Things to do in Boston this weekend, September 4th - 7th

September 03, 2025

Hello and welcome to the newsletter! Even though it doesn't quite feel like it outside, fall is (un)officially here along with Boston's annual moving marathon. If you were part of the September 1st chaos, I hope it went well and your moving truck avoided becoming another Storrow Drive casualty.

THURSDAY - SEPTEMBER 4th

Nick at Night: Pop-Up Portraits @ MFA @ 6PM Get your very own portrait drawn by local artist Nick Shea, inspired by the MFA’s Vang Gogh exhibition.

The Jury Experience @ Calderwood Pavilion @ 6PM / 8:30PM Enjoy an immersive theatre courtroom drama where you make tough decisions, dissect evidence, and give the final verdict.

PROF @ Royale @ 7PM With Snotty Nose Rez Kids, Reeves Junya, & Willie Wonka

Somos @ The Sinclair @ 7:30PM With Wakelee & Spin

FRIDAY - SEPTEMBER 5th

First Fridays Party @ MFA @ 6PM Unwind with MFA First Fridays, an exciting evening of music, live performances, dancing, art making, and more!

First Fridays: Endless Summer @ ICA @ 5:30PM Soak up the last rays of the season with seaside dancing, drinks, music from DJ Knife and Divine Sweater, contemporary art, and more!

Tough Luck Fest Night 1 @ Brighton Music Hall @ 5:30PM Featuring Slow Joy, Trophy Wife, Actor Observer, & more

Amble @ Royale @ 6PM With Joe DeVito

SATURDAY - SEPTEMBER 6th

Break’N the Ice @ TD Garden @ 12PM The ‘Break ’N the Ice’ experience includes two 45-minute-long skate sessions and a tour of the Sports Museum.

PemberFest 2025 @ 2225 Massachusetts Ave @ 2PM Come out and sample some of the best craft beers around while enjoying live music, food, snacks and more!

‘Spotlight’ Drag Show @ Huntington Theatre @ 7:30PM Created and cohosted by local drag queens, Lulu Levity and Silva, this performance extravaganza promises a unique and authentic drag extravaganza.

‘All That Glitters’ Performance @ JMAC Worcester @ 8:30PM StudioX cast presents a night of burlesque, drag, pole dancing, and aerial acrobatics.

Seisiún Music Fest Day 1 @ The Stage at Suffolk Downs @ 2PM Featuring Dropkick Murphys, The Hold Steady, Stiff Little Fingers, The Scratch, & more

Tough Luck Fest Night 2 @ Brighton Music Hall @ 5:30PM Featuring Move, Euclid, Blood Tithe, Great American Ghost, & more

Slow Crush @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Faetooth, FLOODING, & Women In Peril

SUNDAY - SEPTEMBER 7th

Brighton Bazaar Market @ Charles River Speedway @ 12PM
Brighton Bazaar is a beloved pop-up market in Boston for art, vinyl, vintage & more!

Greek Food Festival @ 811 Jerusalem Rd @ 10AM This all-day festival offers delicious Greek dishes and deserts, live music, traditional performances, and even a marketplace to explore.

OysterFest @ Castle Island Brewing @ 1PM
Celebrate the summer with a raw bar on the patio, shucking class, and yacht rock!

Somerville Fermentation Festival @ Arts at the Armory @ 11AM The festival brings together a community of fermented food & beverage vendors, passionate enthusiasts, and anyone curious to learn more about fermentation.

Yoga and Meditation in the Galleries @ Peabody Essex Museum @ 9AM
Start your Sunday with a meditative yoga session.

Outlaw Music Festival @ Xfinity Center @ 4PM Featuring Willie Nelson, Bob Dylan, Sheryl Crow, & more

Seisiún Music Fest Day 2 @ The Stage at Suffolk Downs @ 1PM Featuring The Pogues, Glen Hansard, The Waterboys, Cardinals, & more

Rilo Kiley @ MGM Music Hall @ 8PM With Natalie Bergman

Dorothy @ The Palladium @ 7PM With Eddie & The Getaway

Spacey Jane @ Paradise Rock Club @ 7PM With The Belair Lip Bombs

The Hellp @ The Sinclair @ 8PM With Veronica Everheart

ALL WEEKEND

FRIDAY & SATURDAY - DroneArt Show: A Music and Drone Show @ Harvard University Ohiri Field Witness hundreds of illuminated drones take off and create stunning shapes in the sky, moving in time with live classical music.

FRIDAY & SATURDAY - Breakaway Mass Music Festival @ The Palladium Featuring The Chainsmokers, ISOXO, Subtronics, DJ Diesel, Audien, & more

SATURDAY & SUNDAY - Boston Arts Festival @ Columbus Park The annual festival showcases the best of Boston’s artists and musicians through live performances and shopping, so come out to show your support!

All weekend - Mission Hill Arts Festival @ The Yard at Tobin Community Center The annual festival presents both established and new-on-the-scene artists, offering wide variety of musical genres and performances.

All weekend - ‘Passengers’ Performance @ Loeb Drama Center Montréal’s acclaimed physical-theater troupe The 7 Fingers is pulling into American Repertory Theatre to perform its unique blend of circus, music, dance, and superhuman skills. Ends 9/26.

ONGOING

Ongoing - New England Renaissance Festival @ King Richard’s Fairgrounds Saturdays & Sundays* - King Richard’s Faire is the premiere fall entertainment event for all things Renaissance. Ends 10/30.

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

Ongoing - Artisan Market @ Rose Kennedy Greenway @ 11AM Saturdays* Run by Somerville Flea, this summertime market features talented area artists, crafters, and independent designers. Ends 10/25.

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 - Downtown Boston Arts Market @ Summer Street Plaza Thursdays & Fridays* - Located in the heart of the city, the Arts Market features artisans, crafts people, and local creative talent selling their wares in Downtown Boston. Ends 10/24.

Ongoing - Farmers Market @ Copley Square Fridays* - The largest market in the city, Copley Square Farmers Market offers a cornucopia of local produce, meats, dairy, baked goods, and prepared meals, as well as some non-edible products. Ends 11/25.

Ongoing - Charlesgate Farmers Market @ Emerald Necklace Conservancy Sundays* - Come out to support your local farmers, small businesses, and musicians. Ends 10/5.

Ongoing - Boston Lights: A Lantern Experience @ Franklin Park Zoo
Prepare to be dazzled by the magic of all-new lantern displays, immersive walkthroughs, enchanting interactive displays and Instagrammable moments at every turn. Ends 9/30.

Ongoing - ‘Monsters of the Deep: Between Imagination and Science’ Exhibition @ MIT Museum Using historical prints, this exhibit traces the scientific process of observing, measuring, and describing that turned whales from monsters into mammals. Ends 1/2026.

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 - ‘Rachel Ruysch: Artist, Naturalist, and Pioneer’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition brings together 35 of the finest works by pioneering Dutch artist Rachel Ruysch, whose still life paintings invite viewers to reflect on the beauty of the natural world and women’s role in 18th century Netherlands. Ends 12/7.

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 - ‘Qi Baishi: Inspiration in Ink’ Exhibition @ MFA Renowned for his modernization of Chinese ink painting, Qi Baishi’s works convey rural sentiments with bold landscapes, lifelike animals and plants, and lively and amusing figures. Ends 9/28.

Ongoing - ‘Deep Waters: Four Artists and the Sea’ Exhibition @ MFA Weaving together artworks by four artists made over centuries and across the Atlantic, this exhibition follows a genealogical thread united by the sea. Ends 11/9.

Ongoing - ‘Rituals for Remembering’ Exhibition @ MFA This exhibition brings together works by influential Cuban artists María Magdalena Campos-Pons and Ana Mendieta whose art explores the notions of displacement, exile, and nature as transformative tool. Ends 2/15/2026.

Ongoing - ‘Ming Fay: Edge of the Garden’ Exhibition @ ISG Museum The Gardner Museum springs to life with the large-scale sculptures of Ming Fay, constructing a space of wonder that calls on visitors to view the world around them with new appreciation. Ends 9/21.

Ongoing - ‘Jung Yeondoo: Building Dreams’ Exhibition @ Peabody Essex Museum Photographing ordinary families and individuals, Artist Jung Yeondoo’s work invites viewers to take a closer look at those strangers we don’t notice and imagine their dreams. Ends 1/25/2026.

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.