Festival weekend - Food, Feasts, Yard sales.
Editor’s note (I don’t actually have an editor - clearly): Sorry this is going out late this week! Summer schedules are wild. We’ll be back to regularly scheduled 6am Wednesday delivery next week!
This weekend is shaping up to be some classic August heat (so i hear). The calendar is loaded with the Chinatown August Moon Festival on Sunday, the North End's Madonna Della Cava Feast running Friday through Sunday, and the Del Barrio Afro Latino Festival heads out to Spectacle Island on Saturday. Plus the Yart Sale takes over Somerville all day Saturday which looks really fun to wander and adventure around.
Our family is coming up on celebrating 1 year of living in Mass. Thanks to everyone who we have met for making this a friendly place that we get to call home.
Let me know what you all went to this week - I read and respond to every email!
🌟 Picks of the Week
Boston's Chinatown · Sunday, August 9 at 10:00 AM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Chinatown fills up for the August Moon Festival on Sunday — street food, lion dancing, performances, and cultural vendors packed into a few blocks. It's one of the biggest free neighborhood events of the summer. Get there early to avoid the (bigger) crowds
North End, Boston · Friday, August 7 at 7:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
The Madonna Della Cava Feast returns to Hanover and Battery Streets for its 106th year, running Friday night through Sunday. Street food, processions, and the full North End summer feast experience.
Throughout Somerville · Saturday, August 8 at 12:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Somerville's Yart Sale turns the whole city into a yard sale with an art twist — tables of secondhand goods mixed with local artists and makers across multiple neighborhoods. Check the Somerville Arts Council site (link above) for the map of locations before you head out.
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☔️ Bad Weather Backups
Boston Children's Museum, Boston · Saturday, August 8 · Free with admission · Drop-in · Ages 6+
Kids ages 6+ build a LEGO robot and try basic programming in the museum's STEAM Lab. Sign up at the lab when you arrive — space is limited and it fills. Museum admission required.
The Umbrella Arts Center, Concord · Saturday, August 8 at 2:00 PM · Free · Registration appreciated · All ages
Kids make a character puppet with an instructor at The Umbrella Arts Center in Concord. Free, and all ages and abilities are welcome. Registration is appreciated but not required.
Bonsignore Hall, Medford Public Library · Wednesday, August 12 · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Kids dance to Taylor Swift's kid-friendly hits in Bonsignore Hall. Free, drop-in, all ages — an easy indoor win on a hot Wednesday.
☀️ Outside Adventures
Boston Nature Center, Mattapan · Saturday, August 8 at 11:00 AM · $10 · Register ahead · All ages
Drop-in art activities and guided nature exploration built around bees, butterflies, bats, and the other pollinators doing the work all summer.
Powisset Farm, Dover · Saturday, August 8 at 9:00 AM · Paid · Register ahead · All ages
Every Saturday morning, farm staff lead a free barnyard meet-and-greet — kids get hands-on with the animals that live there. $15-20 with 3 and under free
📚 Library Picks
Participating Minuteman libraries · through Saturday, August 8 · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Six days to visit as many participating libraries as you can — each one has a clue to find and a stamp to collect. Free, self-paced, and a genuinely good excuse for a day of driving around with kids who like a mission.
Children's Program Room, Tufts Library, Weymouth · Thursday, August 6 · Free · Drop-in · Ages 3+
The library turns Candy Land into a walkable board and the kids are the game pieces. Free, drop-in, best for ages 3+.
Discovery Museum, Acton · Tuesday, August 11 at 10:00 AM · Free with admission · Drop-in · All ages
Museum educators haul out a 300-pound block of ice and let kids go at it — chipping, melting, watercolors, salt, and figuring out how it behaves.
Children's Room, Acton Memorial Library · Wednesday, August 12, drop off 9 AM–4 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
Drop a stuffed animal off Wednesday and pick it up Thursday with photos of everything it got up to overnight in the library. Free, drop-in, and reliably a hit with the under-sixes.
🎉 Fun for the Whole Family
Spectacle Island, Boston Harbor · Saturday, August 8 at 12:30 PM · Free (ferry ticket required) · Drop-in · All ages
Music, dance, and food celebrating Afro-Latino culture, out on Spectacle Island. The festival is free but you need a ferry ticket to get there — check the Boston Harbor Islands schedule and book ahead on a summer Saturday.
DCU Center, Worcester · Saturday, August 8 at 12:00 PM · Free · Drop-in · All ages
The India Society of Worcester's annual India Day — music, dance, food, and cultural performances. Worth flagging that this one's in Worcester, about an hour out, so it's a day trip rather than an afternoon.
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⚡ The Full Rundown
Thursday, August 6
Brookline Village Summer Storytime (10:30 AM) — Hunneman Hall, Brookline Village · Free · Ages 0–5
Make Way for Storytime (10:00 AM) — Children's Program Room, Newton · Free · Ages 0–5
Friday, August 7
Seeds: a Hands-On Program with the Growing Center — West Branch Backyard, Somerville · Free · Ages 5+
Saturday, August 8
Spanish Fun Time (ages 1–4) — Bonsignore Hall, Medford Public Library · Free · Ages 1–4
Shrinky Dinks! — Children's Room, Central Library, Somerville · Free · Ages 8+
Sunday, August 9
Memorial Drive Recreation Sundays (11:00 AM) — Memorial Drive, Cambridge · Free
Seaport Smalls (10:00 AM) — The Rocks at Harbor Way, Boston · Free (special this week is a balloon magic show)
Monday, August 10
Sunshine and Storytime! — Children's Program Room, Belmont Public Library · Free · Ages 3+
LEGO Club at East — East Branch, Somerville · Free · Ages 5+
Tuesday, August 11
Sunshine and Storytime! — Children's Program Room, Belmont Public Library · Free · Ages 3+
Bandana Bracelets (4:30 PM) — Teen Area, Newton · Free · Grades 6–12
Wednesday, August 12
Summer Fun Club (ages 6–9) (6:30 PM) — Children's Program Room, Newton · Free · Ages 6–9
See all 392 events this week → full calendar
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Have an awesome week. Dito signing off.
