Hilltown Families 
PARENTS’ NIGHT OUT: Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco in the Hilltowns!
Winklepicker Festival
Mardi Gras Ball w/ Buckwheat Zydeco
& After-Party w/ The Primate Fiasco
Saturday, Feb 18th @ 7pm in Ashfield, MA
Winklepicker Festival's Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco at the Ashfield Town Hall (412 Main Street), followed by an after-party with The Primate Fiasco, happens on Feb 18th! Deadline to enter to win: 2/15. Details below.
Continuing our Parents’ Night Out promotions, Hilltown Families has a pair of tickets to giveaway to one very lucky couple to the Winklepicker Festival Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco at the Ashfield Town Hall (412 Main Street), followed by an after-party with The Primate Fiasco next door at Elmer’s, in Ashfield, MA on Saturday, February 18th at 7pm. Deadline to enter to win: 2/15. Details below.
WHAT IS WINKLEPICKER?
Italy has Carnivale, Brazil has the same. Germany has Fasching, New Orleans has Mardi Gras… Ashfield has Winklepicker! – And while those other festivals are all tied to the last possible blow-out moments before the contemplative days of Lent, out here in the Protestant hinterlands, Winklepicker is tied to the hardest part of the year – when the novelty of winter has worn off, warmth is still half a globe-turn away and you’d like something to do besides plow snow and rake roofs.
Winklepicker stirs all the warmth of music, dancing, community, eating and drinking up together in one big, roiling pot. Winklepicker celebrates warmth and fun in the coldest, plainest days of the year. This inaugural year, the third weekend of February also turned out to be the weekend that precedes the above celebrated festivals, and the theme of Mardi Gras in New Orleans was picked as the inaugural theme for the weekend.
This year’s festival includes: Creole Cooking Workshop; Exhibit of Mardi Gras costumes; Mardi Gras Kids Music Camp; Concert with Chris Smither; Gospel Brunch; and a Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco (after-party with The Primate Fiasco). Find out more at www.winklepickerfest.com.
MARDI GRAS BALL WITH BUCKWHEAT ZYDECO
Grammy Award-winning American musical legend, Louisiana vocalist, and accordion and organ master Buckwheat Zydeco is the preeminent ambassador of Louisiana zydeco music. The New York Times says, “Stanley ‘Buckwheat’ Dural leads one of the best bands in America. A down-home and high-powered celebration, meaty and muscular with a fine-tuned sense of dynamics…propulsive rhythms, incendiary performances.” This high-energy band will lead a night of dancing and Mardi Gras revelry that you won’t want to miss, so put on your dancing shoes and join Buckwheat Zydeco as he heats up Ashfield Town Hall. Then stay for the After Party with The Primate Fiasco. The Ball begins at 7pm; after party at 9:30pm. – Not familiar with Buckwheat Zydeco, sample his music here… but be sure to put on your dancing shoes first!
HOW TO ENTER WIN
Your chance to win a pair of tickets to the WinklePicker Festival Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco at the Ashfield Town Hall (412 Main Street), followed by an after-party with The Primate Fiasco next door in Ashfield, MA, on Saturday, February 18th at 7pm is easy & simple! To enter to win simply:
- CONSIDER SHARING ON FACEBOOK by selecting “Like” below
- TELL US HOW HILLTOWN FAMILIES HELPS YOUR FAMILY SHAKE OFF THE WINTER BLUES below (one entry per household) and be sure to tell us your
- FULL NAME (first/last) and where you
- LIVE (TOWN/STATE) must include your town to be eligible.
- ACCURATE EMAIL (we never share your email address).
- We’ll randomly draw a winner and will share the results below.
IT’S THAT SIMPLE! — Deadline to enter to win is Wednesday, 02/15/12 @ 7pm (EST)
Tickets at Turn It Up!, World Eye Books, Boswell’s Books, Elmer’s Store & online at mightyalbert.com. For more info call 413-628-4003.
I am slow to join you all–events look great, website is quite handsome!
Erin has won a pair of tickets to the WinklePicker Festival Mardi Gras Ball with Buckwheat Zydeco at the Ashfield Town Hall (412 Main Street), followed by an after-party with The Primate Fiasco next door in Ashfield, MA, on Saturday, February 18th at 7pm – and should contact us at hilltownfamilies@gmail.com for directions on how to claim tickets…
But that’s not all… we’ve selected another winner to receive a copy of Buckwheat Zydeco’s award winning CD, Lay Your Burden Down.
Congratulations to:
Piet will receive a copy of this CD and should email his mailing address to hilltownfamiles@gmail.com.
Hilltown has helped us stay connected to other families and events all over the Valley.
We have found fun things to do to lift the winter blues on this Web site: Fire and Ice arts walk the other night in Easthampton and the Holyoke Winter Carnival are just two of our recent winter-blues-busting outings. There’s really no need to look further than Hilltown Families for fun events during the week and on the weekends!
Sandra Dias
Holyoke, MA
Hilltown families helps us shake off the winter blues by giving us lots of ideas for fun, interesting, engaging, and community-minded events happening all over the valley!
Mimi Kaplan
Haydenville, MA
My new Love and I have been struggling to come with ideas of fun ways to introduce our children to one another. Valley Advocate has not let us down with unique, creative happenings around the valley. ThanksA
Hilltown Families keeps us busy doing all sorts of fun and amazing things every weekend… and there’s no time left for winter blues!
Erin Klett
Greenfield, Ma
Hilltown Families keeps me up to date on all the great happenings in the valley. HF helps keep the winter blues away!
Eugenie Wu in Shutesbury
Hilltown families helps us shake off the winter blues by getting Valentines in the real mail.
Helene Leue
Ashfield, Ma
I love reading reading about the ‘goings on’ around us… it gives us more options than just chores and TV on the weekends in the winter. kudos to Hilltown Families!
Amanda Saklad
Belchertown, MA
The connections we’ve made with other families through Hilltown Families over the years keep us going over these winter months! There is always somebody out there to join us sledding at the golf course, skating on the lake, or cross-country skiing in the yard! Thanks for helping us build community in what could be a very isolating geographical area one email at a time!
Hilltown families is my Friday after work go-to site for checking out what we might do that weekend. We’ve learned about so many wonderful events – it’s often hard to choose which one to pick.
Dance parties all winter long…anywhere and everywhere. Well, that and getting outside at the Wendell State Forest and Greenfield YMCA Family Nights….
Hilltown families helps our family by giving us a great place to find fun things to do on the weekends and school breaks. Thanks for all that you do!!