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.
Tag: Parades
South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade
Saint Patrick’s Day may have been yesterday, but if you were one of the unlucky souls that got stuck working late, don’t worry. The luck of the Irish may still be with you. In fact, it just so happens that the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day parade is scheduled to take place this Sunday (March 20, 2016) at 1:00 P.M. As a result, if you’re looking for a way to celebrate the holiday a little late, heading to South Boston could definitely be a good call.
The parade, which will start at the Broadway T station on West Broadway and head east until it loops around to end on Dorchester Street right next to Dorchester Avenue and the Andrew T stop, will feature just about everything, including bagpipes, duck boats, drums, minutemen, Stormtroopers, and a whole lot more. Best of all, the event is completely free (unless your kids talk you into buying them all of that magnificent green swag.) For more information on the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day parade, please visit the South Boston Parade website.
Photo credit: Bryan Maleszyk via Visual Hunt / CC BY
Finding the Luck of the Irish
There’s really no doubt that it’s been a tough winter, and if you’re like most people, you probably would like spring to get here a little faster and put an end to all of this frozen water. In fact, if you fell on the ice skating rink that was once your driveway, you lost all four of your car’s tires in the world’s largest pothole, lost all ten of your fingers to frostbite while you were shoveling snow with a wind chill of 30 below, or your roof just caved in from the weight of the melting ice and snow, you may be in need of some luck. Fortunately, Saint Patrick’s Day is right around the corner, and all of the festivities and hopefully some of that luck that you’re looking for, can actually be found this weekend.
First, if you’ve always loved a good parade and/or you’re looking for a way to celebrate Saint Patrick’s Day with a huge crowd of people, there’s no better place to be than South Boston this weekend. This is because the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, which starts on West Broadway Street near the Broadway T stop and ends on East Broadway Street near Farragut Road, is scheduled to begin at 1:00 P.M. on Sunday (March 15, 2015.) This parade will allow you and family, friends, and/or acquaintances to listen to Irish music and marching bands, see everything from professional athletes to stormtroopers, and maybe even get some cool Saint Patrick’s Day swag. For more information on the South Boston Saint Patrick’s Day Parade, please visit the Official South Boston Parade website.
Secondly, if you’re not really a big fan of parades or you just prefer animals to humans, you may want to check out the Franklin Park Zoo or the Stone Zoo this weekend. This is because the Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo are hosting their annual Saint Patrick’s Day Animal Enrichment Celebration from 10:00 A.M. to 1:30 P.M. at the Franklin the Park Zoo and 11:00 A.M. to 3:00 P.M. at the Stone Zoo on Sunday (March 15, 2015.) This celebration will let you see a bunch of the animals playing with special green-themed toys and/or eating special green food in honor of Saint Patrick’s Day. For more information on the Saint Patrick’s Day Celebration at the Franklin Park Zoo and the Stone Zoo, please visit the Zoo New England website.
Photo credit: bongo vongo / Foter / CC BY-SA
Getting into the Holiday Spirit
Now that Thanksgiving is over, the day that every business loves and every underpaid retail employee dreads is once again upon us – Black Friday. Black Friday, of course, is both loved and loathed for the fact that it marks the beginning of the holiday season with early morning sales, crowded stores, and crazy shoppers (including some people who enjoy their craziness just a little too much.) Yet, just because the stores say that the holiday season has officially begun doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve found your Christmas/Chanukah/Kwanzaa/Winter Solstice/[Insert Holiday Here] spirit just yet. As a result, you may be looking for a better way to get yourself into the appropriate holiday spirit than buying a bunch of stuff or shoveling the year’s first snow.
If this is indeed the case, and you’re looking for a holiday activity to get yourself into the right mindset for the season, the City of Lowell may have exactly what you’re looking for. This is because Lowell, Massachusetts is hosting their annual City of Lights Parade from 4:30 to 6:30 PM tomorrow (Saturday, November 29, 2014.) This parade will feature marching bands, lighted floats, and a series of events throughout the day that all lead up to the official holiday lighting of the city. In fact, you can expect arts and crafts for the kids, children’s book readings, children’s shopping, holiday shopping tours, a “Holly Jolly Trolley” complete with music and park rangers dressed as elves, hot chocolate, jugglers, magicians, music, and a whole lot more all day long. For more information on the City of Lights Parade and all of the events occurring in Lowell this weekend, please visit the City of Lowell’s website.
If, on the other hand, you’re not a big fan of outdoor events in 30 degrees or you’re a hockey fan who’s looking for something to do while you hide from all the aforementioned crazy people lurking in the malls, you may be happy to know that you can find the spirit of the season without even leaving your home. This is because the NHL has taken a cue from the NFL’s Thanksgiving Day games and made Black Friday a great day to watch hockey. In fact, there are over 20 NHL games scheduled this weekend with 11 of those games, including the NHL’s Thanksgiving Showdown, taking place today. As a result, you should have no problem finding a way to watch your favorite team on the ice whether they’re the Bruins, Blackhawks, Blue Jackets, Blues, Canadiens, Canucks, Capitals, Devils, Ducks, Flyers, Islanders, Jets, Hurricanes, Panthers, Oilers, Penguins, Rangers, Red Wings, Sabres, Senators, Stars, or one of the other 9 teams playing this weekend. For more information on the NHL games this weekend, please take a look at the NHL’s schedule page.
Photo credit: CopperCatStudios / Foter / CC BY-SA
Friday Fun: Patriots’ Day Weekend
For those of us who live in Maine or Massachusetts, this weekend is actually a three day weekend because of Patriots’ Day. Patriots’ Day, which marks the anniversary of the first two battles of the American Revolution, is only celebrated in Massachusetts because the battles took place there and celebrated in Maine because it used to be part of Massachusetts. As a result, if you live in one of these states (or you’re a student in Wisconsin, which gives public school students the day off because who can really resist a good excuse to cancel school), you may be about to get three days off in a row. The only thing is that if you live anywhere else, you probably don’t celebrate Patriots’ Day, you’re not getting a three day weekend, you’re not passing go, and you’re thinking that this all means absolutely nothing to you. However, if you’re in the area of Maine or Massachusetts this weekend and you’re looking for something to do, here are some of the things that you should definitely check out.
First, if you can’t resist a good road race or a bunch of sweaty people running miles and miles to prove that they are in much better shape than you or I, you may want to check out the Boston Marathon. The Boston Marathon is one of the largest long-distance running events in the world with well over 20,000 runners each year competing to be the first to run approximately 26 miles through the streets of Boston. In fact, the Boston Marathon is not only one of the world’s largest marathons, but also the world’s oldest annual marathon as the first Boston Marathon took place on April 19th, 1897. The Boston Marathon has been held on Patriots’ Day each and every year since it first began, and this year, as you might expect, is no different. More information about the Boston Marathon and the best ways to watch it can be found on the Boston Marathon’s Website.
Secondly, if you’re looking for a race that’s a little shorter than the Boston Marathon or a little closer to Portland than Boston, the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler may be the way to go. The Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler is, as you might guess, a five mile road race that takes place in Portland, Maine each year. This race, which is open to all ages, is a lot shorter, a lot younger, and a lot smaller than the Boston Marathon. However, the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriot’s Day 5-Miler has been around for quite some time (84 years to be exact), and it is a whole lot easier to enter if you’re interested in actually running. More information on the race can be found here, and if you’re looking for information on how to prepare yourself for a race like the Boston Marathon or the Boys and Girls Clubs’ Patriots’ Day 5-Miler, you should definitely check out Sports Fitness Advisor’s Marathon Training Guide. Running a marathon can be a daunting task, especially if you’re not in marathon shape, but the Sports Fitness Advisor Marathon Training Guide contains a number of articles that are designed to help runners at every skill level.
If you’re more into people who are slowly marching down the street than running down the street at high speed, however, you may want to check out Lexington’s Patriots’ Day Parade. Lexington has a huge Patriots’ Day parade every year that features a fife and drums corps, marching bands, floats, dancers, color guards, veterans and a whole lot more. In fact, if you want to find out more about the parade and a number of other events in Lexington during Patriots’ Day weekend, all you need to do is check out Lexington’s Patriots’ Day Website.
If, on the other hand, you’re looking for an activity that doesn’t involve people walking or running down the street, you may want to head up (or down as the case may be) to Ogunquit, ME. Ogunquit has a huge Patriot’s Day celebration every year, and this celebration includes a wide assortment of events such as bazaars, concerts, craft shows, hay rides, kid’s crafts, kid’s games, reenactments, treasure hunts, wine tastings, and a whole lot more. For more information on Ogunquit’s Patriot’s Day Weekend celebration, which takes place all weekend long, visit Ogunquit’s Website.
Finally, if you’re just wondering why Patriot’s Day has the apostrophe before the “s” in some places and has the apostrophe after the “s” in others, the answer is that there are actually three different ways to write the name of the holiday. In fact, you can write it as “Patriots’ Day” (which is how it is typically written in Massachusetts and Wisconsin), “Patriot’s Day” (which is how it is typically written in Maine), or Patriots Day (which is how is it typically written by anyone who really just doesn’t care.) However, it doesn’t really matter which way you write it because all three ways are actually correct.
Friday Fun: Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend
This weekend is Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend, which means that it’s time to show off your Irish pride, demonstrate your love for all things green, and eat, drink, and be merry. The only problem is that this weekend is one of the few weekends every year where there is so much going on that you may not be able to figure out the best way to spend your time. Well, if you’re at a loss as to what you’re going to do this weekend, it may please you to know that there are a slew of opportunities for merriment to be had. In fact, if you’re looking for some of the best ways to have fun this Saint Patrick’s Day Weekend, you may want to consider some of these activities.
First, have you considered attending a Saint Patrick’s Day parade? Cities throughout not only the United States, but the world as a whole are holding parades in honor of Saint Patrick and the Irish this weekend. These parades often feature floats, prominent local officials and celebrities, horses, performances, vendors that will sell your children just about anything under the sun, and people dressed in green as far as the eye can see. As such, if you’re looking for something to do with your family and/or friends this weekend, a parade can be a great way to go. Not sure where to find one? Not a problem. Most of the major parades throughout the world are listed on the Saint Patrick’s Day website.
Secondly, if you’re a music fan, you may want to consider attending a local concert. Many restaurants, bars, pubs, and other venues have special concerts with Irish bands this weekend, and you can never go wrong with some good food, some good drinks, and some good music. If you’re having trouble finding a good concert in your area, try checking your local newspaper, your search engine of choice, or the websites of the restaurants and concert venues in your area.
Third, if you’re more into the eating and drinking than the merriment that follows, you may want to consider attending a Saint Patrick’s Day dinner or party. Many communities have special dinners and festivals with food, drinks, and, in some cases, games for the kids. For more information on these events, try your local newspaper or the websites of local towns and cities.
Finally, if you’re just looking for something to keep your kids occupied this weekend, you may want to keep an eye out for some of the family-friendly and/or kid-oriented events that are taking place this weekend in your local area. A lot of places have special events specifically for children this weekend, including arts and crafts, puppet shows, scavenger/treasure hunts, races, and a whole lot more.
Friday Fun: Keeping Your Weekend “Green”
Chances are, you’ve probably heard the famous old song “Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!” However, if you actually live in one of the areas in which there’s been nothing but snow for the past month, you’re probably thinking “Let is stop! Let it stop! Let it stop!” In fact, you may have already come to the realization that the only people who could possibly ask for more snow are school-age children and people living in warmer climates than you (which, by the way, includes the people that originally wrote the song.) As such, you may be looking for something a little more green this weekend and a whole lot less white. Fortunately, if you are looking for something to take your mind off of the shoveling, the snow blowing, and the slippery snow-covered roads, you’ll be happy to hear that there are a number of “green” events this weekend.
First, if you missed last week’s post about the events in Salem, you may want to know about a certain green villain that is returning to the big screen. I am, of course, talking about the Wicked Witch of the West as Disney’s Oz the Great and Powerful opens in theaters today. This film, which stars James Franco, Mila Kunis, Michelle Williams, and Rachel Weisz, is actually a prequel to the original 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. However, this film, unlike a lot of the other books and musicals that have appeared over the years, focuses on the wizard rather than Dorothy or the witches. For more information on Oz the Great and Powerful, check out the movie’s official website.
Secondly, if you just can’t wait until next weekend for all of the Saint Patrick’s Day festivities, you may be pleased to know that some cities start their green celebrations a little early. In fact, you may be able to find concerts, parades, races, and other activities this weekend in:
Chicago, IL
West Dennis, MA
Detroit, MI
Hamilton, NJ
Morristown, NJ
Rock Point, NY
Boardman, OH
Jim Thorpe, PA
Providence, RI
Manassas, VA
Milwaukee, WI
And a number of other locations throughout the United States.
Don’t see a parade in your area? Don’t worry, you can always check out the Saint Patrick’s Day Website for more information on Saint Patrick’s Day celebrations throughout the world.