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Friday, March 29, 2024

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Aggregation No. 1DanceNOW at 8 p.m. Friday and Sunday at Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Harvard Square. Tickets are from $10 to $25.

This third annual DanceNOW dance and cabaret series features new works by The Bang Group, Janelle Gilchrist and Audrey MacLean and is hosted by Peter DiMuro (on Friday) and The Wondertwins (on Sunday). The series has drawn acclaim from critics such as Thea Singer of The Boston Globe, who called a past event “simultaneously an education and hilarious entertainment … gift-wrapped in camp and laced with heart.” Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 2Herbstalk from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Access to the marketplace is free; classes come with fees, and a day pass to them is $20.

Herbstalk is a unique, urban success story of a conference, now in its fifth year teaching people about plants. For most people it’ll be fun and potentially less expensive to focus on Herbstalk’s plant walks and its free marketplace of herbal crafters and artisans from across New England. Some three dozen herb- and plant-based businesses are gathered to sell everything from crystals (hmm) to perfume, spices, teas and soap. Visitors can decide for themselves whether to wander deeper into the weeds with classes on such things as “phytochemistry for herbalists” and “herbal aid for conscious conception,” which can get expensive – up to $50 for certain classes, though a day pass with access to most is $20. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 3Thirty-seventh Annual Cambridge Arts River Festival from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday at Lechmere Canal Park and along the DCR Cambridge Parkway, near the CambridgeSide Galleria mall, 100 CambridgeSide Place, East Cambridge. Free.

Produced by the Cambridge Arts Council, this festival kicks off with a 17-team competition People’s Sculpture Racing sprint (named one of the top 15 art happenings in greater Boston by WBUR’s The ARTery,) and becomes a full-fledged party after that with six performance stages (including one floating in Lechmere Canal) for music, theater and dance. There will also be poetry readings, a World of Food area and two beer gardens, interactive areas, roving performances and tables highlighting the work of nonprofits. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 4Secret Gardens of Cambridge Tour from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday throughout the city. Tickets are $25 in advance, or $30 on Sunday.

Stroll through more than 35 private gardens, many new to the tour, in this citywide fundraiser sponsored by the Friends of Cambridge Public Library. Last time around – the tour happens only every two years – more than $17,000 was raised to help buy library books, provide resident museum passes and support programs such as readings by guest authors. But the self-guided garden tour also provides a chance to explore the city, spark garden ideas and designs and learn planting tips. Each ticket includes access to a raffle. Tickets can be bought at a half-dozen florists, frame shops and bookstores around the city. On the day of the event, tickets can be bought at the Hooper-Lee-Nichols House, 159 Brattle St., and Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge, from 9 a.m. to noon. Information is here.

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Aggregation No. 5Seventh Annual East Somerville Carnaval from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday on Broadway from McGrath Highway to Pennsylvania Avenue. Free.

This event closes the street to cars and brings out more than 8,000 people to enjoy music and performances by community groups and other talent on three stages, a craft fair and activities for children, and food from around the world. There’s a “Motion Parade” at 2 p.m. and a Coolest Mask Contest as well. Information is here.