7/5-7/14: Chinatown, Bastille Day, Sand Sculpture, Balloon, Car Fests; Civil War & WWII & P.T. Barnum!
Welcome to the Week in Weird! If you’re not on Twitter or the Facebook page, this week you missed free ice cream at Whole Foods in Cambridge and early notice of tonight’s tickets to the Grease Sing-a-Long. So, Subscribe to email, Facebook, or Twitter and please tell your friends! Share
Here are this week’s top items, and
| Free movie preview: Grease Sing-a-Long | 7/5 | Boston Metro |
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| They’ve transformed Grease into a film with subtitles so you can sing along. I’ve seen it, it’s cheesy but so much fun. The fun and the cheesy sort of fight each other and I think the fun wins out! 7pm. AMC Boston Common Theatre, Boston, MA. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| 1950s Style Picnic | 7/10 | Boston Metro | ||
| I think it’s funny that the Grease Sing-A-Long is all about nostalgia for the 1970s, when Grease came out, and not nostalgia for the 1950s (the characters in the film, who were 18 in 1952, would be 76 by now!). Anyway, all of us under 80 years old have some nutty “nostalgia” for the 1950s, so dress in your poodle skirt and come play hula hoops with this local pranks group. I don’t understand why Misteriosos hides the locations of their events. This one seems fairly innocuous, and let’s face it, is likely to be on Boston Common. 1-3pm. Probably Boston Common, Boston, MA. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| Chinatown Main Street Festival | 7/11 | Boston Metro |
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| The event of the week is a festival in Chinatown! It’s one of only two Chinatown festivals and you really have to go. They’ll have martial arts demonstrations (including by super cute kids) and dragon dances and ground fireworks. I went to the last one and the ground becomes covered with the leftover paper casings of fireworks! 11am-5pm. Chinatown, Boston, MA.617-350-6303. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| Bastille Day Party & Dance in Boston | 7/9 | Boston Metro |
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| What’s better than a Chinese celebration? Well, nothing probably but how about dinner, dancing, and French flirting to celebrate France’s Indepdendence Day! 6-11pm. They’re blocking off Marlborough Street between Berkeley and Clarendon for a huge dance party! No word on whether they’ll have a guilotine on stage or be letting people eat cake. Unfortunately, it is not free. So buy tickets in advance. Rain or shine. French Cultural Center,Marlborough St at Berkeley St, Boston, MA.617-912-0400 or 617-876-4275. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| Bastille Day Festivities in Harvard Square | 7/11 | Boston Metro |
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| This one’s also a block party! They’re closing Holyoke Street from 2-11pm and calling it the “largest free” celebration in the area. It includes sidewalk chalk art, jugglers, a traditional “French Waiters Race”. There are a bunch of other Bastille Day events, like a decidedly boring-looking one at the Franklin Prak Zoo, but they’re mainly at bars. Bar events generally lack anything creative or unusual. It’s like, “come! Drink! Um, it’s Washington’s Birthday! Riiiiiight!”. That’s why I skip ’em. Holyoke Street, Cambridge, MA.617-491-3434. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| Hillsboro Balloon Festival | 7/8 – 7/11 | New Hampshire |
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| This event, which is 1.7 hrs from Boston, draws 30,000 people and looks pretty serious. They’ll have a lawn tractor pull, a carnival, tons of music and dance, and fireworks on Saturday. Oh, and balloons! It’s always a good idea at these things to call and reserve your balloon ride in advance! Free but parking is $5. Hillsboro, NH. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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| Sandcastle Festival @ Yirrell Beach, Winthrop | 7/10 | Boston Metro |
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| This week features at event at Yirrell Beach, which is right next to Logan Airport! You can see planes landing about 100 feet off the ground, no exaggeration! For this reason it’s a lovely beach to visit at night, too. There’s a swim competition, music, food, games like hula hoops, and “Beach Sumo Wrestling”. Rain date next day. 10am-3pm. Yirrell Beach, Shirley Street, Winthrop, MA.617-846-8243. Share see details on the complete Events Insider |
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And a lot more this week at the Events Insider (was Weird Boston Events), including:
Mashpee Commons Sand Sculpting Festival, Heritage Gardens Annual Auto Show, Micro Mini Car Day@ Larz Anderson Museum, Miata Day @ Larz Anderson Museum, Brockton Fair, Annual Wacky Cardboard Race (The Fourth Annual Race to the Bottom), The Largest Skinny Dip across North America, Hot Dog Eating Contest, Vintage Baseball, Civil War Tour on Georges Island, Civil War Living History Weekend, Newport Kite Festival, The Long Arm of the Law, Thoreau Society Annual Gathering, Glover’s Regiment (Revolutionary War re-enactment), Wenham Museum’s World War II Living History Day, Great Northeastern War – Medievial Re-enactment, Bristol 225th Anniversary, Revolutionary War Muster and Camp, Acushnet’s Sesquicentennial (150th) anniversary, Tolland Bicentennial Anniversary, P.T. Barnum 200th Anniversary Festival, 19th Century Childrens Circus, Powwow @ Mt. Kearsarge Indian Museum, Sri Lankan Festival, Whaling City Festival, ConnectiCon, Readercon, Hartford Riverfest, Clinton, MA, Grafton, NH, Free Fun Fridays: Franklin Park Zoo, Free Slurpee Day @ 7-Eleven, Boom Town Festival, French Film Festival, Lowell Puerto Rican Cultural Festival, Newburyport Riverfront Festival – WXRV free concert, Plymouth Harbor Folk Festival, Charles River One Mile Swim, Bastille Celebration & Fundraiser @ Lexington, Greenfield Rockfest, Newport Music Festival, Providence Roller Derby, Greek Festival and Clambake @ Ipswich, Lego Playland @ Reading, Revolutionary War Event Workshop for Kids, Butterflies of Summer, North Attleboro Kids Day, Concert at the Summit House, Earthdance SEEDS Festival, Sailfest, Train a Whale at the Mystic Aquarium, North Atlantic Blues Festival, Basin Bluegrass Festival, French Heritage Days in Vermont, Stoweflake Hot Air Balloon Festival, Revolutionary War Battle of Hubbardton Commemoration, Middlebury Festival on the Green, Sterling Renaissance Festival, and more.
And don’t forget on the main site I maintain the Largest List of Outdoor Summer Movies, Theatre, and Music in New England, tracking over 150 summer series!
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