Things to do in Boston this weekend, May 22nd - 25th

Memorial Day Weekend!

May 21, 2025

Hello and welcome to the Wednesday newsletter! Memorial Day is here. The MMHF is doing a flag planting ceremony starting today and running through Sunday in remembrance of all Massachusetts soldiers who have given their lives since the revolutionary war.

THURSDAY - MAY 22nd

Swirlies @ Paradise Rock Club @ 6PM With Mark Robinson & Her New Knife

We The Kings @ The Palladium @ 7:30PM With Louder, Louder! & Timelines

FRIDAY - MAY 23rd

Nekrogoblikon @ The Palladium @ 5:30PM With Rivers of Nihil, Revocation, Holy Fawn, & more

SATURDAY - MAY 24th

Red Sox vs Orioles @ Fenway Park @ 4:10PM Promotion: Harry Potter Day

Free Jacks: Tribute to the Troops @ Veterans Memorial Stadium @ 1PM Free Jacks take on DC Old Glory, plus enjoy bars & fun zone, BBQ, live band, post-march party, & more!

‘Frozen’ in Concert @ Symphony Hall @ 2:30PM Rediscover the whimsical adventures of Elsa, Anna and Olaf with this unique and immersive experience.

Obituary @ The Palladium @ 6PM With Nails, Terror, Spiritworld, & Pest Control

SUNDAY - MAY 25th

Red Sox vs Orioles @ Fenway Park @ 1:35PM Promotion: Charm Hat with Charms

Vintage Market @ Arts at the Armory @ 12PM Bullshit Boutique brings together 20+ vintage vendors, free YerbaMate, DJ and live band music, and more!

Ongoing - Open Market @ SoWa @ 11AM One of the largest open-air farmer and artist markets returns this summer season! Ends 10/26.

Dance Gavin Dance @ The Palladium @ 7PM With The Home Team, Dwellings, & Belmont

ALL WEEKEND

FRIDAY & SATURDAY - ‘Music of the Cosmos’ Concert @ Symphony Hall Drift among the stars with the Boston Pops and traverse the vast reaches of the universe in a multimedia program that explores the intersection of music, space, and science fiction.

All weekend - Anime Boston @ Hynes Convention Center Anime Boston is an annual convention that celebrates Japanese culture and media, such as anime, manga, and video games.

All weekend - Boston Calling Music Festival @ Harvard Athletic Complex Boston’s biggest music event is back! Featuring Luke Combs, Megan Moroney, Fall Out Boy, Avril Lavigne, Cage the Elephant, Dave Matthews Band, Vampire Weekend, and more!

All weekend - Campfire Festival @ Club Passim
See your favorite local artists and discover new emerging talents at this annual music festival.

All weekend - Festival of Films from Japan @ MFA Curated by the MFA, the UNIQLO Festival of Films from Japan returns with an electrifying selection of bold new releases. End 6/6.

All weekend - Reunion Week Film Program @ The Brattle Watch movies celebrating 25th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries including ‘Sunset Boulevard,’ ‘Jaws,’ ‘O Brother, Where Art Thou,’ and more!

All weekend - AAPI Comedy Festival @ Rozzie Square Theater Enjoy a weekend of shows that span stand-up, improv, storytelling, and professional magic.

All weekend - ‘Spring Experience’ Ballet @ Citizens Opera House Explore Boston Ballet’s dynamic and captivating Spring program composed of three masterful ballets featuring classical and modern dance elements. Ends 5/25.

All weekend - ‘T: An MBTA Musical’ @ The Rockwell A musical love letter to Boston, “T” is the journey of three struggling Bostonians whose lives have been derailed by the MBTA’s shortcomings.

All weekend - ‘Two Strangers (Carry A Cake Across New York)’ Musical @ Loeb Drama Center Taking inspiration from traditional rom-coms, this funny and inventive new musical balances life’s sweetness and struggle as two characters discover the meaningful impact a stranger can make in life. Ends 6/29.

All weekend - ‘Hello, Dolly’ Musical @ Lyric Stage See one of musical theater's most enduring and acclaimed musicals bursting with romance, humor, and some of the greatest song and dance numbers in musical theater history. Ends 6/22.

All weekend - ‘The Light in the Piazza’ Musical @ The Huntington Theatre A lush and soaring romance unfolds in this brand-new production of Adam Guettel’s sweeping Tony Award-winning score and Craig Lucas’ profound book on motherhood and familial love. Ends 6/15.

All weekend - ‘Jaja’s African Hair Braiding’ Play @ Calderwood Pavilion Set in Harlem, New York, this equally affecting and hilarious play follows a group of women whose life perspectives get altered by shocking news. Ends 5/31.

ONGOING

Ongoing - Summer Market @ Seaport Seaport’s summer bazaar returns with a mix of popular returning artisans and new entrants, all offering a unique assortment of products from clothing to home décor, pet goods, food, and much more. Ends 9/21.

Ongoing - Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience @ Mercantile Center This captivating 360º digital art exhibition invites you to step into the universe of the Dutch genius, Vincent van Gogh. Ends 6/15.

Ongoing - ‘Titanic: The Artifacts’ Exhibition @ The Castle at Park Plaza Embark on an interactive tour of the Titanic with incredible re-creations of the Ship’s interior and exterior, plus see authentic artifacts, recovered from below the surface of the North Atlantic. Ends 6/1.

Ongoing - ‘Sara Cwynar: Alphabet’ Exhibition @ ICA In this exhibition, multi-disciplinary artist Sara Cwynar examines the excess of pictures in today’s image-saturated culture through a vast archive of visual material, including self-made, downloaded, and found photographs. Ends 8/3.

Ongoing - ‘The Visionary Art of Minnie Evans’ Exhibition @ MFA Experience Minnie Evans’ imaginative and intricately detailed drawings inspired by the artist’s religious beliefs, interest in mythology and history, and the landscapes in her native North Carolina. Ends 10/26.

Ongoing - ‘Van Gogh: The Roulin Family Portraits’ Exhibition @ MFA Displaying 23 works by the artist, this exhibition explores Van Gogh’s tender relationship with one family who became subjects of his groundbreaking portraits. Ends 9/7.

Ongoing - ‘Witnessing Humanity: The Art of John Wilson’ Exhibition @ MFA Featuring approximately 110 works by Massachusetts-born artist, the exhibition explores the many ways Wilson called attention to racial, social, and economic injustices through his art. Ends 6/22.

Ongoing - ‘Landscape and Labor’ Exhibition @ MFA The exhibition explores works of The Hague School artists whose works offer an intimate and profound look at everyday life in the Dutch countryside. Ends 6/22.

Ongoing - ‘Robert Frank: Mary’s Book’ Exhibition @ MFA Celebrating the centennial of photographer Robert Frank’s birth, this exhibition takes an in-depth look at the personal scrapbook of photographs Frank made for his first wife Mary Lockspeiser. Ends 6/22.

Ongoing - ‘Waters of the Abyss: An Intersection of Spirit and Freedom’ Exhibition @ ISG Museum The exhibition presents a collection of works by Haitian artist Fabiola Jean-Louis, whose art takes inspiration from traditional spiritual knowledge, personal histories, and politics of Haiti. Ends 5/25.

Ongoing - ‘Edvard Munch: Technically Speaking’ Exhibition @ Harvard Art Museums The exhibition offers rare insight into the Norwegian artist’s innovative techniques and the recurring themes across his paintings, woodcuts, etchings, and combination prints. Ends 7/27.

Ongoing - ‘Draw Me Ishmael: The Book Arts of Moby Dick’ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum ‘Draw Me Ishmael’ is the first exhibition focused on the book arts of the hundreds of editions of Herman Melville’s Moby Dick - the most persistently pictured of all American novels. Ends 3/29/2026.

Header image credit to /u/shortbusgangster112 on reddit.