Busy weekend for local towns as graduation ceremonies commence

CHICOPEE, Mass. (WWLP) – It’s a weekend of graduations throughout western Massachusetts with almost every college and university holding commencements over the next couple of days.

For a region known for having a lot of colleges, it’s definitely a busy weekend here in western Massachusetts. It’s the time that thousands of local college students have been working towards for the last four years and sometimes more. For parents attending these graduations, it’s a moment of pride and a reason to celebrate.

“Awesome, it’s the greatest feeling a parent can have,” expressed Chleo Henry, the father of a Westfield State University graduate.

At the MassMutual Center, there’s three different graduations everyday this weekend alone. On Friday, Westfield State… on Saturday, Elms College… and on Sunday, Western New England. UMass Amherst and Hampshire College will be holding their graduations up in Amherst on Saturday, while Mount Holyoke and Smith College will be holding theirs in South Hadley and Northampton.

All of these ceremony’s mean a lot of cars on the road and a lot of congestion while looking to park. There are solutions though, with many residents finding ways to plot out their parking plan.

“I guess I would just say to make accommodations when you’re coming down here and make sure you’re taking a few minutes extra so that you can get through,” said Heather Rivera of Springfield, “It wasn’t too bad because we did valet.”

Before sitting at a graduation for a few hours it may be the smart move to save time on parking. The public is advised to plan ahead and to leave extra time for all of these graduations, but especially the biggest one locally, which will be at UMass at McGuirk Stadium starting at 10 a.m. on Saturday.

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Heath Kalb is a reporter who has been a part of the 22News team since 2022. Follow Heath on X @HeathKalb and view his bio to see more of his work.

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