Greenfest, Water Gun Battle, Skydiving, Outdoor Elvis & Shakespeare, Carnival
08/20/09 by
Johnny Monsarrat
Johnny’s List is now 4 years old! If you like the list, please tell some friends. This is how I want to be repaid for the love. Still haven’t missed a week yet (although I came pretty close last week!).
A few changes are coming up. I’m shutting down my LJ version of this blog. It’s just silly to have two. I’m also going to switch to what WhoFish and Going.com do. Instead of filling your email inbox with a zillion links and getting trapped as spam, I’ll send you a few top highlights every week with a link back to WeirdBostonEvents.org for the full list.
Also, I’m building out the website in an attempt to (a) continue with the hand-picked feature events, but add a real, searchable calendar with thousands of regular events and (b) somehow monetize the website, but in a non-annoying fashion, I promise. Anybody want to help me with the new website, with SQL, coding, or Web design?
Finally, come say hello this Thu-Sat at Boston Greenfest on Boston City Hall Plaza. I’ll be there maintaining my art project, Wheel Questions.
Here’s your week in weird. Enjoy it! Want this weekly? Please subscribe.
-Johnny
The Week in Weird |
|||
| Boston Greenfest | 8/20 – 8/22 | Boston Metro | |
| Tonight thru Saturday! The event of the week is Boston Greenfest, because I’ll be there with the Wheel Questions project. Come say hello! They have tons of information booths and presentations on saving the environment, too, plus live music and a “time tunnel”. City Hall Plaza, Boston, MA. more |
|||
| Elvis Alive and Well and Oldies Show | 8/20 | Metro West | |
| Tonight! Not only is this an Elvis impersonator, it’s an outdoor concert! I called to confirm it. Thanks, Acton! NARA Park, Acton, MA. more |
|||
| Beach Party Blast at NARA Park, Acton | 8/21 | Metro West | |
| Also in Acton, this may be their biggest event of the year, with a sandcastle contest, a huge slip & slide, and a watermelon eating contest! NARA Park, Acton, MA. more |
|||
| The Best Fossils Darwin Never Saw | 8/20 | Boston Metro | |
| Also tonight! Harvard’s museum of animals and plants and rocks is having a half-price evening from 5-8pm, including a lecture. Harvard Museum of Natural History, Cambridge, MA. more |
|||
| Banditos Misteriosos 2nd Annual Revolutionary Water Gun Battle | 8/22 | Boston Metro | |
| The real event of the weak is: super soaker time! Sat 1:30pm. RSVP for location, Boston, MA. more |
|||
| New England Boogie – Skydiving Festival | 8/19 – 8/23 | Northern Mass | |
| It’s the largest skydiving event in New England. And up to 300 attend. 165 Nashua Road, Pepperell, MA.978 433-9222. more |
|||
| Carnival (Provincetown) | 8/16 – 8/21 | Cape Cod | |
| New England’s gay carnival continues. Provincetown, MA.800.637.8696. more |
|||
| Caribbean Carnival Parade (Boston Carnival) | 8/23 – 8/29 | Boston Metro | |
| But you don’t have to go to Cape Cod for Carnival! The Boston Carnival parade is just the kind of “local” event where the enthusiasm of the performers is infectious. Various, Boston, MA. more |
|||
| Race of the Century | 8/22 – 8/23 | Metro West | |
| How awesome is this! This festival highlights the advancements of transportation with races between horse & buggy, a 1904 car, 1930s cars, and 1900-1930s planes! Collings Foundation, Stow, MA.978-562-9182. more |
|||
| Fireworks at Ocean Park | 8/21 | Southern Mass | |
| Fireworks and concert on Martha’s Vinyard, a good excuse to visit. I went last year, and it was fantastic — *really* impressive. Ocean Park, Oak Bluffs, MA.508-693-5380. more |
|||
| Jaffrey Festival of Fireworks | 8/21 | New Hampshire | |
| They’ll have live music, games for kids (what about us adults?), a skydiving performance and then fireworks “after dusk”. Jaffrey Airport Rte. 124, 190 Turnpike Road, Jaffrey, NH. more |
|||
| End of Summer Bash & Fireworks | 8/22 – 9/4 | New Hampshire | |
| And two more fireworks events 8/22 and 9/4 if you are up in the White Mountains for hiking and touring. Waterville Valley, NH.603-236-8175. more |
|||
| Pi-Con Science Fiction Convention | 8/21 – 8/23 | Western Mass | |
| A smallish science fiction convention with the usual panels, workshops, guests, and costuming. Best Western Sovereign Hotel, West Springfield, MA. more |
|||
| Great Falls Balloon Festival | 8/21 – 8/23 | Maine | |
| About 2.5 hours’ drive from Boston, featuring 30 balloons. Reserve ahead for your ride. Lewiston, ME.800-639-6331. more |
|||
| Plays in the Park: “Twelfth Night” | 8/21 – 8/28 | Boston Metro | |
| 8/21 and 8/28 at 12:15 pm. & 1:30 pm: More Free Outdoor Shakespeare. See “Outdoor Events” for more outdoor theatre. Georges Island, Boston, MA.617-223-8666. more |
|||
| Storytelling Campfire | 8/22 | Cape Cod | |
| I haven’t been to a campfire since I was a kid. I really want to go!! 7:30-9pm. Scusset Beach State Reservation, Scusset Beach Rd., Sandwich, MA.508 888-0859. more |
|||
| Kites on the River | 8/22 | Boston Metro | |
| There’s no Boston Kite Festival this year, so attend this Dork-chester event instead. See and learn to fly “stunt kites” with two strings. Various in Dorchester, Milton, Hyde Park, Boston, MA. more more |
|||
| Quincy August Moon Festival | 8/23 | South Shore | |
| Did you miss the Chinese August Moon Festival in Boston? It’s not too late! Come catch it in Quincy, with dragon dancing and lots of cute kids performing. Downtown Quincy, 1400-1600 Hancock St., Quincy, MA.617-472-2200. more more |
|||
| The Grape Island Tryst and Family Picnic | 8/22 | South Shore | |
| Former US President John Adams and his future wife Abigail were in love. Venture out to Grape Island where they had their “tryst”, which is obviously a great place for a family picnic. Family?? Do they know what tryst means? Do I?? Begins at the Adams National Historic Park Visitor Center, 1250 Hancock Street, Quincy, MA.(617) 770-1175. more |
|||
| Seaside Pow Wow and Festival | 8/22 – 8/23 | North Shore | |
| Intertribal American Indian event featuring dancing, story telling and arts and crafts. Free. Stage Fort Park, Gloucester, MA.978-281-2978. more |
|||
| Ford / Lincoln Day @ Larz Anderson Museum | 8/23 | Boston Metro | |
| Perhaps you’d prefer cars to trysting on an island off Quincy. 15 Newton Street, Brookline, MA.(617) 522-6547. more |
|||
| The Big Lebowski Annual Bowling Party | 8/24 | Boston Metro | |
| Every year the Coolidge theatre has an actual bowling party before viewing the Big Lebowski. Coolidge Corner Theatre, Brookline, MA. more |
|||
| Armenian Food and Music Festival | 8/23 | North Shore | |
| Boy, I can’t recall an Armenian Festival in New England before (Although there’s an Armenian Museum in Watertown!). 12-5pm. American Legion Farm, 1314 Main St., Haverhill, MA.(978) 372-9227. |
|||
Also Fun |
|||
| Anniversary of Johnny’s List (2005) | 8/21 | Boston Metro | |
| Johnny’s List is now 4 years old! To celebrate, I’m finally going to get around to (a) adding a real calendar that can be searched by date (b) putting up some non-annoying ads and trying to monetize this thing. Anybody want to help with the website? Everywhere, New England. more |
|||
| The Ego & The Oracle | 8/6 – 8/27 | Boston Metro | |
| This is the last week for this interactive highly weird and enjoyable event, where you get to ask a question and they respond with a huge oracular wheel and by playing a song to match. Every Thursday in August! 6:30pm. The Burren, Davis Square, Somerville, MA. more |
|||
| Hardwick County Fair | 8/21 – 8/22 | Worcester | |
| Beyond the usual sheep and cattle, they’ll have a lumberjack contest, hay rides, and frog jumping. Fri 5:30-10 pm, Sat 7am-5 pm. Free. Town Common, Rt 32A, Hardwick, MA. more |
|||
| Annual Peach Festival | 8/21 – 8/23 | Springfield | |
| While the peach sundaes, peach bread, and peach shakes will be special, the real draw of this event is Mr. Peach, a sad sad man in a huge peach costume. Fountain Park, Wilbraham, MA.413-599-0010. more |
|||
| Marshfield County Fair | 8/21 – 8/30 | South Shore | |
| As well as the usual fair contests, they’ll have a demolition derby and a “battle of the bands”. Route 3A at South River St., Marshfield, MA.(781) 834-6629. more |
|||
| Eastern Massachusetts Rhythym Festival | 8/22 | Worcester | |
| Hand drumming, percussion, and dance. River Bend Visitors Center, 287 Oak St., Uxbridge, MA.508-278-3391. more |
|||
| Great Waters Folk Festival | 8/22 | New Hampshire | |
| Yet another music festival. Wolfeboro, NH. more |
|||
| Move the Muse Fest | 8/22 | South Shore | |
| Yet another music festival. Brockton, MA. more |
|||
| Antique and Classic Boat Festival | 8/22 – 8/23 | North Shore | |
| Classic sailboats, powerboats, and hand-powered craft. Sat 11am-5pm, Sun 11am-3pm. Admission $5, free for children 12 and under. Hawthorne Cove Marina, 10 White St, Salem, MA. more more |
|||
| South Coast Rhode Island Open Studios | 8/22 – 8/23 | Rhode Island | |
| Rhode Island is getting into the “Open Studios” craze. Artists open their private homes and work studios to the public. Tiverton, RI.401-816-0000. more |
|||
| Annual Children’s Festival | 8/17 – 8/21 | New Hampshire | |
| This childrens festival is conveniently right when most of us are working. Hampton Beach, Hampton Beach, NH. more |
|||
| Skowhegan State Fair | 8/13 – 8/22 | Maine | |
| Or travel WAY up to Maine where Fiesta Shows will have their traveling carnival, again. Skowhegan, ME. more |
|||
| Dutch Beer Tasting & Cultural Night | 8/20 | North Shore | |
| To celebrate the opening of their new exhibition on Dutch seascape paintings, the Peabody Essex Museum will charge you $60 to drink Dutch beer. Because there’s nothing better in the summer than to stay indoors, drinking beer, looking at Dutch paintings. Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA. more |
|||
Want this weekly? subscribe. My blogs: Weird Boston Events & Wheel Questions, Wheel Answers. Send encouragement & ideas to johnny@weirdbostonevents.org.