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Friday, March 29, 2024

Monday

bullet-gray-small MassMouth Summer Storytelling Showcase from 7 to 10 p.m. at Club Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. General admission is $10. Hear from practitioners of the timeless art of storytelling. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Lizard Lounge Open Mic Challenge at 8 p.m. at The Lizard Lounge, 1667 Massachusetts Ave., between Harvard and Porter squares. Entry is $5 for performers, $7 for audience members. Host George Woods allows two original songs or 10 minutes of stage time, with up to 20 performers competing for a cash prize. Some performers will be also added to the event’s Spotify playlist. Information is here.


Tuesday

bullet-gray-small Great GrownUp Spelling Bee from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at The Independent, 75 Union Square, Somerville. Free. This is a team fundraiser for the Somerville Media Center and “one of the most brutal sporting events of the month” with a signup sheet and study guide. Get cracking – there are fifth-graders out there who already know “bathybic” and “malum.” Or just watch from the audience to see how you would have done competing. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Comedy Hell Tuesdays from  8 to 11 p.m. at The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Admission is $10 (or $11.30 with the online fee). A throwback open mic night with a mixed bag of local comedians – who may yet get bumped for other comedians. Good luck. Information is here.


Wednesday

bullet-gray-small Dessa reads from “My Own Devices: True Stories from the Road on Music, Science and Senseless Love” at 6 p.m. at The Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $6 (or $7.29 with fees) with a $5 coupon for the book, or $27.75 (or $30.13 with fees) with a copy of the book and a coupon. Singer, rapper and writer Dessa reads from and discusses her debut memoir with Meredith Goldstein, the “Love Letters” advice columnist for The Boston Globe and an author. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Bust Out Boston Music Festival from 6 to 11 p.m. (and running through Sunday) at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 in advance or $19 at the door (full festival access is $85). A five-day annual celebration of women, marginalized gender identities and gender non-conforming artists launches with Neon Blk (pictured, formerly known as Radclyffe Hall); Abbie Barrett & Band; and Zola. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Best of the Weird Local Film Fest from 7:30 tp 9 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. Tickets are $5 (or $6.22 with fees). From nightmare newscasts to avant-garde love poems, anything is liable to show up onscreen at these occasional Boston Underground Film Festival cullings of submitted short films by filmmakers in or near Somerville; this is a “best of” from past events. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Fresh Faces comedy from 8 to 10 p.m. at The Comedy Studio, 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Tickets are $12 (or $13.36 with fees). Having survived their own comedy hells, these new comedians are honing their acts, and some could be showing up on Netflix or Comedy Central sooner than you might expect. Tonight is John Baglio; Drew Dunn; Kindra Lansburg; comic-in-residence Liam McGurk; Michael O’Brien; Carolyn Riley; Giulia Rozzi; Corey Saunders; Handren Seavey; Nate Shu; and and Will Smalley. Information is here.


Thursday

bullet-gray-small Poetry reading with Xhevdet Bajraj and Ani Gjika from 7 to 9 p.m. at Grolier Poetry Bookstore on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square. There is a suggested donation of $10. Albanian Kosovar Bajraj is a poet, dramatist, translator and professor (and an actor) whose 20-plus volumes of poetry have been translated into English, German, Spanish, Danish, Serbian, Slovenian, Hungarian, Turkish and Polish. Albanian-born Gjika is a writer – including of “Bread on Running Waters” (2013) – and translator, including of Bajraj’s play, “Slaying the Mosquito” (2017). Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Bust Out Boston Music Festival from 6 to 11 p.m. (and running through Sunday) at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $15 in advance or $19 at the door. Day 2 features Danielle Miraglia; Monica Rizzio; and Lisa Bastoni (pictured). Information is here.


Friday

bullet-gray-small PARK(ing) Day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. citywide. More than 150 parking spaces have been transformed into places for people instead of cars by artists and activists from among more than 75 organizations — usually a minipark, although minitheaters and minicookouts have been known to spring up as well. Travel the city to see tiny art spaces and music halls, do yoga, grab some water or get time with city councillors. Descriptions of the spaces are here; general information is here.

bullet-gray-smallCommunity Chess Weekend from 4 to 7 p.m. (and continuing Saturday and Sunday) in Harvard Square. There are brand-new tables to compete on in Harvard Square’s renewed chess-playing space, and now a three-day event to celebrate. Today is open chess play, with no registration required, followed by a Saturday challenge with grandmaster Larry Christiansen and open blitz tournament ($10 entry fee) to qualify for Sunday’s championship for the inaugural Collins Cup. Information is here. 

bullet-gray-small Doris Kearns Goodwin at 8 p.m. at Harvard Memorial Church, 1 Harvard Yard, Harvard Square. Tickets are $8 (or $9.39 with fees) with a $5 coupon for the book, or $32 (or $34.59 with fees) with a copy of the book and a coupon. The Harvard Book Store and Mass Humanities welcome the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and historian for a discussion of her latest book, “Leadership in Turbulent Times.” Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Bust Out Boston Music Festival from 6 to 11 p.m. (and running through Sunday) at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Tickets are $20 in advance or $24 at the door. Day 3 features VQnC; Petty Morals (pictured); and Stars Like Ours. Information is here.


Saturday

bullet-gray-small LadiesCon 2018 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. A one-day show presenting writers, artists, creators and artisans specializing in comics, fantasy and science fiction, with a particular emphasis on creators who identify as women, LGBTQ, non-binary and people of color, as well as local artists. Attendees can meet creators, buy books and crafts and see panels on topics ranging from the history of fandom to nerdy knitting. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small The 13th annual “What the Fluff” Festival from 3 to 7 p.m. on Union Square Plaza, 90 Union Square, Somerville. Free. Delicious and horrible Marshmallow Fluff was invented in Somerville in 1917, when a local named Archibald Query made it in his kitchen and sold it door to door. The festival honors the concoction in most every way imaginable, drawing more than 12,000 people to its music, games and, of course, lots of Fluff-related foods. (The classic Fluffernutter is just the start.) Information is here.

bullet-gray-small OnceFest from 3 p.m. to midnight at Once Lounge + Ballroom, 156 Highland Ave., Somerville. The local musicians behind this event plan to benefit a different charity each year – and start with Once itself, which was robbed and vandalized in May. OnceFest starts out strong, too, with 13 bands (Future Teens, Kindling, Sam Moss, Funeral Advantage, Cosmic Johnny, Cheem, Gabe Goodman, Banana, (T-T)b, Tuft, the Bad Larrys, Another Musician and Cia Green) as well as a DJ set by Camino84. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Beethoven, Britten & Brahms from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square. Tickets are $9 to $62. The Boston Chamber Music Society brings Ludwig van Beethoven’s String Quintet in C major, Op. 29; Benjamin Britten’s “Phantasy Quartet for oboe, violin, viola and cello”; and Johannes Brahms’ Piano Trio No. 2 in C major, Op. 87 to the stage with featured musicians Peggy Pearson, oboe; Ayano Ninomiya and Yonah Zur, violins; Marcus Thompson and Deanna Badizadegan, violas; Clancy Newman, cello; and Max Levinson, piano. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Bust Out Boston Music Festival from noon to 9 p.m. (and running through Sunday) at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Matinee tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door to see Dark Matter (pictured); Mint Green; Susan Cattaneo; Citrusphere; PowerSlut; Lily Black; and Happy Little Clouds. The evening show is $20 in advance or $24 at the door featuring The Devils Twins; Magen Tracy & the Missed Connections; Cujo; Flight of Fire; and Lonely Leesa & The Lost Cowboys. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Community Chess Weekend from 1 to 3 p.m. to challenge grandmaster Larry Christiansen and from 4:30 to 7 p.m. for an open blitz tournament ($10 entry fee) to qualify for Sunday’s championship for the inaugural Collins Cup. Information is here. 


Sunday

bullet-gray-small Dumpling Festival at the Central Flea from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at University Park Commons, in Cambridgeport near Central Square. In honor of pioneering chef Joyce Chen, 15 local restaurants and food trucks will cook up various kinds of dumplings among the Flea’s usual roster of food trucks, beer and more than 90 funky vendors. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Formaggio Kitchen 40th Anniversary Celebration from 1 to 4 p.m. at Formaggio Kitchen, 244 Huron Ave., Huron Village in West Cambridge. Wristbands are $10 ($11.19 with fees) for live music, kids activities, a raffle with $5 tickets, a beer garden, food samples and unlimited small bites from local restaurants including Alden & Harlow, Coppa, Island Creek Oyster Bar, Loyal Nine and Oleana, with profits from ticket sales going to the Food for Free nonprofit. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Union Square Walking Tour from 2:30 to 5 p.m. starting at 1 Bow Market Way, Union Square, Somerville. Free, but an RSVP is requested because of limited space. Big changes are coming to Union Square with a green line stop, so this provides a chance to take in the “Union Square Landscape: Looking Forward and Backward” with Ed Gordon, New England chapter president of the Victorian Society in America. Information is here.

bullet-gray-small Community Chess Weekend continues from 1 to 4 p.m. as players from Saturday’s open blitz compete for the inaugural Collins Cup. Information is here. 

bullet-gray-small Bust Out Boston Music Festival from 3 p.m. to midnight at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. Matinee tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door to see Oompa; Aubrey Haddard;  Cruel Miracle; Carissa Johnson; Fur Purse; and Emily Grogan (pictured). The evening show is $20 in advance or $24 at the door featuring Melissa Ferrick; Shepherdess; Aversed; Marcela Cruz; sister; Thrust Club; and Radium Girls. Information is here.