Loneliness, Community, and the Power of Live Arts Festivals

In 2023, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the then U.S. Surgeon General, released a report titled Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation. In this document his goal was to dramatically alert the public that social disconnection was a critical public health crisis, with effects comparable to smoking 15 cigarettes a day. And, just before leaving office in January 2025 he wrote what is essentially a parting message, where he calls for a nationwide focus on rebuilding community as the foundation of health, happiness, and fulfillment. Dr. Murthy’s Call to Rebuild Community

Throughout his tenure, Dr. Murthy emphasized the profound impacts of loneliness and outlined a strategy to reverse this trend in his reflection, My Parting Prescription for America. His approach centers on four elements:

1. Relationships: Building meaningful connections with others is key to building a sense of belonging and emotional support.

2. Service: Acts of kindness and volunteering benefit both the giver and the recipient, creating a stronger sense of community.

3. Purpose: A clear life aim, particularly one rooted in contributing to others, helps build resilience and meaning.

4. Love: Generosity, kindness, and inclusion are essential virtues for creating strong communities.

Dr. Murthy’s call to action is clear: prioritize relationships, service, and purpose to combat the epidemic of loneliness and build healthier, more connected lives.

How Berkshire Busk!  (and festivals like it) Addresses the Loneliness Epidemic

Berkshire Busk!, the annual summer festival in downtown Great Barrington, MA that the team behind Community Busk has been producing since 2020, represents Dr. Murthy’s vision in action. By bringing people together to celebrate music and art, the festival strengthens community bonds and addresses isolation in these ways: 

1. Relationships: The festival transforms downtown Great Barrington into a casual meeting and gathering place where people connect in an unstructured way. Unlike a concert, or a dinner, or another type of ticketed event, participants engage each other in a random way --- they watch buskers on the street,  engage with vendors and local businesses. 

2. Encouraging Service: Berkshire Busk! is all about “tip” and as such the performers are given a platform to perform and a small stipend - but their participation is really a form of community service.  

3. Inspiring Purpose: For artists and attendees alike, the festival creates opportunities to share and experience art with intention and joy. It’s an environment where creativity fuels purpose.

4. Creating an Atmosphere of Fun: Inclusion and generosity are central to the festival’s ethos. Because everything is free, people of a variety of background can attend - and with kids running around and entertaining busker acts, it’s all about fun. 
   

   
   

   

   
   

Festivals as a Solution?

What we have come to believe that Berkshire Busk! can serve as a model for how festivals can help build community in an innovative way, one that does not require a huge investment of capital or infrastructure.   We don’t think it’s a cookie-cutter solution but for other communities, adopting a similar model could be valuable. 

Dr. Murthy’s parting message is that the future of our collective well-being depends on choosing connections over isolation. As towns and cities seek to address similar challenges, we aim for Berkshire Busk! to serve as a example of how leveraging the arts arts can create a new type of community.  Thus, festivals like Berkshire Busk! are not just about the arts - or just economic development.  Rather, they are also a solution to a vexing national problem. By creating spaces for relationships, service, and purpose to thrive, they can help bring Dr. Murthy’s vision of community to reality.