Things to do in Boston this weekend, May 8th - 11th

Now with a new subject line!

May 07, 2025

Welcome to the Wednesday newsletter! Don't forget to call your Mom, it's Mother's Day this weekend.

THURSDAY - MAY 8th

After Dark @ MIT Museum @ 6PM Enjoy an adult-only lively evening of entertainment, science, and tinkering.

Cynthia Erivo in Concert @ Symphony Hall @ 7:30PM Enjoy an evening of unparalleled artistry as Grammy, Tony, and Emmy Award-winner Cynthia Erivo joins the Boston Pops for the season opening concert.

Melvins + Napalm Death @ Paradise Rock Club @ 6PM With Titan to Tachyons & Dark Sky Burial

SASAMI @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With Mood Killer & DJ Carbo

FRIDAY - MAY 9th

Isabel LaRosa @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With Mercer Henderson & Thomas LaRosa

DeathByRomy @ Brighton Music Hall @ 7PM With Griffin Benton & DJ Carbo

SATURDAY - MAY 10th

Somerville’s PorchFest @ 12PM
Musicians and bands in styles including funk, blues, gospel, bluegrass and so many more serenade passersby from porches throughout Somerville.

Watch City Steampunk Festival @ Waltham Common @ 10AM The festival will feature costumed performers, musicians, kids' activities, and a large collection of unique vendors peddling all things Steampunk!

Quincy Day Festival 2025 @ Veterans Memorial Stadium @ 12PM Celebrating Quincy’s 400th anniversary in true Free Jacks fashion - with a festival packed with a rugby match, music, food, and local flavor!

Revere Beach Kite Festival @ Markey Memorial Bridge @ 11AM Kick-off the beach season at this annual kite festival with live music, contests, and more family-friendly activities.

Small Mart @ Crystal Ballroom @ 11AM This market brings together an epic lineup of vintage curators, vinyl collectors, and independent artists & makers, all under one roof.

‘Stayin Alive: One Night of The Bee Gees’ Hanover Theatre @ 7:30PM Get ready to jive to the disco classics with a band who brings back an authentic the Bee Gees sound!

Millyz @ MGM Music Hall @ 8PM With Skrilla & Benny The Butcher

SUNDAY - MAY 11th

Duckling Day @ Boston Common @ 10AM A beloved Mother’s Day tradition, this event features activity booths, lawn games, magic, live music, and a duckling parade.

Brian Cox Live Show @ Shubert Theatre @ 7PM Using state of the art screen technology, professor Brian Cox takes audiences on a dazzling journey to far-away galaxies, alien worlds, and supermassive black holes.

Smallpools @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With Rec Hall & Tana Matz

ALL WEEKEND

All weekend - Boston Fringe Festival @ The Rockwell Catch the best of local comedy and theater at the first ever Boston Fringe!

FRIDAY & SATURDAY - ‘JAWS’ in Concert @ Symphony Hall Get ready for an unforgettable film-with-live-orchestra experience as Boston Pops play the Academy Award-winning score by composer John Williams to live picture.

All weekend - Mother’ Day Shopping Market @ Boston Public Market Stop by the Boston Public Market and explore an array of sweet offerings from local pop-up vendors!

All weekend - ‘Utopian Hotline’ Immersive Show @ MoS In this immersive theater show, you’ll hear from astronauts, neighbors, and others as they answer the same question: “How would you envision a more perfect future?” Ends 5/18.

All weekend - ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ Musical @ Emerson Colonial Theatre Follow teenager Kimberly as she navigates family dysfunction, a rare genetic condition, her first crush, and much more in this 5-time Tony Award-winning musical sensation. Ends 5/18.

All weekend - ‘The Prom’ Musical @ Footlight Club Set in a small town high school in Indiana, this hilarious and heartwarming musical follows the fierce drama between a Parent-Teacher Association, an LGBT couple, and a group of Broadway stars as they fight for prom. Ends 5/17.

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 - ‘Contre-temps’ Musical @ The Huntington Theatre A musical comedy telling the sensational story of François Courdot, the French operetta conductor who traveled to New York hoping to become a Broadway composer.

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.

All weekend - ‘The Shark is Broken’ Play @ North Shore Music Theatre This comedic play dives deep into the tumultuous, murky waters of the making of ‘Jaws,’ with its feuding costars, unpredictable weather, and other filmmaking nuances. Ends 5/11.

ONGOING

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 - ‘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 6/2.

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.