A week of events in Cambridge and Somerville, from Inman Eats & Crafts to the Campfire. Fest
Sunday
CRLS August Wilson Monologue Competition from 12:30 to 2 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The Triggered Project and host Keith Mascoll – an alum of Cambridge Rindge and Latin School – brings in students to perform monologues by the great playwright of “Fences,” “Two Trains Running,” “The Piano Lesson,” “Seven Guitars” and more. Information is here.
Last year’s Inman Eats & Crafts festival. (Photo: The East Cambridge Business Association via Facebook)
Inman Eats & Crafts, from noon to 4 p.m. on Cambridge Street in Inman Square, between Springfield and Prospect streets. The East Cambridge Business Association’s annual celebration of “everything Inman Square” has a long list of restaurants with food stands, a beer garden, live music and vendors that include more than 30 local makers set up in a Handmade Marketplace. We wrote about it here; information is here.
Monday
Ben McGrath reads from “Riverman: An American Odyssey” at 7 p.m. at Porter Square Books, 25 White St., Porter Square. Free. McGrath’s book tells the true story of Dick Conant, who canoed thousands of miles of U.S. rivers alone over more than 20 years, then disappeared near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The author will be in conversation with Financial Times contributing editor Brendan Greeley. Information is here.
Indie/Folk Open Mic Night from 8 to 10 p.m. at The Cantab Underground, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square. Free. A keyboard and guitar amp are provided for performers. Information is here.
Tuesday
Robert Kuttner Presents “Going Big” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. Journalist and political analyst Kuttner discusses his latest, “Going Big: FDR’s Legacy, Biden’s New Deal and the Struggle to Save Democracy,” in an event sponsored by the library and Harvard Book Store. Registration is not required, but encouraged. Information is here.
The Moth Story Slam from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. at The Center for Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. Tickets are $15. This open-mic storytelling competition on the fourth Tuesday of each month is open to anyone who can share a five-minute story on the night’s theme – this time, “water.” Proof of vaccination is required. Information is here.
Mike Block. (Photo: Todd Rosenberg)
Mike Block’s 40th Birthday Concert at 8 p.m. in the Crystal Ballroom of the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. Tickets are $25. The cello player, singer, composer and educator from Yo-Yo Ma’s Grammy Award-winning Silk Road Ensemble celebrates his 40th with West African balafon player Balla Kouyaté, fiddler Darol Anger, mandolinist Joe K. Walsh, bassist Zachariah Hickman, Kimber Ludiker of Della Mae, Nicholas Cords of Brooklyn Rider and Scottish American fiddler Hanneke Cassel. Masks are required. Information is here.
Wednesday
International Festival from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Kendall/MIT Open Space at 292 Main St., Kendall Square. Free. MIT International Science and Technology Initiatives organization, offers food and activities from cultures around the world at this community night, including performances of the Senegalese drum and dance tradition sabar, renditions of Nepalese/Hindi songs and Brazilian dance by the SambaViva ensemble. Information is here.
Thursday
23rd Annual Youth Poetry Awards from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. K-8 poets will be awarded prizes and are invited to read their work. No word on whether Tom Holland and Zendaya will walk the red carpet. Information is here.
Elif Batuman reads from “Either/Or: A Novel” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square. Free. There’s lots of talk about this follow-up to Batuman’s “The Idiot,” still following Selin through misadventures at Harvard in the 1990s and now delving into parties, alcohol and sex. Batuman will be in conversation with Beth Blum, associate professor of English at Harvard University. Information is here.
CRLS’ Media Arts Film Festival from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. Student filmmakers screen their work from the school year. Information is here.
A recent Celebration of Spring. (Photo: Revels)
A Celebration of Spring from Revels and Perkins School for the Blind at 7:30 p.m. on Facebook Live. Free. The Cambridge arts organization and Watertown school hold their 21st annual springtime song-and-dance collaboration. Performers include musician and soloist David Coffin, Revels music director Elijah Botkin and artistic director Patrick Swanson, soloist Bobbie Hill and The Revels Chorus, The Pinewoods Morris Men and The Perkins Secondary Program Chorus with special guests Chorus pro Musica of Boston. Information is here.
Friday
CRLS World Jazz Ensemble from 7 to 9 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square. Free. The high-level group from the Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School, which plays at shows and events around Greater Boston, goes beyond jazz at this concert. Information is here.
Ava Sophia performs at Campfire. on Friday. (Photo: Ava Sophia via Instagram)
Campfire. Festival from 6 to 11 tonight and 4 to 11 p.m. Saturday, Sunday and Monday at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $10 for daily passes or $25 for a weekend pass (or free to stream). Passim’s twice-a-year homegrown festival of Americana, bluegrass, blues, Celtic, country, folk and related musical styles runs throughout the long Memorial Day weekend with 26 hours of live music from 49 acts. Originally just a way to fill a bad booking weekend in 1998, the festival now competes with the rock- and pop-focused Boston Calling across the river. The distressingly punctuated Campfire. aims to develop talent and celebrate the local music scene, with organizers saying shows can blur the line between performer and audience member – as might happen sitting around an actual campfire, strumming a guitar or two. Information is here for the all-ages festival, now in its 24th year.
“The Bob’s Burgers Movie” with introduction by Eugene Mirman, 8 p.m. at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square. Tickets are $14. Twelve seasons and a movie, and on opening night comedian Mirman, the voice of burger shop scion Gene Belcher, will be on hand. An after party takes place at 10 p.m. in the theater’s Crystal Ballroom for anyone seeing the movie here on this opening weekend. Information is here.
Saturday
Campfire. Festival continues from 4 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $10 for daily passes or $25 for a weekend pass (or free to stream). Information is here for the all-ages festival, now in its 24th year.
Argentine music by Guillermo Nojechowicz from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Jill Brown-Rhone Park, near Central Square. Free. Argentine drummer and composer Nojechowicz, a Berklee College of Music grad who heads the Brazilian-Argentine jazz ensemble El Eco, performs as part of the Cambridge Plays series. Information is here.
Sunday
Quentin Callewaert and Honest Mechanik perform from 2 to 5 p.m. Palmer Street, Harvard Square. Free. Callewaert, who starts this bill, is a 21-year-old classically trained acoustic guitarist and singer who blends Americana, gospel and bluegrass. Honest Mechanik is the indie-pop duo of Susan Cattaneo and Paul Hansen (The Grownup Noise), which starts at 4 p.m. with “quirky lyrics and ear-worm melodies” and “the vibe of The Velvet Underground paired with the intimacy of Belle and Sebastian.” Part of the Cambridge Plays series. Information is here.
Campfire. Festival continues from 4 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square. Tickets are $10 for daily passes or $25 for a weekend pass (or free to stream). Information is here for the all-ages festival, now in its 24th year.
