A stilt walker greets children during a past Easthampton Cultural Chaos.
Reminder Publishing file photo
EASTHAMPTON — Cultural Chaos, a beloved community event, will not happen in 2026 after Easthampton City Arts announced they will take a step back to better identify arts and cultural programming for community members, local arts and local businesses.
The announcement came through a letter penned by Arts and Culture Program Director Pasqualina Azzarello, who explained the difficult decision to take a year break from the touchstone community event. She said it was “a decision that feels necessary.”
“To be clear, we are taking a year off to explore other arts and cultural programming in the Cultural District, but this is not an elimination of the event altogether. This decision is the result of months of discussions with stakeholders across the arts, businesses and local government,” said Azzarello in the statement.
Azzarello explained that logistics and infrastructure costs for the Cultural Chaos have continued to increase each year. She said the ECA wanted to reflect on its mission and consider ways to better align the use of resources with that mission.
“We believe we have an opportunity to have an even greater and more meaningful impact — for our community members, our local artists, and our local businesses, by activating Cottage Street with thoughtfully curated arts and cultural programs and events that will be offered on a regular basis throughout the entire upcoming year,” said Azzarello in the statement.
Azzarello told Reminder Publishing that the hiatus will allow ECA to explore new integrated long-term sustainable approaches to programming and how they can activate the city’s existing infrastructure through various events, as opposed to one big one that closes the streets.
The plan for 2026, while Cultural Chaos takes its hiatus, is for ECA to put together more than 20 events in the Cottage Street Cultural District between April and December. Azzarello said these soon-to-be finalized events will cost the same amount to put on as Cultural Chaos itself and allow for 100% of funds spent by the group to go directly to artists.
“I am personally committed to exploring other models of running a street festival that does involve closing the streets, but in a way that will ultimately be much more sustainable and supported for everyone involved,” Azzarello said.
Some of the new programming in 2026 will include music and performances using the Nashawannuck Pond Promenade and city sidewalks or parking lots to host these performers. Other programming will feature collaborations with the Cottage Street Merchants Association and brand new ECA signature community events for people of all ages to enjoy in the Cottage Street Cultural District and beyond.
Azzarello said much of the upcoming programming will feature familiar faces from past Cultural Chaos events.
“I have been having some really beautiful conversations in recent days with a number of our program collaborators for Cultural Chaos, and we’re talking about new ways that we can work together, not just for one day of the year, but for multiple times throughout the year,” said Azzarello. “It’s been very encouraging to be working with everyone, and to be in a position where we can do some dreaming about new ways of doing things while still supporting the arts and culture we value so much in Easthampton.”
Cultural Chaos took a pause during the COVID-19 pandemic, and ECA offered two years of dynamic community programming in its absence. Now approaching the upcoming year with a similar sentiment, ECA plans to reassess its findings at the end of the year, with ample opportunity for community input.
“As future funding for arts and cultural programming becomes more and more uncertain, we believe that taking a year to explore and experiment with more long-term, sustainable programming is a responsible thing to do given the current climate, including changes in funding as well as new shifts in the state’s priorities for the creative economy,” said Azzarello. “Having some new ways of doing things as a possible approach, I believe it is the responsible thing to do.”
The ECA has already begun seeking input from the public, most recently through a Cottage Street Cultural District subcommittee meeting, which took place on Feb. 11 at City Hall. Azzarello said she was happy to share that 15 community members were in attendance, including a mix of business owners, community members and artists who learned more about the decision and how they can get involved moving forward.
“People definitely came to express their support and offer their understanding, but mostly people came with questions and concerns, and wanted to learn more about the reasons behind how our decision came to be, the process by which our decisions came to be, and to learn more about the programming we have planned. It was honestly such an incredible demonstration of community care. There was a lot of empathy and understanding for the difficult choices that had to be made, the timeline upon, they had to be made and the planning that’s going into new ways of doing things,” said Azzarello.
She added that three of the attendees who expressed concerns eventually joined the Cottage Street Cultural District subcommittee by the meeting’s end. The Cottage Street Cultural District Subcommittee meets on the second Wednesday of every month at 9 a.m. inside the basement conference room at City Hall.
Azzarello said the ECA will announce the upcoming year of arts and cultural programming once it is finalized in the coming weeks.
Azzarello said when it comes to Cultural Chaos, the main goals of the festival is to always create a sense of belonging and opportunity for community engagement. The platform allows for support of local artists, and it brings people into the city’s business and cultural districts. These goals, Azzarello says, continue to be front and center when planning this year’s events and for the future of ECA programming.
“One of the things that makes Easthampton so special is just how integrated arts and culture is with our business community. We have art, not only in our galleries, but hanging on the walls of our ice cream parlor, our hair salons. We have partnerships with so many of our local businesses that open their doors and offer their space to artists and cultural programming in so many different ways, and it’s very special,” said Azzarello. “One thing that has really helped to establish the Easthampton we know and love today has been arts and culture.
Easthampton City Arts is a municipal organization. We just celebrated our 20th anniversary in 2025, and there is no doubt that arts and culture have helped to grow our city’s economy over the years and continue to do so.”
She added, “The programming this year will certainly be different. None of us think that it’s the same as Cultural Chaos. Cultural Chaos was unique, special, it’s important, and we’re taking the year to try something new to learn from what we do. There will be ample opportunity for community input as we reflect on the year and make new choices moving forward. How can we create a more consistent presence and vibrance and vitality in the cultural district in an ongoing way throughout the course of the year, throughout all the seasons, and we have an opportunity to try that.”
