By Jarice Hanson For the Valley Advocate Plays about difficult subjects, like the consequences of personal actions, politics, ...

By Hannah Bevis For the Valley Advocate On most days, Andrew Curran, better known as his drag persona Magnolia Masquerade, is ...

Food Booze and Beyond Monte Belmonte Wines: What’s going on at Table & Vine in West Springfield?: Something fishy is afoot at the Big Y’s flagship location for fine wine by Monte Belmonte | Jun 26, ...

Best Of 2025 Voting ⋆ Valley Advocate ...

Terry Frankilin at the W.E.B. Du Bois Library at UMass, where he often goes to use the computer and work on his novel. Franklin is a longtime activist and an organizer of Extravaganja who for years ...

Easthampton, Northampton, Cambridge and Somerville have passed resolutions deprioritizing plant-based drugs, while State Rep. Lindsay Sabadosa of the 1st Hampshire District has co-sponsored bills that ...

Two women leaders of Valley theaters - Priscilla Kane Hellweg of Enchanted Circle Theater and Lucinda Kidder of Silverthorne Theater Company - have retired from the troupes they’ve nurtured from ...

Kayla Manzi, a bartender at the Majestic Saloon who grew up in western Massachusetts, used to frequent Divas, a staple in Northampton’s queer community that opened in 2001. The closure of the bar in ...

When voters vote to legalize weed, their intent is to legalize weed. And yet, in states across America, devils lurk in the details of how weed is regulated. Some of these devils have turned out to be ...

Springfield, Massachusetts, was a big abolitionist hub during the days of the Underground Railroad — not that many people know this. When talking about Massachusetts history, Western Mass isn’t well ...

The Valley is known for its rich array of musicians and bands, but as owners of the handful of local, independent record labels can tell you, there’s more to the local music scene. Labels in this area ...

Editor’s note: Julia Clark is transgender, and asked the Advocate to refer to her using she/her pronouns for the time both before and after her transition from male to female gender identity. Chris ...