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Thursday, March 28, 2024

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Aggregation No. 1Pleasure Pie Launch Party and open mic from 6 to 9 p.m. Saturday at The Democracy Center, 45 Mount Auburn St., Harvard Square. Free.

Pleasure Pie, a sex-positive project by Nicole Mazzeo, launches with an open mic for people to read letters written for her Sex Letters Project (in which people give advice to their younger selves) or bring a letter or poem done on their own, as well as a game of sex trivia with prizes, a zine-making station and a sale of Mazzeo’s own zine, “Choose Your Own Consensual Adventure,” and other publications. The organization promises snacks (and you’re invited to bring some) and great people. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 2“Divergent” at 7 and 10 p.m. Saturday at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Building 26-100, also known as the Compton Laboratories, at 60 Vassar St. Tickets are $4.

This film of the dystopian young-adult novel by Veronica Roth earned only a 48 on Metacritic by averaging 38 reviews, but a user score of 6 out of 10,  and a 41 percent fresh on Rotten Tomatoes from 196 reviews – but a 72 percent score averaging 122,559 user ratings! So the average audience member enjoyed the flick a bit more than the critics (although pretty much everyone agrees it’s hard to tell the male leads apart). Come see what you think, or which faction you’d fit into in this grim future, at either of these showings from the MIT Lecture Series Committee. Information is here for the 7 p.m. showing and here for the 10 p.m. showing.

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Aggregation No. 3Somerville Rock And Roll Yard Sale at 11 a.m. in Union Square Plaza 90 Union Square, Somerville. Free.

Chris and Jennifer Daltry of What Cheer? in Providence, R.I., have been putting on their Rock And Roll Yard Sales for about a decade in their home state and as part of the Somerville Arts Council’s ArtsUnion program. These events feature local independent sellers offering up a quirky and unique mix of primarily vinyl records and music-related stuff as well as vintage goods and DIY handmade items. Some of New England’s best record sellers will be on hand with piles and crates of vinyl to dig through, including LPs, 45s, 78s and CDs, cassettes, eight-tracks, music and audio gear and other music memorabilia, making for a perfect way to find one-of-a-kind items and support DIY and independent, small businesses. The event includes live music from Reindeer, Michael Tarbox and more to be announced. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 4Cambridge Carnival International from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday in Kendall Square.

The 22nd Annual Cambridge Carnival International Festival and Parade is arriving in its usual spectacular fashion. The Caribbean/African-themed carnival starts with a 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. parade of dazzling handmade costumes accompanied by steel bands and percussion groups and settles into Kendall Square with DJs and bands playing world music, Haitian roots, reggae and Soca. (Check out the bands here and the DJ schedule here.) A variety of savory foods will be for sale, and there’s plenty for kids to do, including stilt-walking instruction from the OpenAir Circus from 1 to 4 p.m. and an interactive activity zone with story-telling, face painting, balloon art and arts and crafts activities – most free. The carnival has drawn crowds of up to 100,000 people.

The parade starts on River and Blackstone streets at Riverside Press Park near the Charles River, continues up River Street to Massachusetts Avenue and onto Main Street and ends at the carnival viewing stand, which is at Main and Albany streets. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 5Strike Up the Bands from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. Free.

The fifth annual SomerStreets series continues Somerville’s take on the international Open Streets concept, closing busy city streets to vehicles and opening them up for cycling, walking, dancing, running and other activities.

In this case, its Holland Street that’s closed to traffic from Davis Square to Teele Square and opened up for live music and entertainment at Johnny D’s and in Teele, outside dining at restaurants along the route, street hockey and a rock climbing wall, family-friendly Knucklebones activities at Hodgkin’s Park (on Holland between Simpson Avenue and Paulina Street) as well as The Davis Flea (starting earlier, at 10 a.m., and running to 4 p.m. at 52 Holland Ave., Davis Square) and M.U.S.C.R.A.T Bus and Craft Fair – meaning the mobile art center created out of an old school bus and proclaimed a “Multi Use Somerville Community Roving Art Transport.”

There’s tons of stuff to do (including performances by bands such as Paper Waves, seen above), as seen in this map. General information is here.