Saturday, August 21 - Sunday, August 29Can you stand yet another festival? Perhaps a brief description of Word X Word will entice you. Envision this upstart festival—which bills itself as a celebration of words written, spoken, and sung—as a mash-up of the recent Berkshire WordFest at The Mount, the Solid Sound Festival at MASS MoCA, and The Berkshire Fringe. Now in its second year, Word X Word has expanded in length, scope, artists, and venues. The week's line-up includes spoken-word performers, singer/songwriters, theatrical works, and more, all within walking distance in downtown Pittsfield. It kicks off with a rooftop party that became instantly legendary in its first incarnation, and can only get better this year with the addition of Christine Ohlman, aka The Beehive Queen, vocalist of the Saturday Night Live Band, plus local DJ made good Ryan Brown, who now spins his beats in Boston. The rest of the fest is a similar blend of hometown talent and national acts, including bookend concerts at The Colonial including Stephen Kellogg and the Sixers on Sunday, August 22 and the New England American Festival in the closing show on Saturday, August 29. Word up? Check it out. Mission, The Lantern, The Colonial, The Lichtenstein Center for the Arts, and other downtown locations Pittsfield, MA
