Last Call, Franklin County

This past Sunday’s inaugural Franklin County On Tap festival drew over 400 intrepid fans of craft beer, cider, and mead to Berkshire East Mountain Resort in Charlemont to sample brews from a dozen local operations, including the newest: Hitchcock Brewing in Whately, pictured here, which shipped its first keg May 15. Visitors wandered among two floors of vendor tables inside the lodge, but the most fun was to be found outside, where Dave Houghton and Shokazoba rocked out on a grassy knoll while helmeted, padded mountain bikers came barreling down the steep trails, bursting out of the trees among crowded picnic tables. Overhead, zipliners whizzed by, tethered to thin cables. As they slid past, they waved to us, and we raised our glasses in greeting.

— Hunter Styles, hstyles@valleyadvocate.com