Chinatown, India, Thai, Dragon Boat, Dominican, Native Am, Pirate, Car Fests, Meteor Shower, Model Rockets & Planes

Welcome to Boston Events Insider! This week’s top items are below, or see the complete Boston Events Insider.

OK, so I have a Facebook group but also a Facebook fan page. Please join both. The fan page is good because I autogenerate dozens of events and you will see a few of them — Facebook is smart enough not to swamp you. But that means you might miss free stuff. So join the group because I can send out one or two tiny emails a week that you’ll actually see, like movie tickets. I had tickets for Takers yesterday, but it came in-between blog posts, so you missed it.

Please email me your feedback thru the website! I want to know what you like and don’t like so I can make this site even better. -Johnny

Free tix: The Expendables, Flipped, The Extra Man 8/9 – 8/12 Boston Metro
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
You keep missing free tickets — like to “Takers” yesterday — because you’re not on the Facebook group (which I email) and the fan page (which I post to). Join both now! This week I’ve got free tickets to the Expendables with Bruce Willis and Jet Li TONIGHT Monday at 7pm, The Extra Man with Kevin Kline TONIGHT Monday, and Flipped Thursday at 7pm in Boston. I also have tickets to advance screening of the Showtime series The Big C and WEEDS, Wed 8/11.
Fenway or Boston Common Theatre, Boston, MA.

see details on the complete Events Insider
Chinatown August Moon Festival 8/15 Boston Metro
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
Chinatown is having a celebration where dancing dragons go door to door, sort of a trick or treat experience, leaving the street literally covered with firework casings and lettuce leaves! They’ll also have a stage with cute kids doing martial arts and dance. I’ve been and this is a must see! Highly recommended! 10am-5pm.
Main Street, Chinatown, Boston, MA.617-350- 6303.

see details on the complete Events Insider
Pawtucket Arts Fest & Dragonboat Races 8/15 – 9/4 Rhode Island
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
Even better, visit Rhode Island for asian dance, crafts, martial arts, and dragonboat races all day. It’s also part of the “Pawtucket Arts Festival”, which is really just an umbrella event covering a lot of diverse things, but plenty more is happening in town that day, including French culture, a film festival, and a walking tour. 2009: Races 8/29 8am-5pm. Rest of ‘festival’ goes to 9/13.
School Street Pier, School St., Pawtucket, RI.401-724-2200.

see details on the complete Events Insider
Dominican Festival & Parade at Franklin Park 8/15 Boston Metro
There’s also a carnival at Franklin Park with Domican, Haitian, and Jamaican food, music, and dance. 12pm-7pm. Free.
Ramsey Park, Boston, MA.617-201-2909.

see details on the complete Events Insider
Native American Summer Festival at Harbor Islands 8/14 – 8/15 Boston Metro
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
You shouldn’t need an excuse to visit the Boston Harbor Islands, but here’s a great one: one of only two native american festivals close to Boston.
Harbor Island, Boston, MA.

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India Day – Festival & Concert 8/15 Boston Metro
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
Speaking of Indians, I’ve been to the Hatch Shell on the Esplanade in Boston. They have performers and a huge crowd with dozens of booths. As the only South Asian-themed event I know of in Boston, it’s definitely worth a trip.
Esplanade, Boston, MA.

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Summer Stars and Meteors at Broadmoor 8/12 Metro West
Boston's Events Insider, by Johnny Monsarrat
The Perseids (August) and the Geminids (December) are the most reliable of the annual meteor showers. Here’s an astronomy event for older kids and adults to guide your view. Or go anywhere using these websites as guides. Get to a beach or a very large field with no streetlights to wash out the night sky.
Broadmoor, 280 Eliot Street, Natick, MA.

see details on the complete Events Insider
Pirate Weekend at Pioneer Village 8/14 – 8/15 North Shore
Salem has a historic re-enactment museum that’s doing a weekend of pirates! They’ll demonstrate piratical punishments, blacksmithing, pirate cooking, sea tales and sea songs.
Pioneer Village, Salem, MA.

see details on the complete Events Insider

And a lot more this week at Boston Events Insider, the most popular events blog in New England, including:

Salem Heritage Days, Improv on the Bricks, Beach Party Luau at NARA Park, Acton, Model Rocket Launch at Acton, Runaway Runway, Model airplanes – CRRC Soar-In, MG Rover Day at Larz Anderson Auto Museum, Japanese Car & Motorcycle Day at Larz Anderson Auto Museum, Fisherman’s Festival (Madonna Del Soccorso), Ronan Park Kite Festival, The Big Lebowski Annual Bowling Party, Carnival in Provincetown, Lowell Quilt Festival, World’s Fair of Money, Thailand Legacy: The King and Cambridge, Cambridge Discovery Days, Woody Guthrie appreciation concert, Wilco Solid Sound Festival at Mass MoCA, River Glow, Rock, Rattle, & Drum Pow Wow & Spirit on the Mountain Music Festival, Celebrate Revere, Bolton Fair, Parade of Lights, Boston by Bike at Night, The Secret Lives of Bats, Family Nighttime Explorations, MIT Museum Free evening, Free Admission at Concord Museum, Free Fun Fridays: Old Sturbridge Village, Essex Street Fair, Phillips House Car Meet, Gloucester Waterfront Festival, Rockport Acoustic Music Festival, Wakefield Italian Festival, Clambake at Francis Farm, Rehoboth Antiquarian Society Clambake, Newport Storm Luau, Washington County Fair, Prescott Park Rhythm & Roots Fest, Richmond Blueberry Fiddle Festival, Provincetown Jazz Festival, Melrose Summer Celebration, Turners Falls Block Party and Fashion Show, Winslow Farm Kids Day & Treasure Hunt, Watermelon Eating Contest & Children’s Day, Rhode Island International Film Festival, Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival, Illumination Night, Swim with luminous jellyfish off the Cape, Boston Restaurant Week – Summer, Friday Night Face-Off at ImprovBoston, The Hound of the Baskervilles — a Comedy, Cirque du Soleil, Fully Committed, Captured – The Journey Show, Vermont Old Home Week & WWII Encampment, Americana Days, Anniversary of the Battle of Bennington, Tweed River Festival, Lake Champlain Bluegrass Festival, Mohegan Storytelling & Music Festival, Skowhegan State Fair, Dance New England – Dance Camp, and more.

And the Largest List of Outdoor Summer Movies, Theatre, and Music in New England, tracking over 300 summer series!

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