Parilia 2024! A Celebration of Sheep and Shepherds Through Time

Every April, ancient Romans celebrated the birthday of their city and the leading out of new flocks to pasture. Brattle Farm (Pittsfield, MA), sheep and shepherds will be visiting for the event.

This event invites us to reimagine how we use our campus land and maintain its open spaces, and helps demonstrate how a deeper integration between people, land, and animals increases our social, mental, and physical well-being. This effort thus seeks to link our campus to similar initiatives at institutions across the country, including the “SheepMowers” project at UC Davis (https://www.sheepmowers.org/) and the “Sustainable EweMass” project at UMass Amherst (https://www.ewemass.org/).

This year, we are also pleased that our Parilia celebration will help raise awareness on campus, particularly among students, for a local community event: the biennial “Sheep to Shawl Festival” organized by Williamstown Rural Lands at their Sheep Hill property, which will take place on Saturday, May 4 (https://rurallands.org/events/sheep-to-shawl-2024/).

Members of the college community are invited to stop by throughout the day.

In the Meadow area under the pole-mounted solar panels, between Hollander Hall and the Class of 1966 Environmental Center/Goodrich House