5/18 – 5/26: Earthfest, Free Hugs, Soap Box Derby, Bicycle, Helicopter & Car Shows, Star Wars & Ren Faires
05/18/10 by
Johnny Monsarrat
You may have noticed a change! I’m rebranding my site to http://EVENTSinsider.com. Please get the spelling right, it’s EVENTS not event. I plan to load it up with thousands of local events in the next couple of months, but don’t worry: I’ll continue to hand-pick and review my favorite events.
Anybody out there a Ruby on Rails programmer or a Web layout designer? I don’t get paid for this and really need some help! Email me at johnny@eventsinsider.com.
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-Johnny
The Week in Weird |
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| WBOS Earthfest | 5/22 | Boston Metro |
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| This is well advertised, so not exactly obscure, but is always fun. WBOS will hold a free concert outdoors on the Esplanade! They have one stage for mainstream rock bands, one stage for kids music, and lots of exhibitors. A rain or shine event. Hatch Shell, Esplanade, Boston, MA. more more |
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| Cambridge Open Studios – Central | 5/22 – 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| Also earthy is this art walk around Cambridge. Meet interesting artists in their homes or work studios, and buy their art! I mean, AHHT. 12pm-6pm. Get a map, Cambridge, MA. more |
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| Free Hugs Boston | 5/22 | Boston Metro |
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| I’ve seen “Free Hugs” once. It’s basically people with signs giving out hugs to strangers. At first I thought it was about suicide prevention, but it seems to be just about random goddness. 12-4pm. Downtown Crossing and Park Street, Boston, MA. more |
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| Charles River Moonlight Canoe | 5/22 – 5/28 | Metro West |
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| Further up the Charles River, the local canoe rental place has regular night events, for 3 days every full moon. They start this week and go all summer. Newton Boathouse, Commonwealth Ave., Newton, MA. more |
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| Full Moon Canoe Trip | 5/25 | Worcester |
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| Here’s another night canoe. I’ve never been on one, but I bet it rocks. Bring a light coat. 7:30-9pm. Hale Reservation, 80 Carby St., Westwood, MA. more |
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| All American Rhode Island Soap Box Derby | 5/22 | Rhode Island |
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| One step up from canoeing — check this out — an actual soap box derby!! I’ve never seen one. They have a fundraiser dinner, too, with live comedy. Memorial Blvd, Newport, RI.401-255-1049. more |
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| Bicycle Parade | 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| Better than soap boxes: bicycles. Check in at 11:30am and the 5-mile parade begins at 12:30pm. Then from 1-2pm, Amory Park celebration with refreshments. Amory Park, on Amory Street between Beacon Street and Freeman Street., Brookline, MA. more |
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| Mayor Menino’s Bike Fesitval & Bike Week | 5/21 | Boston Metro |
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| Speaking of bicycles, there’s a bike parade and festival on Boston City Hall Plaza where they’ll serve a free breakfast. 7am-9am. So, do I need to bicycle to get this free breakfast? Boston, MA. more |
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| Cadillac Day @ Larz Anderson Museum | 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| Just across the river in Brookline is the Larz Anderson Museum of Transporation. Throughout the summer they’ll have numerous lawn festivals, for various types of car enthusiast. This week it’s Cadillacs. Don’t worry — I will list them all because of their awesomeness. 10am-3pm. 15 Newton Street, Brookline, MA.617-522-6547. more |
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| General Aviation Fun Day | 5/22 | Southern Mass |
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| OMG! It’s helicopters! And they’re free! This is a big step up from a carshow! Rain date: the next day. 10am-4pm. New Bedford Regional Airport, New Bedford, MA. more |
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| Deep Sky Objects | 5/22 | Southern Mass |
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| Even better than the air is space. At this amateur telescope gathering, you’ll get to explore. It’s free and they’ll do another one June 19. If it’s cloudy they’ll have a lecturer instead. Moose Hill Farm, Sharon, MA.781.784.0567. more |
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| Star Wars Day at the Higgins Armory | 5/22 | Worcester |
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| This one’s so far out into space it crosses over completely into fantasy. Meet costumed “stormtroopers” from Star Wars and learn about ancient knights. 100 Barber Ave, Worcester, MA.508-853-6015. more more |
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| NERO Roleplaying Weekend | 5/21 – 5/23 | Worcester |
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| And here’s your local Live Roleplaying Club, doing an all weekend event at a camp. So if you want to get lost in fantasy, this is your ticket. Clara Barton Camp, North Oxford, MA. more |
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| The Ghosts of Puddle Dock Come to Life | 4/30 – 5/23 | New Hampshire |
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| Here’s a quiz for you New England experts. There are five re-enactment museums in New England — how many can you name! — I’ll give you a hint: they are in Sturbridge, Plymouth, Salem, Lenox, and this one in Portsmouth, NH, which this week is doing some kind of evening theatre. It’s bound to be awesome. Just go! Marcy Street, Portsmouth, NH.603-422-7514. more |
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| New Hampshire Renaissance Faire & Samhain Celebration | 5/15 – 5/23 | New Hampshire |
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| While you’re in Southern NH, not too far from Boston, check out this Ren faire. Hours are not listed but last time it was Sat-Sun 10am-5pm, with Samhain Celebration 5pm-7pm Saturday. Thorne Road, Kingston, NH.603-755-9587. more |
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Also Fun |
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| Connecticut Renaissance Faire – Spring | 5/8 – 5/23 | Connecticut |
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| Guilford is only a couple hours’ drive away. Make it a weekend and see this most likely bigger & better Ren faire! 10am-6pm. Guilford Fairgrounds – Lovers Lane, Guilford, CT.860.478.5954. more |
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| Hammonasset Kite Festival | 5/23 – 5/24 | Connecticut |
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| While you’re in Connecticut, check out this local kite fest. Hammonasset Beach State Park, Exit 62 off Rt 95, Madison, CT. more more |
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| Culinary Historians of Boston Banquet | 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| I love historical re-enactments… but what about historical food? These experts will be serving up food from an 18th century tavern. 12-3pm. Milton House at Newbury College, 129 Fisher Avenue, Brookline, MA. more |
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| Phantom Gourmet Safari | 5/20 – 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| And here’s a similar event where restaurants wanting to promote themselves assemble and overfeed you if you pay the overprice, but hey, it’s for charity. Suffolk Downs, Boston, MA. more |
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| Revels: Pub Sing at Doyle’s Cafe | 5/19 | Boston Metro |
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| This is a heads up on the local participatory sing. They will sell out, so get tickets now. Doyle’s Cafe, 3484 Washington St, Jamaica Plain, MA. more |
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| Belmont Town Day | 5/22 | Boston Metro |
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| Belmont hosts a small carnival, vendor booths, live music, and food. 9am-4pm. No website. Belmont, MA.(617) 489-4930. more |
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| Brockton Spring Carnival | 5/19 – 5/23 | South Shore |
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| Carnivals continue to dot New England. They’re kinda hokey, but hokily fun! Westgate Mall, Brockton, MA. more |
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| Braintree Spring Carnival | 5/18 – 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| And Braintree.. I always wonder if there’s more to these fesivals than just the carnival. Now this one you can probably get to on the subway. South Shore Plaza, Braintree, MA. more |
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| Haverhill Spring Carnival | 5/19 – 5/23 | North Shore |
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| Here’s one in Haverhill. Haverhill Stadium (Rte 97), Haverhill, MA. more |
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| BioWatch Scavenger Hunt | 5/22 | South Shore |
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| Learn to find plants and animals in this scavenger hunt. Starting at 9am. This event may actually be in Quincy? Blue Hills, Canton, MA.617-698-1802. more |
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| Annual Beacon Hill Hidden Gardens Tour | 5/20 | Boston Metro |
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| Beacon Hill is the home of a lot of rich people, and some of them have private gardens. Heres’ your chance to meet and mingle. Dress up. 2009: 9am-5pm, $25. Beacon Hill Garden Club, Charles & Mt. Vernon Streets, Boston, MA.617-227-4392. more |
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| Cape Cod Maritime Days & Chatham Maritime Festival | 5/22 | Cape Cod |
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| Cape Cod is devoting a month to a “maritime festival” which is really a bunch of random events. Here’s one, in Chatham. They’re going to have a fisherman’s olympics, for example. Chatham, MA. more more |
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| Motif #1 Days | 5/22 | North Shore |
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| This one looks better to me. This is some kind of local festival based on a famous local fishing shack. There will be hayrides, a bicycle parade, and plenty of live music and just small towny walking around. 10am-6pm. Around School Street, Rockport, MA.978-546-6575. more |
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| Fiery Pool: The Maya and the Mythic Sea | 5/22 – 5/23 | North Shore |
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| The Peabody Essex Museum is doing another weekend relating to their Mayan exhibit. They’ll show building a full-scale dugout canoe, making a big art display, and there will be dancing, storytelling, film, and hieroglyphs. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. more |
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Performance |
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| The Lady with All the Answers | 5/13 – 6/26 | Boston Metro |
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| Moving on to performance: Have you seen the new theatre in Central Square, Cambridge? That place is really gentrifying. They’re featuring a play called The Lady With All the Answers, which is a comedy about advice columnist Ann Landers. Central Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA. more |
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| Boston Theater Marathon | 5/22 – 5/23 | Boston Metro |
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| Here’s a ten-hour marathon of fifty ten-minute plays. Boston Center for the Arts, Boston, MA. more |
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| Brookline Puppet Slam | 5/22 | Boston Metro |
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| Also in the “Events that You’d Probably Avoid But Are Actually Really Fun” category is this performance for adults, not kids, involving puppets. Um, and slamming. Puppet Showplace Theatre, 32 Station Street, Brookline, MA.617-731-6400. more |
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| All Star Story Slam | 5/24 | Boston Metro |
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| I think I’d prefer this performance of storytellers. These aren’t meant for kids! It’s like a series of one-person plays, and each performer was a regional finalist telling a 5-minute personal story. The winner will go onto some national competition. 6:30-8pm. Cambridge Public Library, 449 Broadway, Cambridge, MA. more |
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| KISS Concert tickets go on sale | 5/22 | Boston Metro |
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| And if you care about Kiss Concert, the largest concert by the largest generic Top 40 radio station. It’s 9 hours of all the most successful bands on pop radio, from KISS 108FM radio. I just checked and tickets are still available, but buy ’em before they sell out for this weekend’s show. Comcast Center, Mansfield, MA. more |
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