The kids may be back in school and the warm weather may be about to disappear (at least a night) but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the fun has to end. In fact, now that the kids are back in school, there are a lot of people that are trying to take advantage of the nicer weather while they still can. As a result, this weekend has become sort of a festival weekend with everything from animals to music in the spotlight. And, if you’re looking for a way to enjoy the warm weather before the fall arrives, there’s no better way than to check out some of these festivals:
1. If you’re a dog fan, you may want to check out Pooch A Palooza. Pooch A Palooza is a dog festival that is scheduled to take place from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. tomorrow (September 6, 2014) and 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. Sunday (September 7, 2014) at the Topsfield Fairgrounds in Topsfield, MA. This festival features dog contests, dog play areas, dog tricks, food, games, kid’s activities and crafts, music, vendors, and more. For more information on the festival, which is of course dog friendly, please visit the Pooch A Palooza website.
2. If you’re more of a cat fan than a dog fan, you may want to check out the Gifford Cat Shelter’s Fall Festival. The Gifford Cat Shelter’s Fall Festival is a cat festival that runs from 1:00 P.M. to 4:00 P.M. tomorrow (September 6, 2014) at the Ellen M. Gifford Cat Shelter in Brighton, MA. This festival features an “Ask the Vet” session, cat crafts for sale, face painting, food, games, an opportunity to meet some of the shelter cats, and more. Best of all the festival is completely free to attend, and any money that you spend on cat crafts or other items at the festival will go to the cats. For more information on the Gifford Cat Shelter’s Fall Festival, please visit the Gifford Cat Shelter’s event page.
1. If you love big colorful parades like the ones you might see during Carnival, the Cambridge Carnival International may be exactly what you’re looking for. This is because the Cambridge Carnival International is a parade and street festival that is designed to give you the experience of what Carnival would be like in the Caribbean or Africa without leaving the country. The parade, which starts near the Charles River at River Street and Blackstone Street in Cambridge, MA at 12:30 P.M. on Sunday (September 7, 2014) and ends near MIT, features a number of musicians, dancers, and masqueraders covered in beads, feathers, plumes, jewels, and everything else that you would expect from Carnival. The street festival, which is located in Kendall Square near MIT, will feature arts and crafts, balloon art, DJ’s, face painting, food (including African, Caribbean, Haitian, Indian, Jamaican, and traditional American cuisines), music, and more. For more information on the Cambridge Carnival International, which includes a number of free events, please visit the Cambridge Carnival International website.
1. If you’re a big fan of local bands that have musicians that are actually from the area and not musicians that have been trucked in from somewhere else , the JP Music Festival may be the festival for you. This is because the JP Music Festival requires each of the bands in it to have at least one member that currently lives or works in the Jamaica Plain area. This means that you can expect to hear Bed of Coals, Bowleg Bradford, Cask Mouse, Morris and the East Coast, and a whole bunch of other bands you’ve probably never heard of but will still rock your socks off. For more information on the JP Music Festival, which runs from 12:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M. tomorrow at Jamaica Pond in Jamaica Plain, please visit the JP Music Festival website.
2. If you’re a big fan of local bands, but they don’t have to be that local or that sane, the New England Underground Music Festival may be more to your taste. This is because the New England Underground Music Festival, which runs from 6:00 P.M. today (September 5, 2014) to 12:30 A.M. on Sunday (September 7, 2014) at Cuisine en Locale in Somerville, MA, prides itself on finding and featuring the strangest collection of, as they put it, “weird, insane, beautiful” bands from the New England area. For more information on the New England Underground Festival, please visit the New England Underground Music Festival website.
3. If you’d rather hear someone you’ve actually heard of or at least someone who’s likely to be the next big thing, Boston Calling may be more what you’re looking for. This is because Boston Calling is a large music Festival at the City Hall Plaza in Boston, MA that runs from today (September 5, 2014) at 6:00 P.M. to Sunday (September 7, 2014) at 11:00 P.M that features some well-known bands and some up-and-coming bands that have opened for well-known acts like Fallout Boy. For more information on Boston Calling and/or to order tickets, please visit the Boston Calling Music Festival website.
4. Finally, for those of you out there who love music, but really wouldn’t consider most of the stuff at these other festivals as music, there is always the 35th Annual Banjo and Fiddle Contests at Boarding House Park in Lowell, MA tomorrow (September 6, 2014) from 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. This festival of dueling banjos and fiddles will feature a number of kids activities, informal jam sessions, and musicians competing to demonstrate their musical skill in nine categories ranging from young musicians to the Southern Appalachian Old Time style. For more information on the 35th Annual Banjo and Fiddle Contests, please visit the National Park Services’ Lowell Events page.
Carnival Parade Photo Credit: experience Madeira, Algarve, Brazil !! / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)
Flaming Guitar Photo Credit: Yuri Samoilov Photo / Foter / Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0)