RiverFest

Organized with several community partners, RiverFest is a celebration of our local waterways. Throughout the festival, artists, humanists, and scientists share their practices and knowledge as a frame for hands-on, experiential, and sensory experiences across a variety of means of engagement, including workshops, walks, guided movement, performances, and public artworks. Projects explore themes around the river, cultural and historic uses & meaning, climate change & the future, creative relationships with water and flow, and related habitat and ecosystems.

RiverFest kicks off with a special River Songs-themed Friday Night Cafe and an Open Community River Song Circle on Friday, September 19. 

Throughout the day on Saturday, September 20, join us for:

• A nature walk along the river led by field naturalist Charley Eiseman, organized by Hilltown Vision
• River-themed puppet making with Meredyth Babcock, puppeteer and Wild & Scenic Westfield River Committee educator
• Artist and artisan vending along Main Street
• Reception at Ferrin Contemporary for Kadri Parnamets' solo exhibition featuring new large scale river-themed works
• RAKU firing along the river, organized by Project Art
• Open exhibition viewing hours for "Watershed: The Westfield in Cummington" at the Kingman Tavern Museum
• A showcase of J.S. Bryant School student visual work about community leadership on the Westfield River
• And more activities to be announced!

RiverFest is free and all-ages, and light refreshments will be provided with donations accepted. Additional artisan goods and food will be on sale during the event. Join us on Friday, September 19 and Saturday, September 20, 2025! (Rain Date: Sunday, September 21)

RiverFest is organized by the Cummington Cultural District in partnership with the Cummington Historical Commission, Hilltown CDC, Hilltown Vision, Historical Commission, Friday Night Cafe, J.S. Bryant School, and Project Art / Ferrin Contemporary.

RiverFest caps the Year of the River 2025 for Cummington Cultural District’s programs. The Westfield River is the Cummington Cultural District’s backyard, flowing behind the buildings and houses that line Main Street, our celebrated rural arts destination. In 2025, the CCD will bring our backyard front-and-center, making the Westfield River that runs through the heart of town the focus and site of our programmatic work.