Events INSIDER: Feb 11-19, 2013

02/11/13 by
Giveaways & Features
Ultimate Guide to Sledding Locations near Boston!
We have snow and you’re never too old for sledding, especially with this ultimate list of sledding hills near you! All Over, , –.
Interview with TEC@FoleyHoag
One of the entrepreneur community’s most active sponsors has a new speaker series! Click for my interview. Foley Hoag Boston, MA, –.
Interview with Diane Darling of Effective Networking
Click for my interview with the author of The Networking Survival Guide! Effective Networking, Four Copley Place – Suite 135 Boston, MA, –.
Johnny’s Picks
Boskone
Do you like Battlestar Galactica WAY too much? Did you miss Arisia? Here’s the other major science fiction convention in Boston. Their guest of honor is John Scalzi, a science fiction author whose first novel, Old Man’s War, is being made into a movie. Yeah, I’ve never heard of him, either. Westin Waterfront Boston, MA, –.
Presidents’ Family Festival Day
I’ll Grant you that Lincoln to past presidents with live re-enactors is a rush at the JFK Museum! And the entire school vacation week is full of activities like arts and crafts and ice cream. The JFK Museum is great to visit anytime — interactive and interesting — and you can even try giving a presidential speech from their podium. John F. Kennedy Presidential Library Boston, MA, .
National Engineers Week
School vacation week means even more interactive workshops at the Museum of Science, Boston for the Edison in you or your kid! Warning: the robot you build may take over the world and enslave humankind. Museum of Science Boston, MA, –.
Chinese New Year Parade
This is the Chinatown festival where different lion dance clubs go door to door eating lettuce and throwing around fireworks. They go to every door to accept these ‘offering’, and the ground ends up literally covered with lettuce and fireworks shells! This is not the festival with stages for music and dance. That’s one’s in August. Harrison Ave & Essex St Boston, MA, .
NTrak Model Train Show
I’ve always wanted to see this annual model train show, too, less engineering and more hobby / artistic. It’s only $5 and the museum itself is free! National Heritage Museum Lexington, MA, –.
Chinese New Year Celebration
This is awesome. The local ‘latino arts center’ is having a Chinese New Year celebration too. 3-5pm. And it’s free! Boston, MA, .
AAAS Family Science Days
Paint with bacteria?? Too bad this mad scientist event is only for kids grades 6-12. Adults can watch though, right? Hynes Convention Center (Exhibit Hall D) Boston, MA, –.
Model Engineering Show
Personally I’d rather see the steam engines, aircraft engines, machinists tools, and trains at this engineer’s festival! It’s free with admission to the museum, which is great to visit any day. 10am – 4pm. Charles River Museum of Industry Waltham, MA, .
School Vacation at Franklin Park Zoo
Did you know the Franklin Park Zoo is open all winter? See animal presentations with gorillas and otters. You otter! Franklin Park Zoo Boston, MA, –.
A Visit with Abraham Lincoln
I have a soft spot for historical re-enactments, especially when it’s Lincoln. Reserve immediately! 1-2pm. Concord Museum Concord, MA, .
Queen City Kamikaze
Are you a geek? It’s too cold to go outdoors, so why not meet people who also love anime and videogames? Yay! 10am-7pm. School Mansfield, MA, .
Ice Harvesting and Winter Carnival
This one is small but creative and it’s associated with a museum, which means they’ll have both an indoors to warm up and educational bits too. Sleigh & sled dog rides, snowball throwing contest, snowshoe obstacle course, ice cutting, etc. 11am-3pm. Remick Museum Tamworth, NH, .
Salem State University Darwin Festival
Also Salem State University will host a series of lectures and films. It’s definitely a festival, but looks very academic rather than social. Salem State University Salem, MA, –.
Lunar New Year
With its renowned collection of Asian arts and antiquities, the Peabody-Essex is a very sensible place for a Chinese New Year celebration. This is mostly kids-oriented, though. Morse Auditorium Peabody Essex Museum Salem, MA, .
Newport Winter Festival
This festival features a Beatles tribute band, ice sculpting, a scavenger hunt, a polar plunge, food cook-offs, a kids festival, and it’s a great excuse to visit Newport in the off-season. Make sure to tour the historic mansions, too. Newport, VT, –.
Giveaways & Features
Get the 2013 New England Guide
Mention my website to friends and get my 2013 New England Guide, with 1,200 off-beat destinations including dinosaur footprints, zoos, ziplines, where to go stargazing, and where to find an indoor water park in December! All Over, , –.
Find 17 New England Regions on Twitter
Hey! I’ve split my Twitter feed into 17 regions so that you can REALLY get just the events close to home, or pick what you like. Please check it out and add me to a ‘Twitter list’ too (google it). All Over, , –.
Valentine’s Day
Sex at the Zoo Lecture
There are so many zoo events just for kids that I urge you to get out and support this event for adults ages 21+. What a great idea for Valentine’s Day! 6-8:30pm. Franklin Park Zoo Boston, MA, .
Date Night At the MASS MoCA
Instead of a wild night out, how about a quiet night of culture at the Museum of Contemporary art? Take your own pace, eat a candlelight dinner, and they’ll even take care of your kids for you. 5:30pm. MASS MoCA North Adams, MA, .
Passim Celebrates Valentine’s Day with Sweethearts’ Night Out
Still don’t have plans for Valentine’s Day? Club Passim will serve up lovey-dovey folk music. 8 pm. Club Passim Cambridge, MA, .
Valentine’s Day Speed Dating in French
Ah, a great excuse to try speed dating! If you can’t find a match, at least you can say you did it to improve your langue de l’amour skills. Boston French Cultural Center Boston, MA, .
Puppet Showplace Theatre for Ancient Tales From Italy
True tales of love from the audience acted out by puppets? Please tell me the puppets keep their clothes on! The Puppet Showplace Theatre Brookline, MA, .
Watson Adventures Naked at the Art Museum Scavenger Hunt
Watson Adventures runs scavenger hunts where you go from place to place doing something cultural and touristy. This one’s at the Museum of Fine Arts, which is cool, but the whole day focuses on nudity ‘for Valentine’s Day,’ which is less cool. I’m imagining a lot of pointing and giggling. Eyeroll. Museum of Fine Arts Boston, MA, .
Valentine’s Dinner & an Evening of Courtly Love
Was chivalry the thing? Come find out in this dinner and place, 17th century style, at Plimoth Plantation! (Hint: women, prepare to be barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen. Um, I mean, wooed by a knight from horseback. Right.) 5:30-9:30pm. Plimoth Plantation Plymouth, MA, .
Chairlift Speed Dating
Wow! I love this creative concept. For Valentine’s Day, share the chairlift with another single as you go up to ski. But will you kiss before you get to the top? Live music, dating games, pick-up contest. 12:30-4pm. Black Mountain Jackson, NH, .
Also Fun
USS Constitution Museum Model Show
This model show is free, but they haven’t listed what times to go to actually meet some of the model builders and do a workshop. So, call. Otherwise, it’s basically an exhibit open all day every day. USS Constitution Museum, Charlestown Navy Yard Building 22 Boston, MA, –.
‘Paradise Lost’ Epic Poetry Marathon
Poetry, poetry, poetry, a poetry marathon! This one’s about the epic poem of angels, demons, and the fall of mankind. 8:30am-7:30pm. Sawyer Library Poetry Center (3rd floor) Boston, MA, .
Copy Cat Festival
Are you a crazy cat lady? Do you want to be? Get your training here. Center for the Arts at the Armory Somerville, MA, .
Muslim Women in the Arts
Don’t know much about Islam? Expand your mind at this opening reception. Ask what the deal is on the headscarf thing and see art! AIC Center Boston, MA, .
Billerica Ice Fishing Derby 2013
No longer called ‘Wackmaster’ but damn I’m still gonna call it that. It’s still as cool as it was last year 7am-1pm. Nuttings Lake Billerica, MA, .
Joe Val Bluegrass Festival
February is a great time of the year for a music festival, as long as it’s indoors. Otherwise the banjos freeze. I went to a bluegrass festival once and the repetitive chord structure made all the songs sound the same to me. Go figure! Sheraton Hotel Framingham, MA, –.
Winter Fest at Prescott Farm
Sleigh rides and bonfires — what a great excuse to visit New Hampshire and go skiing, too! Prescott Farm Laconia, NH, .
Cardboard Sled Race
OMG, I so much want to see this. Make a sled out of cardboard, race, and (hopefully) crash spec-TAC-ularly! 12:30pm. Arrowhead Recreation Area Claremont, NH, .
Salem’s So Sweet Chocolate and Ice Sculpture Festival
Chocolate and ice sculptures? I’ll bite! Yum! Salem, MA, –.
Winkle Picker
The HALLMARK of an amazing event is when they say that farmers go ‘barnyard crazy’! Yes! Ashfield, MA, –.
Performance
Mortified: Doomed Valentine’s Day Show
Not to be bitter about it, but this sounds like a great and fun event for those that want to take V-Day with a pinch of salt. Oberon Cambridge, MA, .
The Last Will
Not a play BY Shakespeare, but ABOUT Shakespeare! Now that’s interesting. Weds & Thurs @ 7pm, Fri & Sat @ 8pm, Sat & Sun @ 3pm. Modern Theatre Boston, MA, –.
The Moth
Hmm, no description. Well, this is most likely Valentine’s Day related. It’s all live storytelling. Oberon Cambridge, MA, .
‘Betrayal’ Slam!
You did it. I did it. We all did it. We poured our teenage broken hearts into some really crappy verses. And some of us aren’t afraid of sharing them. Doyle’s Caf Jamaica Plain, MA, .
The Glass Menagerie
There hasn’t been a decent Tennessee Williams production in Boston for a while. Bonus? This one stars Cherry Jones from ‘Doubt’ and Zachary Quinto from Star Trek. Yes! The American Repertory Theatre Cambridge, MA, –.
St. Valentine’s Day Massacre
This free show will soothe your aching heart if Valentine’s Day is a bummer. And you can get drunk, woo hoo, because THAT’S really going to help. Center for the Arts at the Armory Somerville, MA, .
Travel
New Britain Winterfest
Clowns, inflatables, and more attract 3,000 people every year to this event. Hmm. Sounds like it’s outdoors. 11am-3pm. Inclement weather: next day. Stanley Quarter Park New Britain, CT, .
Greater Tuna
This parody of small-town life down South is played by two actors in a myriad of roles. Looks hilarious! Portland Stage Portland, ME, –.
Bethel WinterFest
Winterfests are a dime a dozen in New England, but this is the only one that’s got an honest-to-goodness SNOW VOLCANO. Bethel wins. The volcano itself will be set up on the 16th, but there’s lots of other stuff happening too in this month-long festival. The usual. Bethel, ME, –.
Naples Winter Carnival
What sets this winter festival apart? Helicopter rides! Naples, ME, .
Brattleboro Winter Carnival
A torch lighting, snowmobile and hay rides, skateboarding competition, and more outdoorsy fun you’ll find here! Brattleboro, VT, –.
Chester Winter Carnival
A scavenger hunt, sled races, dog sled rides, and bonfires. Wowee! Chester, VT, –.