A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville, from a Peter Valentine memorial to trash circus Cambridge Day
Tag: Somerville
A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville from Moth storytelling to monarch butterflies – Cambridge Day
A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville, from bubbles to ‘Come to Pass,’ a hip-hop play – Cambridge Day
Today
Kevin Oneil and the Circus of the Damned Open Showcase from 1 to 3 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. A musical open-mic with 11 local performers. Information is here.
Yagmur Soydemir performs at a free show Sunday. (Photo: Fikret Ozkaplan)
Yagmur Soydemir and friends perform from 3 to 4 p.m. at Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free. Soydemir (flute), Sueda Catakoglu (piano) and Upasak Mukherjee (percussion) play Turkish, Indian, pop, jazz and Latin music in a series cosponsored by Friends of Longfellow House, the New England Poetry Club and Berklee College of Music. Information is here.
Monday
Pop-up Science from 3 to 6 p.m. at the Central Square Farmers Market at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The MIT Museum takes science to the streets in the form of hands-on activities that offer discoveries about life and nature, light and engineering. Information is here.
A Jasper Muse image being used to publicize his “Saturated/Desiccated” show.
“Saturated/Desiccated” art exhibit from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., in the Winter Hill neighborhood. Free. Jasper Muse’s work is imagined as retrieved from forgotten archives in a shuttered bureaucracy from the near past, hastily and carelessly tossed into a back room in the face of new austerities to become exposed to the elements and mutate into new things. Information is here.
Anthony Marra reads from “Mercury Pictures Presents” at 7:30 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Admission is $5, which can be put toward purchase of the book. Marra’s latest takes place in Hollywood on the eve of World War II, as a movie studio becomes a nexus of European émigrés: modernist poets trying their luck as B-movie screenwriters, once-celebrated architects becoming scale-model miniaturists and refugee actors finding work playing the villains they fled. He will be in conversation with Christopher Castellani, author and artistic director of the GrubStreet writers’ organization. Information is here.
Tuesday
Meet a mini (horse) from 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. at the Cambridge library’s O’Connell Branch, 48 6th St., East Cambridge; and 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. at the Cambridge library’s Boudreau Branch, 245 Concord Ave., Observatory Hill in Neighborhood 9. Free. Lifting Spirits Miniature Therapy Horses staff explains what therapy horses do, tells a story and lets attendees do what they came for: interact with a mini-horse. Closed-toed shoes are recommended. Registration is required for the 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. events.
Cook it Up with chef Joe Gatto from 6 to 7 p.m. in the kitchen space of the Urban Park Roof Garden atop the Kendall Center Green Garage at 90 Broadway, Kendall Square. Free, but registration is suggested because there’s limited space. Cooking demonstrations from Gatto, who’s host of “Joe Gatto’s From Scratch” on Pluto TV and Roku and private chef to clients that include Celtic and Red Sox players. Information is here.
Grace Givertz. (Photo: Imani Givertz)
Danehy Park Concert Series from 6 to 8 p.m. at Danehy Park, 99 Sherman St., in Neighborhood 9 just east of Fresh Pond. Free. The performer is Grace Givertz, a singer-songwriter who performs using guitar, banjo, mandolin and harmonica. Information is here.
First and Last Word Poetry from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $4. This series founded in 2010 happens the third Tuesday of every month with hosts Harris Gardner and Gloria Mindock. Readers have yet to be announced; there’s always an open mic at the end. Information is here.
Wednesday
Nikos Chatzitsakos performs from 6 to 8 p.m. in The Charles Hotel courtyard, 1 Bennett St., Harvard Square. Free. Greek bassist, arranger and composer Chatzitsakos – a Berklee College of Music grad – plays as part of the Regattabar and Henrietta’s Table Courtyard Concert Series. Information is here.
Songwriters in the Round from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Admission is $10. Inspired by the “guitar pulls” of the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee, these regular events (every first and third Wednesday) have host David Thorne Scott and musician friends seated in a semi-circle and taking turns playing songs, occasionally joining in with each other and chatting as if in their own living rooms. This time it’s Thea Hopkins, who weaves traditional and contemporary Indigenous music into “red roots Americana”; and Paul Hansen, whose thoughtful, clever rock songs power the bands Honest Mechanik and Grownup Noise. Information is here.
Youth Underground end-of-summer performance from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The youth ensemble at Central Square Theater performs an original production investigating social issues relevant to young people and our world. Information is here.
Family Movie Night on the Lawn plays Pixar’s “Soul” from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., in the Winter Hill neighborhood. Free. Pixar’s charming 2020 animated redemption story about an underachieving jazz pianist (Jamie Foxx) who dies but gets a chance to provide a spark to a living “soul” – but also wants back for one final chance to make his life worth something more. Reviewer Tom Meek called it “smart and emotionally deep.” Information is here.
“Come to Pass” theater performance from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). General admission is $30. A hip-hop musical looking at how the country’s founders failed women of color – and continue to – starring Brandie Blaze and Tashawn Taylor with appearances from Dutch ReBelle, Amanda Shea, Moe Pope, Axestrumentals, Trap Beat Tranny and B Dolan. A half-hour Q&A with the cast and crew is offered after the show to explain its creation and where it’s going next. Masks are required. Information is here.
Davis Square Dance Bomb from 8:30 to 10 p.m. in Davis Square, Somerville. Free. Fusion dance group Balter Dance performs first, then leads dancing in the streets. Information is here.
Thursday
Workshop on creating augmented reality greeting cards from 10 a.m. to noon at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but registration is required. Adult and teen participants will learn how to create augmented reality content using Hoverlay technology, then add a short video or image to a two-dimensional greeting card. (Traditional card-making materials and Steam kits will be available for children who may accompany an adult.) Information is here.
Kamishibai storytelling with Yumi Izuyama from 11 a.m. to noon at the Somerville Public Library, 79 Highland Ave., in the Winter Hill neighborhood. Free. Stories are told with illustrations in a technique most popular during the 1930s and the postwar period in Japan. Information is here.
Laneylebo and Abby Davis perform from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Palmer and Brattle streets, Harvard Square. Free. Berklee’s weekly Summer in the City concert series presents Chicago songwriter Laney Lebovitz and friend and fellow artist Abby Davis. Information is here.
The Q-Tip Bandits are set to perform Thursday in North Point. (Photo: The Q-Tip Bandits via Facebook)
The Q-Tip Bandits and Oompa play from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. on The Common at CX, 320 Morgan Ave., North Point. Free. The CX Summer Nights series brings nationally acclaimed Boston rapper and poet Oompa and the Q-Tip Bandits, a Boston five-piece band performing indie-pop that “is fresh, effervescent and [has] the ability to get people dancing out of their shoes,” according to MusicBoxPete. There will also be local brews, food trucks, lawn games and opportunities to support the nonprofit community at this monthly family and pet-friendly series. Information is here.
CCTV Summer Media Institute: End Of Summer Film Screening from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. Young filmmakers spent the summer learning how to make video – and this is their final showcase for the community. Information is here.
“Come to Pass” theater performance (continued) from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). General admission is $30. Masks are required. Information is here.
SomerMovieFest presents “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” at 8 p.m. at Seven Hills Park, Davis Square, Somerville. Free. A screening of the 2015 movie that “atones for the missteps creator George Lucas made with his prequel trilogy,” reviewer Tom Meek wrote. “Gone are the mass millions of digitized droid warriors and CGI-rendered spectacles such as Jar Jar Binks … the old-school magic and wonderment is back.” Information is here.
Friday
Sol Y Canto is set to perform Friday at Starlight Square. (Photo: Sol Y Canto)
Sol Y Canto performs from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The renowned folk band plays as a quartet for the first time since before the pandemic, joined by musical partners Keala Kaumeheiwa on upright bass and Paul Lieberman on sax, flute and percussion. (This is the band that birthed Cambridge singer-songwriter Alisa Amador, winner of the year’s NPR Tiny Desk Contest.) Information is here.
“Come to Pass” theater performance (continued) from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). General admission is $30. Masks are required. Information is here.
“Eurydice” by Sarah Ruhl from 8 to 10 p.m. at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday before resuming Aug. 25-27). General admission is $20. The classic Greek myth, directed by Margaret French, about Eurydice’s decision to return to life with her new husband, Orpheus, or stay in the underworld with the father she has missed for so long. Information is here.
SubDrift Boston August Open Mic featuring poet Topaz Winters from 8 to 11 p.m. at The Democracy Center, 45 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square. A $5 to $10 sliding-scale donation is requested. Singaporean-American Winter’s, founder and editor-in-chief of the independent publishing house and literary journal Half Mystic, is featured within an open-mic night by Subcontinental Drift Boston, a group that builds creative community among South Asians. Information is here.
Saturday
Outdoor fun with bubbles from 2 to 3 p.m. at the Cambridge library’s O’Neill Branch, 70 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge. Free. Blow bubbles of all sizes, make your own bubble wands and play bubble games. Information is here.
Evolution of Hip-Hop Festival, at 4:30 p.m. Free. Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Square, Somerville. Rappers, singers, spoken-word poets, dancers and visual artists from Somerville and beyond showcase hip-hop music, dance and culture, with live art, interactive activities, craft vendors and local community groups on hand. Information is here.
Comedy Night by Kush Groove and “Old Dirty Boston” from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. Comedians including Big D, Jason Cordova and Chef Phil perform in a lineup put together by the Cambridge cannabis line and the “Old Dirty Boston” podcast, which remembers the streets, scenes and stories of Old Boston. Information is here.
Tashawn Taylor is one of the stars of “Come to Pass.” (Photo: Come to Pass)
“Come to Pass” theater performance (continued) from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). General admission is $30. Masks are required. Information is here.
“Eurydice” by Sarah Ruhl (continued) from 8 to 10 p.m. at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday before resuming Aug. 25-27). General admission is $20. Information is here.
Sunday
Airplane instruments for sale at a MIT Swapfest in 2007. (Photo: Andy Ihnatko via Flickr)
The MIT Swapfest returns from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Albany Street Garage, Albany Street between Massachusetts Avenue and Main Street, near Central Square. Admission is $6. The legendary monthly high-tech, computer, electronics and ham radio flea market where you can “buy, sell or swap all things nerdly” is back “from the before times.” These take place on the third Sunday of each month. Information is here.
Poetry reading from 3 to 4 p.m. at Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free. Open-air performances at a historic location from poets Chen Chen, whose “Your Emergency Contact Has Experienced an Emergency” is due next month, and Natalie Shapero, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker, The New York Review of Books and The Paris Review. Information is here.
Floor Lords Breakdancing Anniversary Show from 3 to 9 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $20. There’s a $3,000 cash prize for the best performers in this 41st year of three-vs.-three competition of groups from near and far. Information is here.
“Eurydice” by Sarah Ruhl (continued) from 4 to 6 p.m. at Unity Somerville, 6 William St., just off College Avenue near Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday before resuming Aug. 25-27). General admission is $20. Information is here.
Clem Snide performs at 7 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $20. Eef Barzelay’s alt-country band, a three-piece founded in Boston though now based in Nashville, Tennessee, is back for redemption with songs from the album “Forever Just Beyond.” Barzelay said the 10 years leading to it have been rough: “The band bottomed out, I lost my house and I had to declare bankruptcy. The only way to survive was to try to transcend myself, to find some kind of deeper, spiritual relationship with life. Once I committed to that, all these little miracles started happening.” Proof of vaccination is required. Information is here.
“Come to Pass” theater performance (continued) from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. General admission is $30. Masks are required. Information is here.
A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville, from a bike tour of art to Nice, a Fest, and jazz – Cambridge Day
Monday
Patio Project: Light & Shadow from 5 to 6 p.m. at the Cambridge Library Valente Branch, 826 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington. Free. The plan is to harness the power of the sun to create art, making sun prints and shadow boxes. Information is here.
Ellie’s One-Woman Wine-Tasting performance from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Bonde, 54 Church St., Harvard Square. Admission is $100. As Ellie Brelis performs her “Driver’s Seat,” sommelier Bertil Jean-Chronberg serves four wines to accompany the action – a fundraiser to get Brelis’ show to Los Angeles in the fall and to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival next year. For her true story of a mid-pandemic mental health crisis and coming out, directed by Kymberly Harris, the blurb is: “Didn’t think mental illness was funny? Think again.” Information is here.
Tuesday
Naomi Westwater. (Photo: Olivia Moon)
Danehy Park Concert Series from 6 to 8 p.m. at Danehy Park, 99 Sherman St., in Neighborhood 9 just east of Fresh Pond. Free. The performer is Naomi Westwater, whose work “weaves in and out of folk music, flirting with rock and jazz.” Information is here.
Free Bike Tour of Public Art from 6:30 to 8 p.m., starting and ending at the Martin Luther King Jr. Plaza at 237 Franklin St., just outside the Central Square branch library. Free, but registration is requested. A roughly 3.5-mile ride with stops to see and talk about art and meet some creators, including poet Benjamin Tolkin and artists William Reimann and David Fichter. Refreshments will be served at the end. Information is here.
The Moth Story Slam from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $15. This open-mic storytelling competition on the fourth Tuesday of each month is open to anyone who can share a five-minute story on the night’s theme – this time, “time” itself. (“It passes like molasses or flies like a jet. Mark an era, tell us about a phase. Stuck in the ’80s, chronically late, ahead of the trend or pressing the snooze alarm on your biological clock. Tell of time bombs and time zones, perfect timing or The Time Warp.”) Masks are required for entry and must be worn when not seated. Information is here.
Now Listen Here! A Night of Live True Stories from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. A mix of curated stories from award-winning tellers and community members with some open-mic opportunities, with names pulled throughout the event. (Organizers’ advice: Stories should be told within five or so minutes without notes; have a beginning, middle and solid ending; and some serious stakes.) Information is here.
Wednesday
Poets Christie Towers and Aly Pierce read at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. Here selections from debut collections: “And Again I Heard the Stars” by Towers, of Somerville, who’s also got an ear cocked to the medieval prophet Hildegard; and “The Visible Planets” by Pierce, of Beverly, an “exploration of universal joy and the mourning of a lost sister.” Information is here.
Screen on the Green showing of “Raya and The Last Dragon” from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. at Greene-Rose Heritage Park, 155 Harvard St., The Port. Free. This city-sponsored event travels from park to park over the summer showing popular films – in this case, a Disney tale from 2021 with voice acting by Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina. Reviewer Allyson Johnson gave it three out of four stars, saying “It’s a feast for the eyes and, especially in its third act, a true fantasy that sweeps us up alongside its heroine, creating an emotive and immersive story.” Information is here.
Hubbub Comedy from 7:30 to 9 p.m. at Lamplighter CX, 110 North First St., North Point. Tickets are $12.60 (with a $2.40 fee) online or $20 at the door for this 21-plus show. Comics Zenobia Del Mar, Isabel Johnson and Kevin Turner (with DJ Chill Nye) perform, with some time given to riffing onstage from questions asked by customers at the door. Information is here.
Thursday
A Harvard Art Museums at Night event. (Photo: Harvard Art Museums)
Harvard Art Museums at Night from 5 to 9 p.m. at the Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square. Free. Celebrate the launch of the book “Madame de Pompadour: Painted Pink” at an evening with pink-themed activities (including giveaways to those wearing their best pink outfit) and pink-inspired food and drink available for purchase. DJ C-Zone supplies the soundtrack for wandering the galleries, mingling in the Calderwood Courtyard, chatting over a snack or drink and browsing the shop. Information is here.
Lauren Aguirre reads from “The Memory Thief and the Secrets Behind How We Remember” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. Researchers believe that a treatment for Alzheimer’s is within reach, and science journalist Aguirre – in conversation with author Pagan Kennedy – explains the connection with a rare and devastating amnesia doctors first identified in a cluster of fentanyl overdose survivors. Information is here.
Nice, a Fest, from 8 to 11 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square (and continuing through Sunday). Tickets start at $20. This music festival is now four days and indoors, with 49 bands, a local vendor market and midnight screenings of “Wayne’s World.” Information is here.
SomerMovieFest presents “Encanto” at 8:40 p.m. at Lincoln Park at the Albert F. Argenziano School, 290 Washington St., Ward Two, Somerville. Free. A simultaneous screening in North Point is sold out, but fortunately that’s not the only place for an open-air screening of last year’s Disney film about a Colombian teen frustrated by being the only member of her family without magical powers. It may be best known as the source of the song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno.” Information is here.
Friday
Maneka performs Friday at Nice, a Fest. (Photo: Maneka via Facebook)
Nice, a Fest continues, from 5:45 p.m. to midnight at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square and The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). Tickets start at $24. On day two of four, this music festival continues to roll out its 49 bands at two venues, host a local vendor market and hold midnight screenings of “Wayne’s World.” Information is here.
One Voice: A Summer Celebration with the Harvard Summer Chorus and Cambridge Common Voices from 8 to 9:30 p.m. at the Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square. Free. The choirs perform repertoire from across the centuries under conductor Andrew Clark. Information is here.
Lady Gaga Little Monsters Ball from 8 p.m. to midnight at Lamplighter CX, 110 North First St., North Point. Tickets are $10 for this 21-plus party. Come to listen and dance to Lady Gaga while dressed like her (and maybe win a prize for it) and commemorate the moment in the event’s photo booth. Information is here.
Kelly Buchanan and The Dimestore Dolls open for Lonely Leesa and the Lost Cowboys at 7 p.m. at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. Lonely Leesa and The Lost Cowboys mix Fleetwood Mac, Lucinda Williams and Big Star with a touch of old Rolling Stones, but it’s the return of Bostonian riot grrrl Buchanan that’s the draw here. In 2005 she released “Bastard Daughter” and got critical praise, an opening slot touring with Mike Doughty and was heard on MTV, A&E and The CW – but in 2008, on the cusp of releasing her next album, suffered a traumatic brain injury playing street hockey in New York. She’s had to relearn how to walk, speak, sing and play instruments, but with the Pennsylvania-based Dimestore Dolls she’s finally making an exuberant return to music. Information is here.
Saturday
Zahili Zamora performs Saturday at the Seventh Annual Cambridge Jazz Festival. (Photo: Zahili Zamora via Facebook)
Seventh Annual Cambridge Jazz Festival from noon to 6 p.m. at Danehy Park, 99 Sherman St., in Neighborhood 9 just east of Fresh Pond (and continuing Sunday). Free, though there are guaranteed seats for $20 (and a $2.85 fee). Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend the festival and see headliner Eguie Castrillo and his orchestra, as well as Anna Borges and Bill Ward; Zahili Gonzalez Zamora; and David Rivera y la Bambula. The weekend includes a jazz museum, music therapy, an interactive pop-up exhibit around the science of sound from the MIT Museum, the presentation of a college scholarship and the Cambridge Jazz Foundation’s Cammy Awards. There will be food trucks, a kids’ area with face painting and a market where jazz fans can shop the works of local artists, crafters and other vendors. Information is here.
Nice, a Fest continues, from 1 p.m. to midnight at the Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square and The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing through Sunday). Tickets start at $28. On day three of four this music festival gets serious, rolling out 28 of its 49 bands, hosting a local vendor market and holding a final midnight screening of “Wayne’s World.” Information is here.
Festival of Us, You, We & Them artist and student dance concert from 7 to 8:15 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. A five-act showcase with Laura Sánchez Flamenco, SambaViva, Johara Boston and Snake Dance Theater, and Les Enfants du Soleil African Dance Theater serves as the centerpiece for a festival celebrating art and movement with free performances, classes and conversation. Information is here.
Sunday
An exhibit on Anneliese Hager and her camera-less photography ends this month at the Harvard Art Museums. (Photo: Harvard Art Museums)
Exhibition tour of “White Shadows: Anneliese Hager and the Camera-less Photograph” from noon to 1 p.m. at the Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square. Free, but space must be reserved starting at 10 a.m. Curators give an in-depth tour of an exhibition devoted to Hager, a master of photography without a camera and noted European surrealist – on the exhibition’s final day. Information is here.
Seventh Annual Cambridge Jazz Festival continues from noon to 6 p.m. at Danehy Park, 99 Sherman St., in Neighborhood 9 just east of Fresh Pond (and continuing Sunday). Free, though there are guaranteed seats for $20 (and a $2.85 fee). Up to 10,000 people are expected to attend the festival and see headliner Chelsey Green and The Green Project, as well as the Ron Savage Trio with Bill Pierce and Bobby Broom; Gabrielle Goodman celebrating Aretha Franklin; El Eco with Guillermo Nojechowicz; and Zeke Martin and Oracle. The weekend includes a jazz museum, music therapy, an interactive pop-up exhibit around the science of sound from the MIT Museum, the presentation of a college scholarship and the Cambridge Jazz Foundation’s Cammy Awards. There will be food trucks, a kids’ area with face painting and a market where jazz fans can shop the works of local artists, crafters and other vendors. Information is here.
Donut Villa Diner day party from 2 to 8 p.m. at 20 Prospect St., Central Square. Tickets are $10, but entry is free before 3 p.m. The diner – which specializes in doughnuts and food served on them – hosts a weekly party with music from DJ Huski, Dj FranQ and guest DJs. Information is here.
Nice, a Fest continues, from 7 to 10 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets start at $15. This “afterparty” has the final four of 49 bands: Black Beach, Anna Fox Rochinski, Doll Spirit Vessel and Gut Health. Information is here.
A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville, from Frederick Douglass to ‘Men of Steel’ dance – Cambridge Day
Today
Harvard Art Museums are free from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square. A reminder that all galleries and collections are free to visit Sundays. Current shows include “Clay – Modeling African Design”; “White Shadows: Anneliese Hager and the Camera-less Photograph”; “Prints from the Brandywine Workshop and Archives: Creative Communities”; “Crossroads: Drawing the Dutch Landscape”; “Earthly Delights: 6,000 Years of Asian Ceramics”; and – brace yourself – “Curatorial A(i)gents | Living by Protocol: metaLAB in the Lightbox.” Information is here.
The band Scottish Fish is on the schedule for the Summer Boston Celtic Music Festival at Club Passim. (Photo: Scottish Fish via Facebook)
Summer Boston Celtic Music Festival starting at 2 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. Outdoor shows are free; indoor shows are $25; the livestream is $5. This summer offshoot of a larger January event begins with Glenville, brings on Scottish Fish an hour later and moves inside in the evening to bring on Copley Street, with Uilleann piper Joey Abarta and fiddler Nathan Gourley; Louise Bichan & Ethan Setiawan; and Jenna Moynihan, who has performed with The Milk Carton Kids, Laura Cortese & The Dance Cards, Darol Anger & The Furies, and as a soloist at Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops. Information is here.
Anabel Gil Trio at 3 p.m. at Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free. Cuban multi-instrumentalist and composer Anabel Gil Díaz performs classical and jazz repertoire throughout the United States and Europe, has studied with artists such as James Galway, Paquito de Rivera, Dave Santoro and Marquis Hill and recently recorded with Terri Lyne Carrington for a jazz standards album scheduled to be released in September 2022. Information is here.
Tuesday
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Frederick Douglass, circa 1879. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Frederick Douglass Community Reading from 6 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The holiday tradition of reading Frederick Douglass’ speech “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July” is hosted by the Central Square Business Improvement District. Information is here.
Smut Slam from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. There’s $10 suggested donation at the door for this 18-plus show. Real-life, first-person sex stories from eight to 10 tellers drawn at random, competing for the best five-minute tale of debauchery before a panel of local celebrities. They can’t use notes, props or hate speech – although pretty much anything else goes. “Stories are often funny and/or epic wins, but we want to encourage people to consider sharing their sad, disturbing, poignant, serious, simple and/or ’fail’ experiences too,” organizers say. Lucas Brooks hosts. Information is here.
Wednesday
Family Game Night from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Library O’Neill Branch, 70 Rindge Ave., North Cambridge. Free. Play your family or meet new friends over boardgames and puzzles supplied by the library at this all-ages event. Information is here.
Patrick Radden Keefe reads from “Rogues: True Stories of Grifters, Killers, Rebels and Crooks” at 6 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $30 including a copy of the book, or $6 without. Bringing together a dozen of Keefe’s most celebrated articles from The New Yorker, “Rogues” explores such areas as the forging $150,000 vintage wines and the quest to bring down a cheerful international black market arms merchant. Rachel Maddow calls the author “a national treasure.” Well-fitting masks are required. Information is here.
Screen on the Green showing of “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” from 7:15 to 9:30 p.m. at Hoyt Field (Gilmore and Montague streets off Western Avenue), Riverside. Free. This city-sponsored event travels from park to park over the summer. Reviewer Tom Meek gave this first film in the series a thumbs-up in 2018: “If you’re a Spider-Man fan, there’s lots packed in here for you as insider nuggets, while it all also shoots off in a new direction. It’s packaged to cut smartly across cultural and generational lines, with animation that’s similarly something new and something old.” Information is here.
Thursday
Drop-in art project crafting sessions from 4 to 6 p.m. at the powder magazine of Magazine Beach, at the river end of Magazine Street in the Cambridgeport neighborhood. Free, but an RSVP is requested. Fiber artist Michelle Lougee and arts organizer Cecily Miller – Cambridgeport residents – invite help creating a Magazine Beach Tapestry warning of the environmental dangers of single-use plastic that will go in the newly opened Mass Audubon Nature Center in the beach’s powder magazine building. Volunteers of all ages are invited to participate, looping small plastic trash items such as bottle tops, packaging and discarded toys (all cleaned and safe to handle) to a mesh background. The work will be outside under a shady tree if the weather is good, inside the powder magazine if it is too hot or rainy. Information is here.
Old Powder House tours from 6 to 8 p.m. at Nathan Tufts/Powderhouse Park, College Avenue and Broadway, Somerville. You may have passed by the powder house hundreds of times over the years, but the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission offers a chance to get inside and hear a historic narrative of the site. Information is here.
Boston University Poetry MFA Cohort reading from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square. Admission is $5, but the store will accept donations of more. This Black Box Reading Series event may well hold the greatness among its writers – you’ll have to attend to find out. Information is here.
Friday
SocaFusion. (Via YouTube)
Friday Fete from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Centanni Park, Third and Otis streets, East Cambridge, outside the Multicultural Arts Center. The Cambridge Youth Steel Orchestra and Tempo International perform Caribbean-Afro rhythms with messages of peace and unity. The musicians are joined by SocaFusion dancers, who’ll teach some moves before things really get going. This is a Multicultural Arts Center event with sponsors that include BioMed Realty and East Cambridge Saving Bank. Information is here.
SubDrift Mela: Celebrating South Asian Creative Community from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. Music, poetry, storytelling, dance and more celebrates the talent and creativity of the local South Asian diaspora. Information is here.
Poets Darcie Dennigan, Mikko Harvey and Shelley Wong read from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square. Admission is $5, but the store will accept donations of more. Information is here.
Men of Steel dance revue at 8 p.m. at The Cantab Underground, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Tickets are $15. If you miss Cambridge’s old Paradise club or are wearing out your copy of “Magic Mike” on DVD, this traveling show of choreographed male dancers may be for you. Information is here.
Saturday
Family Fun Saturdays from 10 a.m. to noon at Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free. This kid- and family-focused event (which takes place every week) starts with story time with a ranger, includes a tour of the historic house and always has some kind of interactive activity toward the end. Information is here.
CVV.vino. (Via Instagram)
Chandler Ward and CVV.vino perform from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. Cambridge Rindge and Latin School graduates take the stage for a hip-hop and production showcase. Information is here.
Sunday
Valente Summer Sundays launch party from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Cambridge Library Valente Branch, 826 Cambridge St., Wellington-Harrington. Free. A performance by folk artist Grace Givertz for good listeners, bubbles and chalk art for the distracted and refreshments for all are at this start to a summer-fun series. Information is here.
Poet and translator Martha Collins. (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
Poetry reading from 3 to 4 p.m. at Longfellow House and the Washington’s Headquarters National Historic Site, 105 Brattle St., West Cambridge. Free. Local poets Martha Collins (“Because What Else Could I Do”) and Russo-American Philip Nikolayev (the translator behind “The Star of Dazzling Ecstasy: 79 Poems by Alexander Pushkin”) perform in the open air at this historic site. Information is here.
Conner Habib reads from “Hawk Mountain” in conversation with Paul Tremblay at 6 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. The host of the podcast “Against Everyone with Conner Habib” – which features conversations with artists, intellectuals and countercultural figures and covers topics as wide-ranging as punk rock, philosophy, pornography and occultism – has plenty of nonfiction writing out there; this is a first novel, and follows an English teacher’s reluctant reintroduction to his high school bully. Interviewer Paul Tremblay is the author of horror such as “Disappearance at Devil’s Rock” and crime novel “The Little Sleep.” Information is here.
A week of events in Cambridge, Somerville, including Katie Kitamura and Asian Festival – Cambridge Day
Ongoing
“Tip of the Tongue” art exhibition in its final week at Gallery 263, 263 Pearl St., Cambridgeport. Gallery hours are 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, and 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday. Free. Selected artists use “language as form and function” in a group show juried by Argentinean-born (but Milwaukee resident) multimedia artist Santiago Cucullu. Information is here.
“L O V E and sometimes Y” art exhibition by Ben Loiz at the Katherine Small Gallery, 108 Beacon St., Somerville. Gallery hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays. Free. This is a design shop specializing in typography, not an art gallery – which is why these works constitute only the second exhibit at it. When the gallery asked Los Angeleno Loiz, who’s worked with everyone from Nike to Neiman Marcus, for a some hand-painted alphabets, he instead sent art incorporating them. The works are up through June 11 with a show of Jessica Hische’s drop caps. Information is here.
Tuesday
First and Last Word Poetry from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $4. Readers are Mary Buchinger, Linda Haviland Conte and Hilary Sallick at this series held the third Tuesday of every month with hosts Harris Gardner and Gloria Mindock. There’s an open mic at the end. Information is here.
Wednesday
Author Katie Kitamura from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. The author of “Intimacies,” a novel listed as one of The New York Times’ 10 Best Books of 2021, speaks with Rivka Galchen, an author and staff writer at The New Yorker. Information is here.
Thursday
Third Thursdays jazz series at 8 p.m. at Harvard-Epworth United Methodist Church, 1555 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. Admission is $10. This harmolodic jazz series begun in April by Dave Bryant, a keyboardist and composer who worked with Ornette Coleman, brings in Jerome Deupree (the original drummer in Morphine), Russ Gershon, J. Johnson, Rick McLaughlin, Bryan Murphy and Yahuba. Information is here.
Friday
A Night in Bloom Gala at 6 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. General admission is $35. This fundraiser (which teases a reveal of plans for the center) is headlined by composer and violinist Daniel Bernard Roumain and includes appearances by Esh Circus Arts and Books of Hope. Flamenco artist Laura Sanchez performs for attendees paying VIP rates. Food is provided by Nada Cart and beverages by Aeronaut. Information is here.
“inTENtion” dance at 7:30 p.m. at the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. General admission is $28. Urbanity Dance brings the premieres of works by choreographers Meg Anderson, Key’Aira Lockett, Levi Marsman, Asia Pyron, Nailah Randall-Bellinger and Chun Jou Tsai. Anderson said her work features six dancers performing in two locations – some in a different room from which they’re projected by video feed onto the stage to explore “what changes between the performers when they can see each other and when they can’t.” Information is here.
Saturday
Cambridge-Somerville Asian Festival from 1 to 3 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. This family-friendly, outdoor celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month features food, performances, speakers, vendors and activity tables with arts and crafts. Information is here.
“inTENtion” dance at 7:30 p.m. at Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. General admission is $28. Information is here.
