Friends of The Great Falls Discovery Center

Nice & Easy Walk
2025-12-11 13:00 - 14:00, 2025-12-18 13:00 - 14:00 (America/New_York) | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for seniors, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance.

A Holiday Music Session
2025-12-14 14:30 - 16:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Join us for a soothing respite during the busy holiday time. Come listen to Danse Café — a trio of musicians, featuring guitar, clarinet, and fiddle — who play traditional European and
American holiday music. This is an informal gathering of three musically minded friends to celebrate the lovely music of the holidays. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. For all ages.

A French/Breton Jam Session
2025-12-21 14:30 - 16:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
An informal group of musicians gathers to play the enchanting traditional dance music from France and Brittany, commonly known as bal folk. This is not a performance but rather a coming together of musically-minded friends. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. For all ages. Meet in the Great Hall.

Nice and Easy Walk
2026-01-22 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-01-29 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-05 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-12 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-19 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-02-26 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-05 13:00 - 14:00, 2026-03-12 13:00 - 14:00 and 2 more dates | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1 to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for older adults, but open to all. Enjoy natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance.

A French / Breton Jam Session
2026-01-25 14:30 - 16:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
An informal group of musicians gathers to play the enchanting traditional dance music from France and Brittany, commonly known as bal folk. This is not a performance but rather a coming together of musically minded friends. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. For all ages.

Ongoing: Indoor Story Walk® — Rabbit’s Snow Dance
2026-02-01 - 2026-02-28 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Read master storytellers Joseph and James Bruchac’s Rabbit’s Snow Dance, a hip and funny take on an Iroquois folktale about the importance of patience, the seasons, and listening to your friends. Rabbit loves winter. He knows a dance, using an Iroquois drum and song, to make it snow—even in summertime! When rabbit decides that it should snow early, he starts his dance and the snow begins to fall. The other forest animals are not happy and ask him to stop, but Rabbit doesn’t listen. How much snow is too much, and will Rabbit know when to stop? Meet at the welcome desk.
The StoryWalk® Project was created by Anne Ferguson of Montpelier, VT, and developed in collaboration with the Kellogg-Hubbard Library. Story Walk® is a registered service mark owned by Ms. Ferguson. This StoryWalk® is provided by Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation Interpretive Services.

Sunday Matinee Documentary Series: Fire of Love from Sandbox Films
2026-02-01 14:00 - 16:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Our free winter Sunday matinee documentary series from Sandbox Films continues with Fire of Love. Curiosity is stronger than fear. This film tells the story of two French lovers, Katia and Maurice Krafft, who died in a volcanic explosion doing the very thing that brought them together: unraveling the mysteries of our planet, while simultaneously capturing the most explosive volcano imagery ever recorded. Along the way, they changed our understanding of the natural world, and saved tens of thousands of lives. Previously unseen hours of pristine 16-millimeter film and thousands of photographs reveal the birth of modern volcanology through an unlikely lens — the love of its two pioneers. Sandbox Films is an Oscar-nominated production studio that illuminates the art and beauty of scientific inquiry: humankind’s weird, messy, brilliant way of navigating the world. Free hot chocolate. For adults and youth ages 12 and up.

A French / Breton Jam Session
2026-02-22 14:30 - 16:30, 2026-03-22 14:30 - 16:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
An informal group of musicians gathers to play the enchanting traditional dance music from France and Brittany, commonly known as bal folk. This is not a performance but rather a coming together of musically minded friends. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. For all ages

Winter Local History Talk Series: Getting Across – Connecticut River Ferries
2026-02-28 14:00 - 15:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Before bridges spanned the Connecticut River, travelers relied on flatbottomed ferries to cross. How connected were towns on the east and west banks? Join DCR staff for maps, photos and firsthand accounts of an all-but-gone mode of travel. Ages 10 and up. Meet in the Great Hall.

Winter Local History Talk Series: The Grand Trunk Hotel
2026-03-14 14:00 - 15:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
What was so grand about the Grand Trunk Hotel in Turners Falls? The hotel, once sited next to today’s Center, was built in 1872 and demolished in 1968. Join DCR staff as we use our imaginations, old photographs, and testimonials, to piece together the story of the grand old days in Turners Falls. For youth and adults. Co-sponsored by Montague Public Libraries.

Ongoing - Great Hall Art Exhibit: All Our Relations – To Honor the Wampanoag Supreme Sachem Pometacomet on the 350th Anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre
2026-04-02 - 2026-05-28 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
This exhibit in the Great Hall, features work by Deborah Spears Moorehead, Seaconke Pokanoket Wampanoag, and Robert Peters, Mashpee Wampanoag, focusing on pre-colonization, the 350th Anniversary of Metacomet’s (King Philip’s) War and the Great Falls Massacre of 1676. Learn about Indigenous history and their continued presence here and throughout the Northeast. Sponsored by Friends of the Center, the Nolumbeka Project, and funded by the Montague Cultural Council. a local agency supported by the Mass Cultural Council. For all ages. Accessible during open hours.

Nice and Easy Walk
2026-04-02 13:00 - 14:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1- to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for older adults, but open to all. Enjoy some natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance. Note: there is no walk on April

Nice and Easy Walk
2026-04-09 13:00 - 14:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1- to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for older adults, but open to all. Enjoy some natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance. Note: there is no walk on April 16.

Great Falls Coffeehouse Presents: The Uncles with special guest Eveline MacDougall
2026-04-10 19:00 - 21:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Join us for the Friends of the Great Falls Discovery Center’s concert series featuring local talent. The Uncles with special guest Eveline MacDougall perform a delightful mix of Folk, Rock, Country, and Jazz with several stringed instruments and four voices. Refreshments available. Sliding scale suggested donations, in support of educational programming at the Center. Meet in the Great Hall. For all ages.

National Poetry Month Author Reading Featuring Bob McNeil
2026-04-11 15:00 - 16:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Join us in celebration of National Poetry Month with Bob McNeil, writer, editor, cartoonist, and spoken-word artist, who recites with special guest musician Steve Koziol. In Bob’s single author anthology Compositions on Compassion and Other Emotions, he explores the importance of love and hope in healing from the pandemic and endemic violence. Proceeds from this work fund the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
Steve Koziol, best known for playing in the bands Dingo Roi and Span of Sunshine, is a songwriter and musician, who has contributed guitar, keyboard, bass, alto sax, and vocal harmonies to many bands and performers throughout Hampshire and Franklin Counties. From youth to adults, all are welcome at this event, sponsored by the Friends of the Great Falls Discovery Center and RiverCulture.

A French / Breton Jam Session
2026-04-19 14:30 - 16:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
An informal group of musicians gathers to play the enchanting traditional dance music from France and Brittany, commonly known as bal folk. This is not a performance but rather a coming together of musically minded friends. The event is free and open to the public to come and go at will. Meet in the Great Hall. For all ages.

Nice and Easy Walk
2026-04-23 13:00 - 14:00 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
Easy-paced, 1- to 2-mile guided walk, along the Canalside Rail Trail or downtown Turners Falls, geared for older adults, but open to all. Enjoy some natural and local history along the way. Dress for the weather with sturdy footwear and bring water. Inclement weather cancels. Meet at the main entrance.

Webinar Talk With the Artists: All Our Relations – To Honor the Wampanoag Supreme Sachem Pometacomet on the 350th Anniversary of the Great Falls Massacre
2026-04-25 19:00 - 21:00 | MA
The Nolumbeka Project presents a talk via Zoom with Deborah Spears Moorehead (Seaconke Pokanoket Wampanoag), and Robert Peters (Mashpee Wampanoag), our Spring artists. Facilitated by David Brule. Deb and Robert speak about their art and share history about their ancestor Metacom. Meet them in person at the Great Falls Discovery Center where they will be Honored Guests for the Day of Remembrance proceedings on Saturday, May 16. Sponsored by the Nolumbeka Project. For Zoom registration visit nolumbekaproject.org/events. For youth and adults.

Great Hall Guest Speaker: King Philip’s War in Your Backyard 1675-76
2026-04-26 14:00 - 15:30 | Great Falls Discovery Center, 2 Avenue A, Turners Falls, MA, 01376, United States
David Brule reviews the events that happened nearby in the central Connecticut River Valley starting in August 1675 and continuing into May 1676 and beyond. David focuses on the latest results of the National Park Service-sponsored study of the massacre at Peskeompskut falls and the Native counterattack over a 7-mile route through Greenfield. Learn from statements about the lasting impacts on local Tribes by modern-day Tribal participants in this 12-year study. For youth and adults. Sponsored by the Nolumbeka Project.
