Boston Area – Page 2 – Salem Happenings

Boston’s Fourth of July Celebration

There’s no better time to enjoy fireworks and patriotic music than Fourth of July weekend, and if you’re looking for the best fireworks show around, there’s probably no better show than the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular. However, the show, which has been a tradition in Boston for over 40 years now finds itself in sort of a precarious position, as the show’s founder, David Mugar, is retiring this year and the show has lost its primary sponsor. As a result, there will almost certainly be some changes on the horizon for the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and the future of the event is certainly up in the air (even though it is unlikely that the show will disappear entirely.) This means that if you want to see what the event has traditionally been like, this is definitely the year to go.

The event, which takes place from approximately 8:00 P.M. to 11:00 P.M. on Monday (July 4, 2016), will feature performances by Demi Lovato, Little Big Town, Nick Jonas, and, of course, the Boston Pops. These performances will then be followed by a fireworks show carried out by Fireworks by Grucci, the current holders of the Guinness World Record for the “Largest Fireworks Display” and the “Largest Pyrotechnic Image.” There will also be a preview concert for the show on Sunday (July 3, 2016) from 8:30 to 10:00 P.M. that will feature all of the performances but none of the fireworks if you can’t make it on Monday or you have little ones that aren’t really that keen on the popping noise. For more information on the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular Preview Concert, which both take place at the DCR Hatch Memorial Shell on the Esplanade in Boston, please visit Boston’s Fourth of July website.

Photo credit: Mike Halsall via Visual Hunt / CC BY-ND

The 37th Annual Boston Dragon Boat Festival

The Rio Olympics are now less than two months away, which means that it won’t be long before we all have the opportunity to watch some of the most talented athletes in the world compete in everything from archery to wrestling. However, if you’re a huge fan of Olympic sports, two months may seem like an awfully long time to wait, and you may already be wondering how you’re going to survive the final stretch before the games. Well, if this is indeed the case and you’re a fan of rowing, you may be in luck because it just so happens that the Boston Dragon Boat Festival is scheduled to take place this weekend on the Charles River. The Boston Dragon Boat Festival, which is scheduled to take place from 7:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. on Saturday and 7:00 A.M. to 5:00 P.M. on Sunday, is a Chinese dragon boat race and Asian-American cultural festival. This festival will give you the opportunity to try your hand at creating Asian arts and crafts, sample a large variety of Asian cuisines, hear traditional music from China and Japan, see traditional dances and other performances from a number of different Asian countries, and, of course, watch the dragon boat races to see which dragon boat rowing team will emerge victorious. For more information on the Boston Dragon Boat Festival, which is free and open to the public, please visit the Boston Dragon Boat Festival website.

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Rock Out at Somerville PorchFest 2016

My friend Bill’s birthday is tomorrow, and Bill, much like myself, has an eclectic taste in music. In fact, I have to admit that you would be hard-pressed to find a list of songs that Bill and I didn’t like (there are definitely some out there, but they are few and far between.) As a result, I’m sure if Bill was still living on the East Coast, he would definitely be up for checking out a music festival in the area this weekend, and if you’re looking for a way to get outside and enjoy a wide assortment of different music yourself, PorchFest may be the event for you. This is because PorchFest, which is scheduled to take place from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. tomorrow (Saturday, May 21, 2016), is an annual event sponsored by the Somerville Arts Council that features a collection of independent musicians and bands playing from porches throughout the City of Somerville. This event will feature virtually every kind of music, including alternative, Americana, blues, bluegrass, classical, country, dance, disco, folk, funk, gospel, jazz, hip hop, metal, pop, punk, rap, reggae, rock, show tunes, ska, techno, traditional music from around the world, and pretty much every other type of music you can think of. Best of all, the event is completely free and open to everyone, so you can hear a ton of good music without breaking the bank. For more information on PorchFest 2016, including a map detailing where to find each band, please visit the Somerville Arts Council’s website.

Photo via VisualHunt

The Cure for Your Friday the 13th Woes

Friday the 13th is once again upon us, and it is certainly a day that many people dread. In fact, if you are one of the large number of individuals that is filled with nothing but disgust every time you hear the words “Friday” and the “13th” in the same sentence, you may be looking for something that you can do with your family after the day is over. Fortunately, if this is indeed the case, the Boston Parks and Recreation Department may have exactly what you are looking for. This is because the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and Mayor Martin J. Walsh are hosting the Boston Bubble Festival on Boston Common from 11:00 A.M. to 2:00 P.M. tomorrow (Saturday, May 14, 2016). This event will allow you and your children to learn about the science behind bubbles, see live bubble demonstrations with some of the biggest floating bubbles you’ve ever seen, make your own bubbles at a series of bubble stations, listen to music, and participate in a wide variety of other kid-friendly activities. For more information on the Boston Bubble Festival, which is completely free and open to the public, please visit the Boston Bubble Festival’s Facebook page.

Photo credit: elPadawan via Visual Hunt / CC BY-SA

Watch City Steampunk Festival 2016

Did you miss out on last week’s OtherWhere Market or are you looking for another Steampunk fix? Well, if the answer to either of these questions is yes, you’re in luck because it just so happens that the Watch City Steampunk Festival is scheduled to take place throughout Waltham from 9:30 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. tomorrow (Saturday, May 7, 2016). This event will give you the opportunity to dress in your finest Victorian/Steampunk garb (or come in your modern-day clothing if you lack the appropriate attire) and explore everything that the Steampunk genre and the Victorian era has to offer. In fact, if you decide to attend the festival, you will have the chance to experience a variety of activities aimed at children and adults alike, including artwork, blacksmithing, crafts, costuming, dancing, games, lectures, live performances, music, a parade, sword fighting, and way more than I could ever hope to list here. For more information on the Watch City Steampunk Festival, which is free and open to the public, please visit the Watch City Steampunk Festival website.

Photo credit: Stf.O via Foter.com / CC BY

The OtherWhere Market at Mill No. 5

Photo credit: taymtaym via VisualHunt.com / CC BY

We live in a world filled with technological marvels that we take for granted every day. From televisions to computers, buses to planes, cell phones to tablets, and microwaves to sophisticated medical equipment, there’s no shortage of incredible devices out there. In fact, all it takes are a few batteries, a wall outlet, or some fuel, and you have an array of ways to work, play, relax, communicate, travel, cook, and heal. Now, all of this is of course great, but what if the world didn’t work that way and there were no batteries or wall outlets. Could you imagine a world in which you couldn’t get the power you needed with a simple flick of switch? A world in which you would need to rely on something else entirely to power your devices? Steam perhaps?

Well, it turns out that this is exactly what the Steampunk genre was designed to explore, as it portrays what the world would have been like during the Victorian era if the world’s technology had taken a very different path and evolved along the route that Jules Verne and H.G. Wells had described in their literary works. A world in which steam power rules and everything is powered by steam and clockwork parts. And, if this world sounds like something you would like to explore, you may want to head down to Mill No. 5 in Lowell, MA this weekend. This is because Mill No. 5, which is located at 250 Jackson Street in Lowell, MA, is hosting their Spring OtherWhere Market from 12:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M. tomorrow (Saturday, April 30, 2016). This event will give you the opportunity to see a number of people in Steampunk and fantasy garb while you peruse a wide assortment of unusual accessories, books, costumes, and other goods related to fantasy, Sci-Fi, Steampunk, and more. For more information on the Spring OtherWhere Market and other similar events at Mill No. 5, please visit the Mill No. 5 website.

http://5.lunalowell.com/event/otherwhere-market/?instance_id=1108087

Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twin Peaks Parody

Do you remember all of the somewhat cheesy, but fun horror shows that were on TV during the 90’s like Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Mark Frost’s and David Lynch’s Twin Peaks. Were you always a big fan of Special Agent Dale Cooper or a huge fan of Giles, Willow, Xander, and the rest of the “Scooby Gang”? Do you just love it when some good-old fashioned comedy collides with some of your favorite cult classics? Well, if the answer to some or all of these questions is a resounding “yes”, you may want to check out the Riot Theater in Boston this weekend.

This is because the Riot Theater is hosting an improv performance known as “BuffyProv! / Twin Peaks” from 8:00 P.M. to approximately 9:30 P.M. tomorrow night (Saturday, April 23, 2016). This event will let you see a group of incredibly amusing comedians perform their own unscripted parodies of all of your favorite characters and scenes from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Twin Peaks. However, it is important to remember that even though there will be vampires, spirits, and all sorts of supernatural creatures, the only thing these slayers and monster hunters are really concerned with is making sure that you laugh yourself…to death. For more information on “BuffyProv! / Twin Peaks: A Double Feature of Improvised Parodies” and/or to order tickets for the event, please visit the BuffyProv Facebook page or the BuffyProv! / Twin Peaks Eventbrite Page.

Photo credit: Enokson via VisualHunt / CC BY

Tax Day: Taxation with Representation

Chances are, you’re probably familiar with Benjamin Franklin’s famous line “in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” In fact, if you’re really not a fan of taxes (and let’s face it, who is), you may be familiar with some of the other great quotes that tax-haters have said over the years (like Will Rogers’ not-quite-as-famous line “the only difference between death and taxes is that death doesn’t get worse every time Congress meets.”) However, in the end, it doesn’t really matter how many great quotes you know or how much you loathe the prospect of giving up your hard-earned cash, you still have to pay the piper in the end. And, as you have probably already realized, today marks the day where just about everyone has to pay up because it’s the last day you can file your taxes. Fortunately, just because you have to file today doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t still have some fun this weekend, and if you’re looking for a way to have some fun and get your mind off of the tax man (or tax woman as the case may be), there’s no better way than to hear the stories of the men and women who fought to get us taxation WITH representation in the first place.

If this sounds like an interesting way to spend part of your weekend, then you should definitely head over to the Pilgrim Church on Coolidge Ave in Lexington, MA. This is because the Pilgrim Church is hosting the 10^th anniversary performance of “In Their Own Words” on Sunday from 8:00 P.M. to 9:00 P.M. This performance will give you the opportunity to learn about the beginning of the American Revolution through the words of the people who actually lived it as a group of talented actors read from the diaries, depositions, letters, and sermons of the active participants in and the witnesses of the events that began the revolution. For more information on “In Their Own Words” and/or to order tickets for the event, please visit the Lexington Historical Society’s website.

Photo credit: denisbin via Visualhunt / CC BY-ND

Works Consulted

“Benjamin Franklin.” BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2016. 15 April 2016. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/b/benjamin_franklin.html

“Will Rogers.” BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2016. 15 April 2016. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/w/will_rogers.html

Dr. Seuss Show in Salem

Chances are, you’ve probably heard of The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs & Ham, How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, and/or The Lorax. In fact, there’s a pretty good chance that the very mention of these books makes you immediately think of Dr. Seuss because almost everyone has encountered Dr. Seuss in one form another at some point. However, if your kids have not experienced the wonder of Dr. Seuss or they’re huge Dr. Seuss fans looking for their next source of wonder, you may want to take them to the Dr. Seuss show.

The Dr. Seuss Show is a one-hour performance that will take place at 211 Bridge Street in Salem, MA at 10:00 A.M. and 12:00 P.M. on Saturday (April 9, 2016) and 1:00 P.M. on Sunday (April 10, 2016) this weekend. This performance will let you see a group of local kids, teens, and adults portray a number of Dr. Seuss’ most famous characters and stories on stage. For more information on the Dr. Seuss Show and/or to purchase tickets, which cost $10 each, please visit the Neverland Theatre Company’s website.

Photo credit: Jim Larrison via Visualhunt.com / CC BY

Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta at Symphony Hall

The fifth anniversary of the horrifying earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan and inflicted catastrophic damage to the nuclear power plant in Fukushima was just a few weeks ago. However, even though the disaster itself is now long in the past, the effects of the tragedy are still apparent throughout the island nation. In fact, there are a number of people who are only just returning to their homes now to find that the road to recovery has just begun. Fortunately, people have an incredible ability to come together when times are at their darkest, and one such group of talented young people came together shortly after these tragic events took place in Japan.

This group, which is known as the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta, is comprised of over fifty students from four high schools in Fukushima. These students asked a group of professional musicians to help them form an orchestra in order to find solace and hope for themselves and others in an extremely difficult time. This talented group of performers is now demonstrating their skill to the world, and it just so happens that they are performing at the Boston Symphony Hall this weekend. As a result, if you are a fan of music and/or you want to show your support for the people of Japan, you may want to check out this group of gifted young musicians on Sunday at 8:00 P.M. For more information on the Fukushima Youth Sinfonietta’s performance at Symphony Hall and/or to order tickets, please visit the Boston Symphony Hall website or the Japan Society of Boston’s website.

Photo credit: wisegie via Visualhunt / CC BY