It’s Marathon Day in Boston (a big deal if you’re not familiar with it; 30,000+ runners, 500,000+ spectators) and the weather is finally at peak niceness for the season. It’s always a little startling realizing how different things feel here when the weather’s nice. All these public spaces become open and active, people are going out more, ‘wandering around’ is a viable thing to do again.
Just over the next month there are half a dozen awesome things I’m looking forward to:
- PAX East (April 22nd – 24th) – This awesome gaming expo takes over the Boston Convention Center for a weekend. I bought a pass for the first time last year but a family emergency kept me from attending. This year I’ve got a Saturday pass and I am psyched to check it out.
- Somerville Open Studios (April 30th – May 1st) – Across Somerville, a ton of artists with home studios, plus all the collectives and creative workspace studios, open their doors to the public for self-guided exploration. You’ll find stands with a map and directory of all the different artists and what kind of art they make, and free shuttles do a regular loop through Somerville to make exploring studios spread around the city much easier.
- Harvard Square Mayfair (May 3rd) – All the intersecting roads in Harvard Square are shut down to traffic for this sprawling street festival, filled with entertainers, music, craft tents, face-painting, fair food, and more. If you don’t mind crowds, this is a great event to wander through for a concentrated dose of Cambridge awesomeness.
- Somerville Porchfest (May 21st) – Bands across Somerville perform live from porches across the city. The organizers have the city divided into three sections, with each section’s bands performing for a different two-hour shift. You can listen to all kinds of different sounds & styles in your neighborhood, or turn it into a city-crawl.
- Dancing – not a specific event I can point you to, but I’ve heard that The Sinclair may be a worthy addition to my list of go-to live music + dancing venues, so I’m hoping to round up some friends for a night out sometime soon.
- Earthfest (May 21st) – the same day as Somerville Porchfest, but it should be easy to do both. Earthfest is an annual festival along the Esplanade, the beautiful riverside area along the Charles, just outside the Charles / MGH T-stop. Lots of vendors giving away free samples of new products, good music, and a great atmosphere to enjoy the area in.
Anything coming up you’re looking forward to, or want to see if I have recommendations for something you’re interested in? Tweet me @JayNBoston.
I’m also sharing a lot of Boston / Somerville sights on Snapchat, if you’d like to follow me there:
