The Dream Away Lodge is hard to describe. It’s a hideaway, on a private parcel of land in the Berkshires’ October Mountain State Forest. It’s a restaurant, with live music, including the Wednesday evening hootenanny that’s been running for decades. It’s also an institution, begun in the 1940s by ‘‘Mamma’’ Maria Frasca, and frequented by everybody from local carpenters to Liberace and Joan Baez. Daniel Osman took over in 1997, keeping up many of Frasca’s traditions, including the collection of ceramic elves that comes out for the holidays. ‘‘A lot of things she collected I’ve started collecting — and I’ve always had a thing for elves,’’ he says. Christmas Day dinner begins at 3, then segues into a concert of world music. The New Year’s Eve party starts with dinner from 8-10 p.m., then live music and dancing until 1 a.m.

1342 County Road, Becket, 413-623-8725, dreamawaylodge.com, four-course prix fixe dinner $32, bar menu from $3-$15. Christmas dinner is $50 a person, New Year’s Eve is $65 a person or $120 a couple.