Things to do
BosTen is your weekly guide to the best events and coolest things to do in Boston.
Kenny Chesney has headlined concerts at Gillette Stadium more times than any other singer. Matthew J. Lee/Globe staff writer
Welcome to BosTen, your weekly guide to the coolest events and best Things to do in Boston this weekend. Sign up for our Weekly email newsletter here. Do you have any idea what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook Groupor send us an email to (email protected).
Make a retro find at the Vintage Night Market
Since opening in 2018, Somerville’s Bow Market has offered one of the area’s most versatile community spaces. An old carport has been transformed into an open-air market populated by some of the area’s up-and-coming creatives, restaurateurs, and entrepreneurs. This Thursday, Union Square will host a Vintage Night Market from 4-10 p.m., with more than 30 vendors showcasing their finest retro wares for you to browse. Shop for vintage clothing, mid-century home decor, dusty antiques, and more. (Thursday, August 22, 4-10pm; 1 Bow Market Way, Somerville; free) – Kevin Slane
Enjoy free entry to 4 museums
In years past, the Highland Street Foundation hosted Free Fun Fridays, a summer program that offered free admission to dozens of the state’s museums every Friday. This year, the nonprofit is taking a different approach, offering free admission to a new museum or cultural institution every day in August as part of what it calls August Adventures. Participating sites this weekend are Buttonwood Park Zoo in New Bedford (Thursday), Wenham Museum (Friday), Paul Revere Heritage Site in Canton (Saturday) and Cape Ann Museum in Gloucester (Sunday). A full calendar for the month of August can be found on the Highland Street Foundation website. (Daily until August 31st at various times and locations) – Kevin Slane
Watch a free movie (or two) outdoors
It’s the last weekend before Labor Day, and throughout the Boston area, many returning summer programs are coming to an end. That includes many of the green spaces that have been showing free outdoor movies for the past three months. On Thursday, you can see the last free movie of the season, “The Haunted Mansion,” at 8 p.m. in Revere Beach, or head to Iacono Playground in Hyde Park to see “Kung Fu Panda 4.” On Saturday, the Prudential Center will end its season by showing the live-action remake of “The Little Mermaid” on its lawn at dusk. (Various times and places) – Kevin Slane
Get spiritual with Santigold at Big Night Live
Santigold’s full releases are few and far between, with just four between 2008 and 2022. Nor has she performed live frequently, with her last extensive North American tour coming in 2016. (She canceled the tour in favor of 2022’s “Spirituals,” explaining, “I will not continue to sacrifice myself for an industry that has become unsustainable for the artists it is built upon and no longer has any interest in the well-being of artists.”) This year, she will play 11 shows in North America over the six months from May to October — including Thursday night’s Big Night Live set. If the past is prologue, this could be her last tour for a while. (Thursday, August 22, 8 p.m.; 110 Causeway St., Boston; $57.75) — Blake Maddux
Celebrate in the North End at St. Anthony’s Feast
August is the season of street festivals in the North End, and this weekend marks the return of the Feast of Saint Anthony, featuring four days of street food, live entertainment and the procession of the statue of Saint Anthony. Started in 1919 by Italian immigrants from the town of Montefalcione in Avellino, Italy, the festival pays homage to their patron saint, Sant’Antonio Di Padova Montefalcione. Starting Thursday, the streets of the North End will be closed to car traffic to make way for parades, church services, artisans, live entertainment and over 100 food vendors selling arancini, sausages with peppers and onions, quahogs, calamari, pizza, pasta, zeppole, cannoli and gelato. The festival culminates on Sunday with a 10-hour procession of the statue of Saint Anthony through the streets, beginning at noon and including a parade of Italian street bands, brass bands and floats. For more information about this year’s festival, check out the schedule here. (Thursday, August 22 through Sunday, August 25, various times and locations in the North End; free) – Natalie Gale
Feel the rhythm of the neighborhood at JP Porchfest
More than three months after Somerville kicked off Porchfest season, Jamaica Plain is wrapping up the summer with its own version of the musical neighborhood fest. More than 150 JP artists will perform on porches across the Boston neighborhood this Saturday from noon to 6 p.m., with the festival open on Sunday in case of rain. Check out the JP Porchfest website for a full list of bands and play times, as well as a downloadable printable map and schedule. (Saturday, August 24th from 12pm-6pm; various locations in Jamaica Plain; free) – Kevin Slane
Watch the sunset with Kenny Chesney
No Shoes Nation, rejoice: Kenny Chesney is coming back to Gillette Stadium not once, not twice, but three times this weekend. The country superstar will play the home of the New England Patriots for the 22nd, 23rd and 24th times — the most in Gillette Stadium’s history — this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the final stops on his Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour. Chesney had originally announced just one show at Gillette Stadium. But after tickets sold out within an hour, Chesney quickly added a second and third shows. The Sun Goes Down 2024 Tour is named after Chesney’s 2004 album “When The Sun Goes Down.” The single of the same name (Chesney famously wears a Red Sox cap in the music video) is a duet with singer-songwriter Uncle Kracker, who will accompany Chesney on the tour. Also joining Gillette alongside Chesney and Uncle Kracker are Megan Moroney, who was nominated for 2023 CMA Song of the Year and New Artist, and country superstars the Zac Brown Band. (Friday, August 23 to Sunday, August 25, 5 p.m.; 1 Patriot Place, Foxborough; from $74.15) – Kevin Slane
Say goodbye to Childish Gambino
Multi-talented Donald Glover is bringing his musical alter ego Childish Gambino back one last time this summer during his New World Tour, which stops at TD Garden this Friday at 8 p.m. The “Atlanta” creator has released two different musical projects this year: “Atavista,” a more polished reissue of his unfinished 2020 album “3.15.20,” and “Bando Stone and the New World,” which will serve as the soundtrack to an upcoming film of the same name. Despite the wealth of new material, Glover performed tracks from all five of his albums during the tour, offering a career-spanning retrospective before saying goodbye to the Gambino chapter. (Friday, August 23, 8 p.m.; 100 Legends Way, Boston; from $79.51) – Kevin Slane
Let your imagination run wild at the LEGO Club
With more and more summer camps and other kid-friendly activities winding down with the approaching back-to-school season, you’re probably looking for kid-friendly activities to do every day of the week until classes start again. For a hands-on activity, head to the Honan-Allston branch of the Boston Public Library and build, build, build at the LEGO club, which meets on the last Saturday of every month throughout the summer. The library provides both LEGO and Duplo bricks, so no matter their skill level, your child will have something to build. (Saturday, August 27, 10 a.m.–11:30 a.m.; 300 North Harvard St., Allston; free) – Kristi Palma
“Let Go” with Avril Lavigne at the Xfinity Center
In her early teens, growing up in a small Ontario town, Avril Lavigne worked on playing guitar and writing country songs. Before she turned 18, she moved to New York, then LA, had a pop hit with “Complicated,” a million-selling album titled “Let Go,” and achieved major star status. The music that followed became increasingly upbeat and moved toward pop-punk, and her albums regularly went platinum. Alternating between the pop of the single “Girlfriends” and the balladic “Fly,” Lavigne also showed that she’s pretty good at adding some edge to her music, with the release of the angry and rocking (and swear-word-filled) “Bite Me” from her 2022 album “Love Sux.” (Saturday, August 24, 7 p.m.; 885 S. Main St., Mansfield; $65–$316) — Ed Symkus
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