Friday, Sept. 1

Multicultural Arts Center Block Party from 6 to 8:30 p.m. at Centanni Park outside the Multicultural Arts Center, 41 Second St., East Cambridge. Free. A dance battle headlined by Boston hip-hop icon Megatron featuring top local dancers competing in all styles, pumped by the beats of DJ Take Flyte. Information is here.

25 Years of Campfire celebration from 6 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $25. This weekendlong festival brings 80 acts of all genres, new and returning, to the stage, swapping between songwriter rounds and band sets. Originally just a way to fill a bad booking weekend in 1998, the festival now aims to develop talent and celebrate the local music scene, with organizers saying shows can blur the line between performer and audience member – just like might happen sitting around an actual campfire, strumming a guitar or two. Information is here.

Three Rocking Bands Plus One at 7 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $15 and 21-plus. Producer Once Somerville brings together New England bands Strega Strega, Paper Tigers, Dalton Moon and a special guest for a night of high-energy performances as jam-packed as our crazy recent weather (if you don’t like one group, wait five minutes). Information is here.

Boston Swing Central Labor Day DJ Jam from 8 to 11:45 p.m. at Q Ballroom, 26 New St., Suite 3, Fresh Pond, Cambridge. $8 to $13. This social partner dance, providing a “safe space” to swing, includes a lesson for beginners in the first hour. No partner required and no street shoes. Information is here.

’Tis the Damn Season: A Taylor Swift Dance Party at 8 p.m. at The Middle East Downstairs, 480 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge. $25 and 18-plus. While a DJ plays Taylor through her eras, get something better than revenge during a lip-sync battle and costume contest, or never grow up with bracelet trading – and more. Information is here.

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Saturday, Sept. 2

The Uncompromising Political Career of Alice K. Wolf through Sept. 10 in the lobby and second floor of the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free. Before her tribute event Sept. 9, be sure to see this visual description of Wolf’s 40-year career as a public servant working for progressive ideals, equity and fairness in government. Information is here.

Discover Mount Auburn walking tour from 1 to 2:30 p.m. at Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mount Auburn St., West Cambridge. $10, but registration is required. Mount Auburn is a National Historic Landmark and the final resting place of nearly 100,000 people – including famous ones such as poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter and cookbook author Fannie Farmer – along with being home to 700 wildlife species and varieties of trees, beautiful sculpture and landscaping and gloriously gloomy tombs and mausoleums. This 1.5-mile walking tour focuses on history, monuments and the lives of the buried. Information is here.

25 Years of Campfire celebration (continued) from 2 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $25. Information is here.

Bread & Puppet Theater’s “The Heart of the Matter Circus” from 4 to 5 p.m. on Cambridge Common, near Harvard Square. Free. This iconic group’s new show is described by co-founder Peter Schumann as a “response to our totally un-resurrected capitalist situation” and “our culture’s unwillingness to recognize Mother Earth’s revolt against our civilization.” Hence the need for “resurrection circuses to yell against our own stupidity.” Expect the always awesome stilt dancers, papier-mâché beasts and riotous brass band – plus servings of sourdough rye. Featured as part of Cambridge Arts’ Summer in the City series. Information is here.

Open hours for the arts: Letter Writing from 4 to 5 p.m. at the Somerville Community Growing Center, 22 Vinal Ave., near Union Square, Somerville. Free. Join Delia Marshall in the garden to learn about the history of letter writing, then connect with someone in your life through the written word. Information is here.

Oropendola, Aerhart and Datcha at 7 p.m. at The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $15 to $20, all ages. From Brooklyn and Boston come three performances, respectively, of “kaleidoscopic chamber pop” partly influenced by Kate Bush; a solo project for fans of Joni Mitchell with overtones of Weyes Blood; and a bedroom-pop project with a revolving door of musical collaborators. Information is here.

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Sunday, Sept. 3

’90s’ Drag Brunch at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. at Summer Shack, 149 Alewife Brook Parkway, Alewife, Cambridge. Have a meal and enjoy this themed dance party hosted by Neon Calypso. Information is here.

Soul Search Sunday from 1 to 3 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square, Cambridge. Free. DreamStar Music Group presents a recurring showcase of some of the region’s hottest up-and-coming Soul and R&B artists. Information is here.

25 Years of Campfire celebration (continued) from 2 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $25. Information is here.

Nature Poetry in the Park from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the Magazine Beach Park Nature Center, at the river end of Magazine Street in the Cambridgeport neighborhood. Free, but registration is required. Listen to three poets from the board of the New England Poetry Club read work rooted in nature. Information is here.

Mur Lafferty reads from the second book of “The Midsolar Murders” series at 6:30 p.m. at Pandemonium Books & Games, 4 Pleasant St., Central Square, Cambridge. $5 to $17. Hall of Fame podcaster and award-winning author Lafferty comes from North Carolina to read from “Chaos Terminal” ahead of its November release and sign copies of the series’ first book, “Station Eternity.” Information is here.

First Sunday Blues dancing at 7 p.m. in the back room of The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville (and continuing the first Sunday of each month). $18 to $23, all ages. Start with a lesson (no partner required) and then dance. This month expect, local swing band River Street Six performs in place of regularly scheduled Tiger Moan (though RS6 members Michael Valdez and Erica Risti are also members of Tiger Moan). Information is here.

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Monday, Sept. 4

Central Square Farmers Market at 76 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square, Cambridge, from noon to 6 p.m. This market during summer Monday holidays is where you can encounter chefs on a rare day off, old friends like you who’ve stayed in town and the beautiful ecosystem that is peak New England harvest crossed with Cambridge’s vibrant population diversity. Information is here.

25 Years of Campfire celebration (continued) from 2 to 11 p.m. at Passim, 47 Palmer St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10 to $25. Information is here.

Jerry Bergonzi Quartet from 8:30 to 10 p.m. at Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge (and continuing most Mondays). $10 to $15. Bergonzi brings his tenor sax mastery to this seated show along with bandmates Phil Grenadier on trumpet and Luther Gray on drums. (The bassist is TBD.) Information is here.

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Tuesday, Sept. 5

Beer Garden Pop-up from 5 to 8 p.m. at Urban Park Roof Garden atop the Kendall Center Green Garage at 90 Broadway, Kendall Square. $5 to $15 and 21-plus. With every beer token bought during September’s beer garden popup in the sky, co-sponsors Lamplighter Brewing and Kendall Center donate $5 to the tech-education nonprofit Per Scholas. (To access the roof garden, use the elevators in the Kendall Center Green Garage at 90 Broadway and press “R,” or use the street level stairwell on Main Street next to the MBTA outbound station.) Information is here.

Tuesday Night Ride from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge (meet at the west side, by the high school). Free. This almost 10-mile social bike ride (with emphasis on “social”) includes a 15-minute halfway stop and a hangout at the end near Lechmere. Restrooms and Bluebikes are at all three places. Information is here.

Lee McIntyre reads from “On Disinformation: How to Fight for Truth and Protect Democracy” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Drawing on his 20 years of experience as a scholar of science denial, McIntyre explains how autocrats wield disinformation to manipulate a populace and deny obvious realities and how ordinary citizens can help disrupt disinformation’s spread. Boston investigative news reporter Hank Philippi Ryan joins the conversation. Information is here.

Smut Slam from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. at the Café at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $10 suggested donation. This fast-paced storytelling open mic invites participants to tell five-minute, real-life dirty stories. The top three slammers win sexy swag from Good Vibrations. Information is here.

Charli XCX and Carly Rae Jepsen drag tribute at 8 p.m. at Somerville Theatre’s Crystal Ballroom, 55 Davis Square. $19 to $35 and 18-plus. This special double-album show, marking the fall premiere of the Full Spin series, pays tribute to Charli XCX’s “Crash” and Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Emotion.” Information is here.

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Wednesday, Sept. 6

Cambridge Carnival Jamboree from 5 to 9 p.m. at Lafayette Square, 900 Main St., at the south end of Central Square, Cambridge. Free. This pre-Carnival event celebrates the contributions of Caribbean residents of Cambridge and recognizes the rich cultural heritage of the Caribbean diaspora through music. DJ Ohh of Whistle and Bell Sound System will spin international tunes. Information is here.

Bootcamp with Tim Khanoyan at 6 p.m. at The Common at Cambridge Crossing, 320 Morgan Ave., North Point, Cambridge. Free. Bring water and a yoga mat to this all-levels-outdoor-total-body workout using various equipment in a circuit training fashion, as part of the CXFit lineup of classes at Cambridge Crossing. Information is here.

Mahfouz and Kapoor read from “Defiant Dreams: The Journey of an Afghan Girl Who Risked Everything for Education” from 6 to 7:30 at the Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge. Free, but registration is required. Sola Mahfouz, with co-author Malaina Kapoor, discusses her debut memoir with Radcliffe fellow Matthieu Aikins, author of “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water.” Information is here.

Moving in Community from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Dance Studio at The Foundry, 101 Rogers St., East Cambridge (and continuing each Wednesday through Nov. 15). $0 to $15. All are welcome to this newly launched dance, meditation and writing class in which movers will exchange ideas, words and movement phrases, building narratives and leading up to a loosely structured improvisational/movement score. Information is here.

Jag Singh reads from “Future Care: Sensors, Artificial Intelligence and the Reinvention of Medicine” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Harvard’s own Singh talks with Boston 25 News reporter Jim Morelli on how health care can become sensible, affordable and practical through more digital monitoring, depending on our ability to understand and adapt to this changing landscape. Information is here.

Songwriters in the Round from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Rooted Café at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $10. Taking turns are Britt Connors playing “Y’all-Ternative” music, Mark Stepakoff lyricizing modern life’s wry and poignant moments, young old soul Nora Meier crooning effortlessly and vocal powerhouse Stephanie James delivering 21st century messages of love, loneliness and friendship. Information is here.

Open Mic Night @ West from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Atrium of the Somerville Public Library West Branch, 40 College Ave., near Davis Square. Free, but register. Even if you’ve never had the chance to perform in public, bring your own instruments and your love of song and jam with others at this low-stakes night of music and fun. Keyboard and microphone will be on site. Free. Information is here.

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Thursday, Sept. 7

Marion Nestle on Food Politics 2023: What Matters and Why from noon to 1:15 p.m. in Room 414AB in the Rubenstein Building at 79 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free, but registration is required. Harvard Kennedy School research professor Bill Clark talks with Marion Nestle, emerita professor of nutrition, food studies and public health at New York University. Sponsored by the Mossavar-Rahmani Center of HKS. Also via Zoom. Information is here.

Hip Hop After Work from 5 to 6 p.m. at Jill Brown-Rhone Park, near Central Square, Cambridge. DJ Nomadik and The Bridgeside Cypher headline this celebration of 50 years of hip-hop, sponsored by Cambridge Arts/Summer in the City and the Central Square Business Improvement District. Information is here.

 

Walks Across America comes to Harvard University at 6 p.m. at the Harvard Science Center Plaza, 1 Oxford St., near Harvard Square. Free, but register. The American Repertory Theater, along with The Walk Productions and Handspring Puppet Co., host one of the first free public events of the 6,000-mile national tour of Little Amal, a 12-foot-tall puppet of a 10-year-old Syrian refugee girl. Information is here.

Jocelyn Simonson reads from “Radical Acts of Justice: How Ordinary People Are Dismantling Mass Incarceration” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. Simonson describes the collective action of groups who’ve challenged the ideas that prosecutions and prisons make us safer: citizens whose participation in democracy includes, among other things, paying bail for a stranger, using social media to let the public know what everyday courtroom proceedings are like and making a video about someone’s life for a criminal court judge – all in the name of justice. Joining in conversation is Sandra Susan Smith, director of Harvard’s Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. Information is here.

Queer Prom at 7 p.m. at The Rockwell, 255 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville. $5 and 21-plus. Producer Once Somerville brings Asian American singer songwriter Olivia Sisay and the freak folk band Sweet Petunia to host a very non-icky prom experience, complete with drag show, lip-sync battle, costume contest and DJ Chelita. Information is here.

Poets Megan Fernandes, Edgar Kunz and Oliver de la Paz read from 7 to 8 p.m. at Grolier Poetry Book Shop on 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $10, but registration is required. With an introduction by Maura Smyth. Information is here.

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Friday, Sept. 8

Greek Festival from noon to 11 p.m. at Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, 29 Central St., Somerville (and continuing through Sept. 10). Free. Philosophize with friends over Greek food, pastries, beer and wine or follow the choreography to live muse-ic under a colossus tent. Information is here.

The 98th Annual Italian Feast of Saints Cosmas & Damian from 1 to 10 p.m. on Warren Street, Porter Street and Maccarelli Way in East Cambridge (and continuing through Sept. 10). Free. It’s a miracle how this weekend street festival – featuring food vendors, amusement rides, carnival games, beer garden, parades, outdoor Mass, arts and crafts and many, many people – fits into a few streets of this humble neighborhood. Even more how Warren Street turns into Vegas, with a throwback-music headliner each evening (Stevie B, Wayne Newton and The Coasters). Information is here.

Movie Night: “Wall-E” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Kendall/MIT Open Space at 292 Main St., Kendall Square, Cambridge. Free, but registration is recommended. A movie under the stars with free popcorn with Pixar’s animated 2008 charmer about a small waste-collecting robot that inadvertently embarks on a journey to decide the fate of humankind. Reviewer Tom Meek called it “original and engaging.” Enjoy the weather while you can! Information is here.

The Asian American Playwright Collective Playfest from 7 to 9:30 p.m. at Starlight Square, 84 Bishop Allen Drive, Central Square, Cambridge. Free. Nine new plays explore the theme of code switching and feature the works of member playwrights with direction and performances by AA, API and Asian-adjacent member of the local theater community. Information is here.

Roger Reeves reads from “Dark Days: Fugitive Essays” at 7 p.m. at Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge. Free. This debut work of nonfiction by Reeves was described as “soaring reflections on joy, ecstasy and stillness as profound practices that fuel Black freedom and resistance” by poet and professor Cathy Park Hong, though during this event Reeves discusses his new collection with the Pulitzer-winning Tracy K. Smith. Information is here.

Speedy Ortiz at 8 p.m. at Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave., Somerville. $24. This Philly-by-way-of-Northampton band has been recording solid indie rock since 2011. Its new LP, “Rabbit Rabbit,” is the first to feature longtime tour members as full contributors. Washer and Tiffy open. Information is here.