Millpond.Live & Easthampton Irish Festival // SATURDAY
This Saturday marks the return of Easthampton’s Irish Fest to close out this season of Millpond.Live. The free outdoor music series at Millside Park will bring a blend of Irish, Scottish, and French Canadian music on guitar, fiddle, and uilleann pipes to the stage. The lineup includes multi-instrumentalist Mick Mcauley (Solas) as well as groundbreaking traditional Irish performer Karen Casey. Gates open at 5 p.m. (for picnicking). The music starts at 6 p.m. Millside Park, 2 Ferry St., Easthampton. — Chris Goudreau
New exhibit of contemporary art at the Mead Art Museum at Amherst College
This past summer, the Mead Art Museum received an anonymous donation of over 170 works of contemporary art, including pieces by artists such as Mark Bradford, Mona Hatoum, David Hockney, and Cindy Sherman. Now you can many of these works in “Starting Something New: Recent Contemporary Art Acquisitions and Gifts,” an exhibit that just opened this week and runs through May 31. The show, curated by Mead Director David Little, also includes some other modern works acquired by the museum in recent years. The museum, open Tuesday through Sunday, is free for all. amherst/edu/museums/mead — Steve Pfarrer
Arts Night Out in Northampton // FRIDAY
There’s something for everyone: a family free draw behind Thornes Marketplace from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.; abstract mid-century-inspired collage art by Magazine Dream Collage at Thelo at 153 Main Street; a collection spanning 60 years of Leonard Baskin’s sculptures, prints and watercolors at R. Michelson Galleries at 132 Main Street; an acoustic, bluegrass jam at Downtown Sounds at 21 Pleasant Street; “This Is Me: Portraits of Pathlight,” a photography project capturing people serviced by Pathlight throughout western Massachusetts, at Northampton Center for the Arts at 33 Hawley Street. — Luis Fieldman
Chilifest // SATURDAY & SUNDAY
This weekend is Chilifest 2019 at Mike’s Maze in Sunderland at Warner Farm and includes all things spicy in a celebration of hot local peppers. There will be a chili cook-off on Saturday and a hot sauce competition on Sunday as well as chef demos, do-it-yourself pickles, button making, chili crowns, and pepper pops. And after you’ve gotten your fill of spicy food, why not take a trip through Mike’s Maze nearby? This year’s theme is Woodstock 1969 and features a maze in the likeness of Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin. Warner Farm, 23 S. Main St., Sunderland. All ages. Various times. — Dave Eisenstadter
