Festivals & events in Boston

Given its revolutionary pedigree, it's hardly surprising that Boston's calendar features more than its fair share of historical re-enactments. And in the city where American independence began, you can be sure the Fourth of July is going to be a big deal. But Boston's rebels aren't confined to the 18th century.

Alongside traditional celebrations such as the Boston Tea Party Re-enactment and the Boston Harborfest are events such as the Fetish Fair Fleamarket and the Massachusetts Cannabis Reform's Freedom Rally on Boston Common. This cultured metropolis is also known for its arts events – notably the alcohol-free New Year's Eve programme, First Night, which has become a model for more than 200 cities worldwide.

Spring

Boston Massacre Re-enactment

Where: Old State House
Tel & web: 1-617 720 1713/www.bostonhistory.org
When: 5 Mar
Gather to witness the unruly scene that took place beneath the Old State House one winter night in 1770, when a group of ‘cowardly’ redcoats emptied their muskets on a mob of malcontent colonists. Costumes, muskets and – let’s hope – blanks are supplied courtesy of the Massachusetts Council of Minutemen and Militia.

New England Spring Flower & Garden Show

Where: Bayside Exposition Center, 200 Mount Vernon Street, at Morrissey Boulevard, Columbia Point
Tel & web: 1-617 933 4900/www.masshort.org
When: 2nd wk in Mar
Billing itself as the third-largest flower show in the world, this century-old event celebrates flora, shrubs, bushes and blossoms. The Massachusetts Horticultural Society sponsors nearly six acres of landscaped gardens, flower arrangements and horticultural displays. Lately, the focus has been on environmentally friendly gardening.

St Patrick's Day Parade

Where: Dorchester Street & Broadway, South Boston
Tel: 1-617 536 4100
When: 17 Mar
Boston is the undisputed capital of Irish America, and Southie is the Irish capital of Boston. Everyone and their dog wears a shamrock on the 17th, making this both the best and worst place to be. The day kicks off with one of the largest St Patrick’s Day parades in the US, complete with floats, marching bagpipers and, of course, waving politicians. Throughout the day and well into the evening, local pubs overflow with green beer and ample merrymaking. Later on, the downtown streets are so full of soused pedestrians that hailing a taxi is tantamount to catching a fly ball at Fenway.

Boston Underground Film Festival

Where: various cinemas throughout greater Boston
Web: www.bostonundergroundfilmfestival.com
When: late Mar
Launched in 1999, Boston’s fringiest film festival gives venues and voices to local and national auteurs with little money and big dreams. Screenings at indie cinemas throughout the area culminate in an awards show where winners receive a Bacchus, the festival’s coveted demonic bunny trophy. Past attendees include legendary Troma founder Lloyd Kaufman, animator Bill Plympton and zombie-film pioneer George A Romero.

Lantern Hanging

Where: Salem Street at Hull Street, North End
Tel & web: 1-617 523 6676/www.oldnorth.com
When: Sun before 19 Apr
'One if by land, two if by sea,' goes the famous line in Longfellow's poem Paul Revere's Ride, and two lanterns are ceremoniously hung in the steeple of the Old North Church to commemorate sexton Robert Newman's warning that the British troops were heading towards Concord.

Boston Marathon

Where: finishes at Copley Square, Back Bay
Tel & web: 1-617 236 1652/www.bostonmarathon.org
When: 3rd Mon in Apr
These days, Patriot’s Day in Boston has less to do with national pride and more to do with thousands of feet pounding 26 miles of pavement. The race begins in Hopkinton (south-west of Boston), wraps around the campus of Boston College and finishes in Copley – and you can be sure at least one jogging Batman will make the trek. Thousands of spectators come out to soak up the adrenaline and cheer on friends along the route; your best bet is to stake out a spot near the finish line, where you can catch the runners in the heat of triumph.

Patriot's Day Re-enactments

Where: Lexington Green, Lexington
Tel & web: 1-781 862 1450/www.libertyride.us/www.lexingtonminutemen.com
When: 3rd Mon in Apr
Stick around the city to see Paul Revere gallop past, shouting his warning – ‘the British are coming!’ – to the colonists. Later, on Lexington Green, you can see a full-scale re-enactment of the skirmish that produced the ‘shot heard round the world’.

James Joyce Ramble

Where: start/finish at Endicott Estate on East Street, Dedham
Tel & web: 1-781 329 9744/www.ramble.org
When: last Sun in Apr
The brainchild of a local runner and Joyce fan, who realised that struggling through Finnegans Wake was akin to running a particularly arduous race,
this six-mile run/walk stampedes through Dedham (a suburb south-west of Boston) every spring. While the event is fundamentally a road race, the Ramble pays tribute to its namesake by punctuating the
contest with an ensemble of Joyce-reading actors dressed in period costume. Mile one features Finnegans Wake, mile three A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man and mile six, appropriately enough, The Dead. Proceeds go to human rights charities. Past post-race festivities have included an awards ceremony, concert, free food and – purely in homage to Joyce, of course – free beer.

Boston Cyberarts Festival

Where: various venues
Tel & web: 1-617 524 8495/www.bostoncyberarts.org
When: end of Apr, bi-annual (next one in 2009)
Encompassing indoor and outdoor spaces across the city, the bi-annual Cyberarts Festival brings together arty types and science boffins in a glorious fusion of aesthetics and technology. The two-week festival includes art exhibitions at small galleries, futuristic dance concerts, readings and talks. Past years have featured everything from robot orchestras to motion-triggered sound installations, and it seems to get more out-there every time. An unmissable spectacle if you happen to find yourself in Boston during its run.

Lilac Sunday

Where: Arnold Arboretum
When: 2nd Sun in May
The name says it all – float through the Arboretum on the spring breeze, when over 400 deliciously fragrant lilac plants, of nearly 200 different varieties, are in bloom. Refreshments are available, or you can take a picnic.

Summer

Boston Pride

Where: various locations throughout the city
Tel & web: 1-617 262 9405/www.bostonpride.org
When: 1st or 2nd wk in June
Toast Gay Pride in the only state in America that has legalised same-sex marriage. Although unofficial festivities extend throughout the month of June, the main event is a week-long line-up of everything from club nights and book signings to an AIDS awareness walk, held across the city. The festival culminates with a riotous parade through Boston’s own gay mecca, the South End, on Saturday, and further revels on Sunday.

Bunker Hill Day Celebrations

Where: various locations in Charlestown
Tel & web: 1-617 242 5642/www.nps.gov/bost
When: wknd in mid June
A weekend of historical talks and re-enactments of the infamous battle of Bunker Hill (which actually took place on neighbouring Breed’s Hill) – complete with period costumes and muskets. Though British forces won the skirmish, they suffered such heavy casualties that they were forced to abandon their first major seige of Boston. The celebration finishes with a grand parade through hilly Charlestown.

River Festival

Where: along the Charles River, Cambridge
Tel & web: 1-617 349 4380/cambridgeartscouncil.org
When: mid June
If crowding along the Charles on the Fourth of July isn’t your bag, come for this earlier celebration, which takes place on the section of riverbank between John F Kennedy Street and Western Avenue. Sponsored by the Cambridge Arts Council, the riverside festival features an arts bazaar, concerts, children’s events and plenty of dancing.

Nantucket Film Festival

Where: various locations in Nantucket
Tel & web: 1-508 325 6274/www.nantucketfilmfestival.org
When: 3rd wk in June
Agents, actors and fans converge on Massachusetts' most exclusive vacation spot, Nantucket Island, for an insider's look at the silver screen. Screenwriting workshops and social events punctuate screenings.

Boston Harborfest

When: various locations in Boston
Tel & web: 1-617 227 1528/www.bostonharborfest.com
When: 4th wk in June
A maritime- and colonial-themed festival of fireworks, open-air concerts and (yet more) historical re-enactments in the run up to the Fourth of July, taking place in over 30 harbourside venues. The Chowderfest (a celebration of New England’s traditional bivalve soup, in which top restaurants vie for the title of ‘Boston’s Best Clam Chowder’) is the pièce de résistance.

Boston Pops Fourth of July Concert

When: Hatch Shell, Charles River Esplanade, Back Bay
Tel & web: 1-888 484 7677/www.july4th.org
When: 4 July
Not surprisingly, the Fourth of July attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors to the birthplace of American independence – most of whom plant themselves along the banks of the Charles River. The Boston Pops are an American institution, and this concert is the centre of the universe for fans. Frantically territorial families show up at dawn to claim their grassy patch for the day. Technically, the event is non-alcoholic, but that doesn’t stop savvy regulars from slipping drinks into plastic cups. In the early evening – after everyone is tuckered out from a sweaty day of guarding blankets (and hiding beer) – the Pops play in the Hatch Shell. The accompanying fireworks display, set off from a barge on the Charles, is not to be missed.

Turning of the USS Constitution

Where: viewing along Boston Harbor
Tel & web: 1-617 426 1812/www.ussconstitutionmuseum.org
When: 4 July
‘Old Ironsides’, so called because the Royal Navy’s cannonballs bounced off her oaken flanks, is an impressive sight. Still a commissioned naval vessel, she makes her stately annual sail around Boston Harbor to turn and re-dock in the opposite direction at the Charlestown Naval Yard. This is all done not for the tourists, but to ensure that the venerable ship weathers evenly.

Bastille Day

Where: French Library & Cultural Center, 53 Marlborough Street, at Berkeley Street
Tel & web: 1-617 912 0400/www.frenchlib.org
When: mid July
This 60-year-old non-profit organisation throws a street party on an evening before or after Bastille Day, with French cuisine, a live band, children's activities – and plenty of joie de vivre.

Lantern Festival

Where: 95 Forest Hills Avenue, Jamaica Plain
Tel & web: 1-617 524 0128/www.foresthillstrust.org
When: mid July
A party in a graveyard? Sounds a tad morbid – but the Forest Hills Cemetery, full of lush gardens and intriguing sculpture installations, is one of the most gorgeous green spaces in the Boston area. Never is it more beautiful than during the annual Buddhist ritual-inspired Lantern Festival. An afternoon filled with performances from local artists (including taiko drummers and gospel choirs) prefaces the main event: after sunset, visitors set little lanterns adrift in Lake Hibiscus, until they form a shimmering flotilla of light.

ArtBeat

Where: Davis Square, Somerville
Tel & web: 1-617 625 6600 ext 2985/www.somervilleartscouncil.org/programs/artbeat
When: wknd in mid July
One of the most up-and-coming ’hoods in the Boston area, Davis Square is a breeding ground for artists, writers, musicians, performers and sundry other Bohemian types. Every year, Somerville exalts its creative geniuses with a weekend-long celebration of all that’s artsy. The revelries include concerts by local indie, blues and folk bands, theatrical performances, readings and a street art market with more than 90 vendors.

Edgartown Regatta

Where: Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard
Tel & web: 1-508 627 4361/www.edgartownyc.org
When: wknd in mid July
The Edgartown Yacht Club sponsors races for four categories of vessels. Even for those who don't have a boat, it offers an excuse to take the short ferry ride out to the white-sand beaches of Martha's Vineyard and wander around the holiday island.

Boston Globe Jazz & Blues Festival

Where: various venues & locations around Boston
Tel: 1-617 929 3460
When: 3rd wk of July
Boston's broadsheet newspaper puts on a week-long string of jazz and blues concerts featuring big-name artists. Copley Square in Back Bay is the best place to catch free evening shows.

Feast of the Blessed Sacrament

Where: New Bedford
Tel & web: 1-508 992 6911/www.portuguesefeast.com
When: last wknd in July
The largest Portuguese cultural event in America. The harbour town of New Bedford hosts this celebration featuring a parade, entertainment and music, most with a Madeiran flavour.

Fetish Fair Fleamarket

Where: Boston Center for the Arts Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street, at Clarendon Street, South End
Tel & web: 1-617 876 6352/www.nla-newengland.org/fff.html
When: early Aug & late Dec

Gloucester Waterfront Festival

Where: various locations in Gloucester
Tel & web: 1-978 283 1601/www.cape-ann.com/events.html
When: mid Aug
One of the towns that put Boston's fishing industry on the map, Gloucester hosts this annual festival in celebration of the sea, with a Yankee Lobster Bake, whale watching and musical entertainment. Those with a slightly bent sense of humour will enjoy the greasy pole competition, in which contestants (most quite intoxicated) traverse a telephone pole slathered in axle grease in search of fame, glory and the flag that dangles at the pole's end; most, though, get only splinters, unspeakable bruises and a bath in the ocean for their troubles.

Provincetown Carnival Week

Where: various locations in Provincetown
Tel & web: 1-508 487 2313/1-800 637 8696/www.ptown.org
When: 3rd wk in Aug
This very gay-friendly town celebrates itself each year with a small, Mardi Gras-like event marked by extravagant costumes, wild antics and a parade down Commercial Street. Though the carnival is not strictly gay, expect drag queens and high camp.

Caribbean Carnival

Where: Franklin Park, Dorchester
Tel & web: 1-617 296 7083/www.bostoncarnival.com
When: wknd in late August
Franklin Park, in the Dorchester end of Roxbury, hosts this lively celebration of Caribbean culture. Expect ethnic food, music, dance and a colourful parade. The feathered costumes and sun-drenched festivities offer a vibrant counterpoint to Boston’s buttoned-up re-enactments, and celebrate an entirely different strand of colonial history.

St Anthony’s Feast

Where: Endicott, Thacher & North Margin Streets, North End
Tel & web: 1-617 723 8669/www.stanthonysfeast.com
When: wknd in late Aug
There’s no better neighbourhood for a stroll than the North End, and no better time to do it than during this annual Catholic shindig. For one weekend, the winding streets of Boston’s Italian district are lined with vendors of delectable Mediterranean fare and effigies of weeping saints. A parade and performances by Italian crooners round out the weekend.

Autumn

King Richard's Faire

Where: Carver, near Plymouth
Tel & web: 1-508 866 5391/1-952 238 9915/www.kingrichardsfaire.net
When: wknds in Sept & Oct
Drink deep from the chalice of the 16th century with wenches, beggars, jugglers, knights and of course King Richard himself, late home from the Crusades. Packed with period revelry, Carver's re-creation of an English marketplace teems with fire-eaters, street brawls, singing executioners and Siberian tigers.

Boston Film Festival

Where: Loews Copley Place, 100 Huntington Avenue, at Dartmouth Street, Back Bay
Tel & web: 1-617 523 8388/www.bostonfilmfestival.org
When: 2nd wk in Sept
An annual festival of lectures, panels and screenings, this two-weekend showcase integrates feature-length films, shorts and independent works. There's a strong local contingent of participants, many from nearby colleges. Past entries include Oscar-winning American Beauty and Billy Ray's Shattered Glass.

What the Fluff? Festival

Where: Union Square, Somerville
Tel & web: 1-617 623 1392 ext 119/www.unionsquaremain.org
When: late Sept
There’s more to Boston’s history than the fight for independence. In 1917, for example, the entrepreneur Archibald Query invented Marshmallow Fluff – 
the beloved confectionery spread – right here in Somerville. Union Square celebrates its favourite son with a day-long festival that includes a tug of war over a tub of Fluff, erupting Fluff volcanoes and Fluff-based nibbles aplenty.

Massachusetts Cannabis Reform's Freedom Rally

Where: Boston Common, Downtown
Tel & web: 1-781 944 2266/www.masscann.org
When: 2nd or 3rd Sat in Sept
Every year, the city of Boston broods over issuing permits to this annual ganja-fest. Regardless, the rally always goes down, with thousands of proud stoners sneaking spliffs on to the Common. A handful of local bands play, which in former years has included Letters to Cleo and the Dresden Dolls. Booths manned by left-leaning activist groups preach to the converted. It goes without saying, but people inevitably end up getting arrested.

Boston Tattoo Convention

Where: Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont Street, South End
Tel & web: 1-617 445 9090/www.bostontattooconvention.com
When: wknd in Oct
Until 2001, Massachusetts residents had to cross the state line in order to get a tattoo. Once it was legalised, though, it didn’t take long for Boston to establish itself as a hub for body art – as the Tattoo Convention proves. Over 100 tattoo artists converge at the BCA for the three-day event, which includes contests, vendors, galleries, performances and numerous ink-slingers setting up shop. Grit your teeth and prepare for the sting of needle against skin.

Beantown Jazz Festival

Where: various locations in Boston
Tel & web: 1-617 747 2260/www.beantownjazz.org
When: last wknd in Sept.
Boston’s lively jazz scene steals the limelight at this yearly festival, a locally founded effort that brings hot talents to Boston’s various venues. The festival includes performances at Sculler’s Jazz Club, Berklee Performance Center and the Beehive, Boston Center for the Arts’ shiny new subterranean restaurant-lounge. Vendors and musicians also take to the streets in the South End. Past performers include Wallace Roney and Delfeayo Marsalis.

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Festival

Where: various locations in Lowell
Tel & web: 1-978 970 4257/www.cultureiscool.org
When: 1st wk in Oct
Most famous for his seminal 1957 novel On the Road – an American traveller’s ode to wanderlust, amphetamines and boisterous adventure – Jack Kerouac was born and buried in Lowell, a former mill town north-west of Boston. While he never claimed to have taken much from the place, it still celebrates his legacy. Every year, the town commemorates its legendary tie to the Beat Generation with a three-day festival of open mics, jazz and
poetry readings.

Topsfield Fair

Where: 207 Boston Street, Route 1, Topsfield
Tel & web: 1-978 887 5000/www.topsfieldfair.org
When: 1st 2wks of Oct
Established in 1818, Topsfield is the oldest agricultural fair in the country. Head north of Boston for a slice of the Massachusetts heartland, complete with giant pumpkins and pig races.

Harvard Square Oktoberfest

Where: Harvard Square, Cambridge
Tel & web: 1-617 491 3434/www.harvardsquare.com
When: mid Oct
Celebrate all things frothy and boozy as Harvard Square transforms itself for a weekend into a Bavarian township. Bands, dancers, ethnic food and beer gardens line the streets, and some 200 regional artisans and merchants display their wares.

Head of the Charles Regatta

Where: Charles River, between the Eliot Bridge and the Boston University Bridge
Tel & web: 1-617 868 6200/www.hocr.org
When: wknd in mid Oct
This is one of the most spectacular boat races anywhere. The hundreds of thousands of fans lining the bridges and river banks along the Charles are a sight to be seen, as are the thousands of rowers who converge on Cambridge for this world-class regatta. Fans bring blankets and picnic baskets to the banks of the Charles to cheer their favourite teams.

Salem's Haunted Happenings

Where: Locations throughout Salem
Tel & web: 1-978 744 3663/1-877 725 3662/www.hauntedhappenings.org
When: 2nd half of Oct
As you’d expect from a place that’s on the map for executing witches, spooky Salem hosts a wicked Halloween. The town is also a haven for present-day pagans. A huge costumed parade kicks off two weeks of jack-o’-lantern carving, haunted-house tours, candlelit vigils, modern witchcraft ceremonies, magic shows and a psychics’ fair. Leave your scepticism at home –  but bring your wallet and the most fabulous costume you can dream up.

Winter

Christmas on Cape Cod

Where: Various locations on Cape Cod
Tel & web: 1-508 862 0700/www.capecodchamber.org
When: 4th wk in Nov
Experience a New England Christmas in proper
old-fashioned style by attending a series of open houses, parades and the lighting of the Pilgrim Monument in Provincetown. Wrap up warm as those coastal breezes can get mighty chilly in winter.

Christmas Stroll

Where: Various locations on Nantucket
Tel & web: 1-508 228 1700/www.nantucketchamber.org/visitor/events.html
When: 1st wknd in Dec
On Nantucket Island, most of the shops start their off-season hibernation in mid October, but for one gloriously festive weekend in December, everything reopens, traffic resumes to midsummer status, and people wander up and down the Christmas-tree-lined streets, getting their holiday shopping done island-style. Watch the women in mink stream off the ferries, and enjoy the old-time cheeriness of carollers and Christmas trees on the cobblestone streets. It's a final hurrah before the place shuts down for the long, bleak winter.

Christmas Tree Lighting

When: Prudential Center, 800 Boylston Street, between Dalton & Exeter Streets, Back Bay Tel: 1-800 746 7778
When: 1st Sat of Dec
The Prudential Center has the most magnificent tree in the city, swaddled in colourful lights. The lighting is the semi-official kick-off for the holiday season and there's usually a singalong.

Boston Common Tree Lighting

Where: Boston Common, Downtown
Tel & web: 1-617 635 4505/www.cityofboston.gov
When: 1st wknd in Dec
The behind-the-scenes legwork for this annual holiday tree-lighting tradition is just as captivating as the ceremony itself, as a Boston tree scout treks to Nova Scotia to select a shapely 50ft spruce. (Ever since 1917, Nova Scotia has donated its trees as a gift, out of gratitude for Boston’s fast response to a devastating fire in Halifax.) A local dignitary (often the mayor) flicks the switch. The rest of the Common’s trees are strung with lights as well, while an illuminated nativity scene and menorah grace the grounds near Park Street Station.

Christmas Revels

Where: Sanders Theatre, Memorial Hall, 45 Quincy Street, at Cambridge Street, Cambridge
Tel & web: 1-617 972 8300/www.revels.org
When: mid-late Dec
Put on by a local nonprofit performance troupe, the Revels have practically become an institution come the winter solstice. Each year focuses on a different theme – based on culture and time period – of Christmas pageantry. Performances include dances, plays and plenty of audience-participatory carol-singing. This is Christmas, old-school style.

Boston Tea Party Re-enactment

Where: Old South Meeting House, 310 Washington Street, Boston
Tel & web: 1-617 482 6439/www.oldsouthmeetinghouse.org
When: mid Dec
'Patriots' gather for a town meeting at the Old South Meeting House to scream about nasty old King George III. Fife and drum in hand, the excitable group marches to a replica tea ship on the waterfront and does the dirty deed. Because of fire damage, the Boston Tea Party Ship & Museum (Congress Street Bridge, 1-617 338 1773) – where another tea party re-enactment used to take place – is in the process of major renovations. Due to open in spring/summer 2005, the new museum (twice as large as the old one, including two traditional tall ships) will resume its own annual tea-tossing ceremony.

Fetish Fair Fleamarket

Where: Sheraton Boston Hotel, 39 Dalton Street, at Boylston Street, Back Bay
Tel & web: 1-617 876 6352/www.nla-newengland.org/fff.html
When: early Aug & late Dec
New England’s biggest fetish/leather/BDSM event, the Fleamarket attracts people with all sorts of
sexual inclinations. For years, the event was held at the Park Plaza, one of Boston’s oldest grand hotels, but following a critical article in the Boston Globe the Plaza withdrew its hospitality. The winter show has been held at several venues since, and is
currently trying to settle down in Providence’s Rhode Island Convention Center (1-401 458 6000, www.riconvention.com). Meanwhile, the smaller summer show has found a home at the Cyclorama in Boston (1-617 426 5000, www.bcaonline.org). As well as browsing a hardware store’s worth of ‘tools’, participants can attend discussion groups and classes – great for, um, bonding. Past lectures have covered such rousing topics as ‘Flogging 101’ and ‘The Joy of Canes’. The highlight of the winter event is the Saturday night Fetish Masquerade Ball.

First Night

Where: events at locations throughout the city
Tel & web: 1-617 542 1399/www.firstnight.org
When: 31 Dec
Boston was the first city in the country to offer this alcohol-free alternative to ringing in the New Year in the usual drink-sodden fug. Launched in 1976, First Night is celebrated citywide, with over 250 performances and exhibitions at nearly 40 venues. Events range from poetry readings to rock concerts. There are activities as early as noon, but the fun really starts in the early evening with the carnival-style Grand Procession in Back Bay, culminating in a midnight fireworks display at the harbour. The massive ice sculptures in Copley Square and on the common are another signature feature. Finally, make a beeline to a nearby bar for a post-cultural-enlightenment bottle of bubbly.

Arisia

Where: Hyatt Regency Cambridge, 575 Memorial Drive, at Amesbury Street, Cambridge
Web: www.arisia.org
When: mid Jan
You don’t have to be a Star Wars-quoting, Asimov-obsessed über-nerd to have fun at Arisia (though that certainly doesn’t hurt). For this annual science-fiction convention, the largest of its kind in New England, the science fiction-loving hordes (often with kids in tow) flock to the Hyatt for three days of speaker panels, workshops, art exhibits and movie marathons. The gala event of the weekend is the masquerade ball, where professional and amateur costumiers alike get to show off their mindblowing handiwork: entries run the gamut from outrageously ornate period gowns to towering minotaur suits.

Boston Wine Expo

Where: Seaport World Trade Center Boston, 200 Seaport Boulevard, at Northern Avenue, South Boston
Tel & web: 1-877 946 3976/www.wine-expos.com/boston
When: 3rd wknd in Jan
Every year, oenophiles storm the harbourside World Trade Center for the country’s largest consumer wine event. The festival features tastings from over 450 domestic and international wineries, celebrity-chef demonstrations, and educational seminars.

Chinese New Year

Where: Beach & Tyler Streets, Chinatown
Tel & web: 1-888 733 2678/www.bostonusa.com
When: late Jan or early Feb, depending on lunar calendar
Dragons dance and fireworks explode in a swirl of colours and sounds at one of the nation’s largest celebrations of the first day of the Chinese calendar. Traditionally, festivities last for 15 days, and much of the action takes place in and around Beach and Tyler Streets in Boston’s Chinatown. Expect plenty of fireworks and tantalising Asian cuisine.

Beanpot Hockey Tournament

Where: FleetCenter, Causeway Street
Tel & web: 1-617 624 1000/www.beanpothockey.com
When: 1st & 2nd Mon in Feb
Players from Harvard, Northeastern and Boston Universities and Boston College go head-to-head in this annual ice hockey clash. It’s a welcome reprieve from the Bruins’ often disappointing performances, as an audience of rival college students assault one another with fusillades of jeers and cheers. The winning team gets a trophy shaped like a bean pot.

our listings

While every effort and care has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained in this guide, the publisher cannot accept responsibility for any errors it may contain. Before you go out of your way, we strongly advise you to phone ahead and check the particulars.

Unless otherwise specified, the festivals and events listed below take place annually. Precise dates are difficult to pin down in advance as they're often weather-dependent. The best way to confirm the specifics is by phoning the City of Boston Special Events Line (1-800 822 0038), or visiting www.cityofboston.gov/mayor/spevents or the individual contacts provided.