Hilltown Families 
TICKET GIVEAWAY: Cirque du Soleil’s Quidam at The Mullins Center
Cirque du Soleil presents Quidam
The Mullins Center in Amherst, MA
October 5-9th, 2011
Enter to win a family 4-pack of free tickets to see Quidam on opening night, Wednesday, October 5th at 7:30pm at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA. Deadline to enter to win: 10/2/11 @ 7pm (EST)
Cirque du Soleil is coming to town with its newest arena show, Quidam, performing 7 shows at the Mullins Center at UMass in Amherst, MA, from October 5-9, 2011.
Hilltown Families is partnering with the Mullins Center and Cirque du Soleil to offer one lucky family a chance to win a family 4-pack of free tickets to see Quidam on opening night, Wednesday, October 5th at 7:30pm! Deadline to enter to win is 10/2/11 by 7pm (EST). Details on how to enter to win are below.
ABOUT QUIDAM
Young Zoé is bored; her parents, distant and apathetic, ignore her. Her life has lost all meaning. Seeking to fill the void of her existence, she slides into an imaginary world – the world of Quidam – where she meets characters who encourage her to free her soul.
Quidam: a nameless passer-by, a solitary figure lingering on a street corner, a person rushing past and swallowed by the crowd. It could be anyone, anybody. Someone coming or going at the heart of our anonymous society. A member of the crowd, one of the silent majority. The one who cries out, sings and dreams within us all. This is the “quidam” whom this show allows to speak. This is the place that beckons – a place for dreaming and genuine relations where all quidams, by proclaiming their individuality, can finally emerge from anonymity.
Quidam had its world premiere in Montreal, Canada under the Big Top in April 1996. Since that time, the production has toured on five continents and been experienced by millions of people. In December 2010, Quidam embarked on a new journey, performing the same captivating production, but now in arenas throughout North America. The international cast features 52 world-class acrobats, musicians, singers and characters.
Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to more than 100 million spectators in nearly 300 cities on five continents. For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.
HOW TO WIN
Your chance to win a family 4-pack of free tickets to see Quidam on opening night, Wednesday, October 5th at 7:30pm at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA is as easy as 1-2-3 (4, 5)!
To enter to win simply:
- CONSIDER SHARING ON FACEBOOK by selecting the Facebook icon below
- TELL US ABOUT YOUR FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND AN AUTUMN DAY IN WESTERN MA WITH THE FAMILY below (one entry per household) and be sure to tell us your
- FULL NAME and where you
- LIVE (TOWN/STATE) Must include your town to be eligible.
- ACCURATE EMAIL IN THE EMAIL FIELD BELOW (we never share your email address).
IT’S THAT SIMPLE! We’ll randomly draw a winner and will share the results below. — Deadline is Sunday, 10/02/11 @ 7pm (EST).
For show and ticket information, please visit www.cirquedusoleil.com/quidam.
Photo credit: ©2011 Cirque du Soleil, Matt Beard; Costume credit : Dominique Lemieux
Congratulations to:
Christina has won a family 4-pack of free tickets to see Quidam on opening night, Wednesday, October 5th at 7:30pm at the Mullins Center in Amherst, MA and should contact us at hilltownfamilies@gmail.com for details on how to claim her tickets.
Thank you to everyone for sharing their favorite way to spend an Autumn day in Western MA with their family! So many lovely ways, including:
Our house is very food-centric, especially when Fall comes around! We know it’s FALL when Pumpkin Pancake mix hits the shelves! On a typical October weekend we would accompany the pancakes with some syrup from the sugar shak in Hadley some Pekarski Sausage, a little Mapleline Farms milk and maybe some potatoe fries cut from our farmshare! Then we sit and rub our full bellies and watch the leaves fall to the ground!
We love to take a trip to Clarkdale Apple Orchards, pick and snack on apples. Sometimes we go just for the cider! On Fall weekends, we always rake up the leaves into a big pile and then jump around. It makes our clothes smell so lovely! At night we are sure to be eating delicata or butternut squash pie…yum!
Vanessa Brewster
Greenfield, MA
We live in Belchertown, MA!!
Our Favorite Family Activity in the Fall is going to McCrays Farm In South Hadley. At the Farm we enjoy feeding the animals, playing mini-golf, having a bit of icecream, and the highlight of our visit is the tractor ride out to the pumpkin patches! I love watching my son pick his halloween pumpkin. We end the day by going home to decorate the pumpkin and having a warm cup of apple cider from Atkins! ;)
Apple picking at Outlook Farm, a hike at Notchview, Arcadia, or Mount Tom, raking leaves and jumping into them!
Brad Plavcan
Holyoke, MA
The Big E!
Rory
Greenfield, Ma
Taking walks in the many wonderful conservation areas around these hilltowns!
Hiking up Skinner Mountain to see the fall colors all around Western MA. Westfield, MA
Our boys like to be outside playing soccer… I like spending time in the Gorge, seeing the fall colors reflecting in the river. (We’re from Chesterfield.)
A new favorite fall activity for us is in fact circus-related: classes on the flying trapeze out in the beautiful, leafy hills of Guilford, VT (through New England Center for Circus Arts)!
Kate Kruckemeyer
Holyoke, MA
Jumping in the leaves with my children, taking long walks threw the colorful trees and listening to the wildlife……
picking apples and pumpkins , makin homemade apple pies andcarving our pumpkins.
Taking one last camping trip with the kids, bundling up in the sleeping bags at night, smelling the crisp air, and enjoying the warmth of the campfire. And of course, bringing along plenty of just-picked apples to munch on while hiking near the tent site!
Deborah
Whately, MA
A perfect autumn day would include a scenic drive to the Berkshires, a hike on Mount Greylock, lunch on the mountain and homemade apple pie for dessert.
– Ed Kubosiak
Southampton, MA
Apple picking and looking for just the right pumpkin for a jack o’ lantern.
South Hadley, MA
A perfect autumn day starts with hot cocoa as we watch the fog lift and ends with a crackling bonfire as we watch the stars come out. In between, there’s apple picking and jumping in leaves, walking in the woods and pumpkin carving, gathering with friends and sharing a big pot of potato-leek soup.
We live in Colrain.
A day with friends at the Farmer’s Market in Ashfield, where we live
Jessica
I swear I’m not just copying, but I guess we all love the same stuff. Apple picking, kicking around the leaves – but we LOVE building a fire outdoors and piling on the brush. We’re from Hinsdale, MA.
We love picking pears and apples from our generous overgrown old trees! After that there’s pie, applesauce, apple butter, canning, and sharing with friends. Hadley, MA.
Our favorite way to spend an autumn day is roaming the woods….
Helene Leue
Ashfield, Ma.
We love to watch our kids play their fall sports. Our son plays high school football and our girls play soccer for PVJSL
We love watching our kids play their fall sports. My son plays high school football and my girls play soccer for PVJSL.
A great autumn day in western mass. is hiking or biking together to enjoy the fresh air, scenery, and beautiful colors. Then eating some local apples that we’ve picked ourselves.
Mimi Kaplan in Haydenville, MA
Love spending time outdoors, biking and hiking. Plenty of fall festivals to enjoy as well. Northampton, MA
Getting outside! Hiking or biking and taking pictures everything. There’s no shortage of fall festivals as well, a great weekend activity. Northampton, MA
I am replying again to leave my town, Palmer, MA!!
A great autumn day in Western mass is spend taking a nice scenic leaf peeping drive which could lead to a beautiful hike along a wooded trail. Also, finding an apple orchard or pumpkin field where you can pick your own. Then heading to a dog park for our Golden Retriever, Riley, probably Dufresne Park in Granby.
A bike ride, through the leaves on a clear day, followed with a stop at Atkins for cider and pie and donuts. What? we have to fuel up somehow!
New tradition: making no-knead bread to enjoy when the days get crisp.
Old tradition: raking leaves in a pile and jumping, wading, rolling, and burying ourselves in them. Oh, and the kids want us to take pictures of all the leaf-play.
Local tradition: picking out a pumpkin in the fields behind McCray’s farm and riding the hay wagon.
Alison, Mike, Isabelle and Rosie in Holyoke
We love taking advantage of the harvest season by going picking at local orcards and farms, and spending the weekends at one of the many harvest festivals. Still- I’ll miss you summer……
Amy Cullen
Williamsburg, MA
We love to check out one of the many WONDERFUL fall festivals…Festival of the Hills, Garlic and Arts, the one in Ashfield, etc., etc…
Jessica Day, Greenfield, MA
We love going for bike rides on the Manhan Rail Trail!
Easthampton, MA
We love to go hiking and enjoy the beautiful colors of the changing leaves. We live in Shutesbury.
We love the bike-path between ehamp and nhamp. our favorite mid-ride event is almost always a visit to Herrell’s. Indeed. Easthampton, ma
Our favorite fall day is a trip to Fletcher’s Farm in Southampton. They have pick your own pumpkin in the field – nothing connects the kids to nature like cutting the stem with the big clippers they provide. They always have a play area with photo cutouts, hay to climb on, and a corral of ride on toys.
Then we make our way to the sheep, pigs, and calves and finish off with a hayride from Farmer Fletcher.
Easthampton, MA is where we live :)
Fall in Western MA is just so beautiful. Taking the time to go for a beautiful bike ride when the leaves are changing, or clambering out to the apple fields to pick and play among the bounty of fall. Of course finding a great orchard like Park Hill Orchard in Easthampton (a new found favorite) or even a farm stand with something to share. We live in Northampton.
Both my husband and I were born & grew up in CT and have lived in various places throughout New England most of our lives. There was about a decade where we lived in other parts of the country including Alaska. While we enjoyed the unique beauty of each place there was always ‘just something’ missing. Fall in New England can be found no where else on earth! It’s the unique combination of outdoor smells and sights, ripe apples, beautiful fall colors seen in mums and foliage. It’s the animals getting ready for winter and the crisp smell of the autumn air. Its part of our soul, its home. Currently living in Conway. MA
We love a warm breakfast, kicking back and watching leaves, hiking or apple picking….or going to edge of the pine forest behind Hampshire College…then coming home to put up jars and jars and jars of applesauce that we know we’ll enjoy all winter long. My name is Kathie Crivelli and my family and I live in Montague, MA.
I love to go get a fresh sugar pumpkin and make pumpkin pie :)
-Anna Alter
Williamsburg, MA
Raking leaves in a big pile and playing in them.
Taking a walk in the woods, and then going home inspired and doing something creative.
Lissie Fein
Easthampton
We love apple picking, hiking in Fitzgerald Conservation Area and the Amherst Apple Harvest Festival!
Tanya Lieberman
Florence, MA
N Quabbin Garlic and Arts Festival is our favorite fall festival….and a new favorite is going to Blue STar Equiculture (a horse rescue in Palmer) for a fall hayride/pumpkin picking.
We live in Belchertown!
I love to go to the orchard and get fresh apples and take a hay ride!
Amy, Goshen MA
Enjoy a hike up Mt. Greylock and see the whole Pioneer Valley, from our border w/ VT to our border w/ CT!!! Also, getting awed by the green/orange/yellow/red ocean of trees. (Westfield, MA)
We enjoy the change of weather, small hikes and apple picking with family are great! (Westfield, MA)
We enjoy the change of weather, small hikes and apple picking with family are great!
Biking on the numerous bike trails and taking in the fall foliage.
South Hadley, MA
Western Mass is the best place to be in the fall!! Hiking, biking, apple-picking, ice cream on the streets of any of the colorful towns, the many fall festivals (the Garlic festival in Orange is one of my favortes!) ….too many options to list here!
Karin P, Northampton
Going to the Ashfield Fall Festival and Conway Festival of the Hills of course! Don’t forget apple picking at Quonquont in Whatley.
Paula Yolles
Florence, MA
We love to go on a hike. Mt. Greylock is so beautiful especially in the fall. We are from Lanesborough, MA.
We like to invite friends over for dinner and sit around a camp fire in the back yard.
We all like getting together with 4 generations and pick apples, or going on a hayride, we also love having a fall picnic before the weather turns to cold.
Love to visit my daughter at college and enjoy her wonderful company in beautiful western mass !
We love to take a walk in the woods and have a picnic rain or shine! Can lots of goodies and have a pot of stew cooking on the stove when we get home.
Kathy
Colrain, MA.
My vote would have to be pumpkin picking and carving. Plus all the delicious apple cider! Thanks! Judy Bennett- Greenfield, MA
We’re new to the area, so we still have to determine our favorite fall activity in Western, Mass. But so far, we’ve really enjoyed going to the local farms and farmers’ markets!
Christina Kopp, Deerfield, MA
Morning: Apple picking at beautiful Cold Spring Orchard
Afternoon: Atkins for donuts, hot cider, and scarecrow building.
Rebecca in Amherst, MA
Going for a hike amongst the Maple trees.
-Florence, MA
Oh by the way we live in Gill Ma.
Canoeing down the Ct. river
So fun to see all these familiar names!
–Shared on FB
–Hiking in the hills and/or apple picking and/or making (and then eating) squash curry soup
–Marya Zilberberg
–Goshen, MA
1. considered
2. apple picking
3. Megan McDonough
4. Colrain, MA
Thanks!
Biking or hiking anywhere in the Pioneer Valley and then eating some fresh local food.
Deerfield, MA
We love running around catching leaves, apple picking then baking a fresh apple pie or crisp! We live in Colrain, Ma!
Mike’s Maze in Sunderland is grat for all ages. They have very complex and intellegent mazes with puzzles and something for all ages. Time together out of doors is great!
Oops, we’re in Buckland.
We live in Shelburne Falls, MA. This year, our favorite fall activity is just enjoying all the classes, lessons, and events that were suspended over the summer!
We love going for a hike in our woods, watching the kids jump in leaf piles and pressing cider from our neighbor’s apples.
One of our favorite things to do in the fall is to go apple picking. We live in Williamsburg, MA.
One our favorite things to do in Western Ma is to head up to Westview Creamery to get a pumpkin have lunch and ice cream and apple picking at echo hill farms and we always get the apple cider donuts.
Ashley, Monson, MA
We love to spend the time apple picking and or driving through the countryside as the sun sets enjoying the fall colors.
Dan Jepson…walking on the backroads and woods with camera in hand, watching the leaves change color each day and the smell…oh the smell of the cool crisp fall air….it is a toss up as to whether this is better than the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the mornings.
Ashfield, MA
Bonnie Jepson…walking on the backroads and woods with camera in hand, watching the leaves change color each day and the smell…oh the smell of the cool crisp fall air….it is a toss up as to whether this is better than the smell of fresh brewed coffee in the mornings.
One of our favorite Fall activities in Western Ma is going for a bike ride on one of our great riding trails throughout the Pioneer Valley. Afterwards we go home to enjoy some hot harvest vegetable soup and crispy bread to warm us up!
Kathleen W.
Westhampton, MA
I spend the fall with my gradchildren and doggies picking up the leaves that falls in the back of my place, we make piles so they can jump into it or they lay down making leave angels on my porch. Beside having fun together, we watch the leaves fall, feed the few birds that shows in the back and I make homemade cookies, cakes and pies for us. Of course the apples are the main ingredient in my baking, juices and receipes. We live in Greenfield, Mass
Spending time working on our hobby farm. Seeing the fruits of our labor. Autumn sunshine, picking thimbleberries and a enjoying a nice peaceful walkabout.
Apple picking with friends and family.
(Getting cider donuts at Atkins Farm in Amherst is a good run up to the main event).
Julie R.
Granby, MA
Apple picking with friends and family.
(However getting cider donuts at Atkins Farms is a good run up to the main event)
Julie R.
Granby, MA
Our favorite activity is to take a walk on the trails in the Catamount Forest. Enjoying the sites of fall with the leaves changing and the smell of the air getting that crisp scent. Nothing better then a beautiful fall day!
We live in Charlemont, MA
A New England Autumn day with our family would be apple pie baking, hiking and a relaxing evening near an outdoor fire. Always fun and delicious!
Glenda S. from Ashfield, MA
We love to bake in the fall! We often bake something in the mornings, spend the whole afternoon outside in the sun and leaves, and then come in for dinner and our baked treats in the afternoon-it’s the perfect Autumn day!
Julie Buchanan-Colrain MA
My favorite fall day was apple picking with my niece and nephew and wife. Lifting them up to get the apple “way up there” that chubby fingers were pointing at. Sticky, apple smelling kisses and later, flapjacks!
Sunday was Ian’s 4th birthday, so we hiked up the Notch and then went to Atkins for snacks and fresh veggies for diner.
It was a nice, crisp fall day..
Apple picking at Quonquont farms and making giant piles of leaves with my girls so that we can jump into them!
We live in Florence, MA
We love to celebrate our dear son’s birthday outside in the crisp September air. We make Hyssop tea, eat cake, and remeber the blissful fall day that I labored with him out on the grass outside our house.
We live in Haydenville, Ma.
sharon castelli, northampton
i love bikeriding to mountainview farm in easthampton and picking vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
Apple Picking!
Christina Coursey
Northampton, MA
We look forward to going to the Notch for a hike and a trip to Atkins for a cider donut!
South Hadley, MA
We love to go up to Clarkdale Fruit Farm in Deerfield to pick amazing apples, enjoy the view, and get cider.
We love to explore the Wild & Scenic Westfield River. We adopted a section in Becket MA. three years ago and each year we re walk it as a family to see what has changed. Each one of us sees something different. I loved it so much I became the volunteer coordinator. We live in Becket MA.
My favorite way to spend a family day is biking the East Branch Trail which starts at the beautiful Chesterfield Gorge. We always see something new, stop for a picnic, catch up on the things that happened that week and reconnect as a family.
I like going for a hike with the kids, taking in the fall colors and the fresh air.
Bernardston, MA
I love fall festivals like the Ashfield and Quabbin Garlic and Arts festivals. I enjoy seeing friends, tasting the foods of the season and enjoying the seasonal changes while creating a ritual with my kids who are experiencing some of these things for the first time.
I went to Boston to see “Quidam” with my partner and would LOVE to be able to take my boys!
One of my favorite things to do in the fall is go to the Ashfield fall festival with my kids. I love driving up from Northampton and marveling at the leaves. And once we are there, I love how relaxed the fair is, how yummy the pies and others goodies are, how fun the kids games are; I also like sitting on the hill listening to the music and entertainment, not to mention running into family and friends.
Northampton, MA.
We are definitely looking forward to apple picking and making applesauce. But just the more outside fall air we can get the better.
Stacia Potter- Florence
This fall, one of our favorite things to do is bring our older son to circus class, just a few minutes from our home in Florence.
We love to go to Atkins Farm in Amherst and make our scarecrow. SO much FUN! and then eat cider donuts! Belchertown, MA
One of our favorite fall activities is going apple picking at Green Mountain Orchard in Putney,Vermont. It is such a magical place!
Crista and Eric
Guilford,VT
We love to go for hikes at DAR in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains. It is a beautiful place to walk, especially this time of year with the changing leaves.
Florence, MA
Our favorite thing is just to be OUTSIDE in and about western MA and where we live in Wilbraham, MA. Can’t wait to go apple picking, drinking warm apple cider and eating a cider doughnut or two. Soon it will be time to go the pumpkin patch. So many exciting things to do – that’s why we subscribe to Hilltown Families – so we know what’s going on.
Fall afternoon, involves freshly made apple sauce or the kids, a campfire and spiked cider for the adults!
We live in Ashfield.
thanks sienna!
-tony(a) and Zoe
Our favorite activity in the fall is hicking! We love all the colors and the crisp air. We live in Windsor, MA