April 21, 2026: Woodstar festival co-operatives

The 4 counties are rife with film creators. The fifth Easthampton Film Festival takes place this weekend bringing a whole host of new and established movie makers together to screen their work, deepen their craft, and engage with the public! We speak with founder Chris Ferry, programming chair Lena Vani, and filmmakers of the short film "Thickly Settled" Brian Jones and Jordan Brooks, about the weekend’s showings and beyond. The David Ruggles Center is using it's Founder's Day celebration to explore the area’s history with worker owned co-operatives through the mission of The Northampton Association. We speak with Education Coordinator at the David Ruggles Center for History and Education Tom Goldscheider and founding member of the Ruggles Center and worker-owner at Collective Copies Steve Strimer about this history that you can learn more about through a panel discussion they'll host this Sunday, April 26th at Bombyx Center for Arts and Equity in Florence. And a tale of two cafes joined in their pursuit of local produce and products. We head to Northampton to Woodstar Cafe to talk to owner Mark Krause about the connection with his first cafe, Esselon, to the bakery and beyond, the important part that local sourcing plays in their day to day operations and more.