COOP COMMUNITY GATHERING With PETER BLOOD FROM RISE UP SINGING And Paul Kaplan. 6:30-8:30 P.M. Unitarian Universalist Society Of Amherst, 121 North Pleasant Street. Enjoy a glimpse of a resilient future in Amherst and meet other community members interested in food justice, good jobs and democracy. Light refreshments will be served. Free. All Are welcome.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 27: 28th ANNUAL AMHERST EDUCATION FOUNDATION TRIVIA BEE. 6:30 p.m. in the auditorium at the Amherst Regional Middle School! There will be pizza and snacks available for purchase, plus a raffle with lots of gift certificates to local restaurants and businesses. Teams can also come in costume and enter our costume contest. You must pre-register to play. Please visit bit.ly/trivia-bee22 to sign up your team or enter the raffle. More information

SATURDAY OCTOBER 29: SKI AND WINTER GEAR SALE TO BENEFIT THE AMHERST HISTORY MUSEUM. One Day Only. 9 A.M. – 2 P.M. 67 Amity Street. Top quality winter gear for adults and children.
More info.

ONLINE EVENTS

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19- WEDNESDAY APRIL 3: Feinberg Lecture Series On US Imperialism: Confronting Empire Events are online or hybrid. This free public lecture series brings together scholars, journalists, educators, writers, community organizers, and survivors of state violence to examine global histories of U.S. imperialism and anti-imperialist resistance.The series traces the history of U.S. imperialism from the conquest of North America to the creation of an overseas empire in the late 19th century and to the present day. It also offers a critical historical analysis of the various traditions and movements that have opposed U.S. empire, including Black radicalism, Marxism, revolutionary feminism, armed struggle, international solidarity, pacifism, and liberal, electoral, and diplomatic activism.  The series kicks off Monday, September 19 for the Keynote Address, US Policy In the Global South by Nobel Peace Laureate Dr. Rigoberta Menchú Tum, joined by journalists Vincent Bevins and Amy Goodman. 7 p.m. on Zoom.
Register here.
Full listing of series events and more information

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 -SUNDAY MAY 14. 60 YEARS OF COLLECTING -AN ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE UNIVERSITY MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART PERMANENT COLLECTION. Bottom Floor of the UMass Fine Arts Center. Look here for gallery hours and additional information. Free. The exhibit can be viewed on line here.

THURSDAY OCTOBER 20: FREE ART FORUM FOR LAURA HOLLAND’S DECIPHERED OBJECTS, AN EXHIBIT AT GALLERY A3. 7:30 p.m on Zoom.  More information and register for online art forum here.