A weekend of music and Memorial Day races

As published in Berkshire Magazine, May 2015

outAboutcc-a0ef3a01

Before the orchestra, opera, and pop divas take Tanglewood, the lawns will be covered with a different crowd. The SummerSound festival, in its second year, kicks off the season May 23-24 with a weekend of music by local and big names. The festival runs along with the popular Memorial Day Races—trail, road, bike, and combination—and participants receive free admission with registration.

Race and festival organizer Matt Linick hopes to create a different sort of vibe than Tanglewood is used to seeing. “We’re going try to merge the old and the young throughout the festival,” Linick says. With headliners like the Indigo Girls and Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds mixed with local acts like Jordan Weller & The Feathers, along with local breweries, food trucks, and restaurants, there’s fun for everyone.

Local musician Andy Wrba, for one, thinks the festival is the perfect place to showcase all that the area has to offer. His band, indie-roots–rock group Barefoot Truth, is part of the two-day event. “Tanglewood is my dream venue, it has been since I was a little kid,” says Wrba. “There’s a great thing to be said about bringing new music and a younger audience directly to the grounds.”

Race participants can register online through May 21. Festival passes also are available online.

Tanglewood,
297 West St., Lenox
SummerSoundLive.com
MemorialDayRaces.com