Editor’s note: For a more comprehensive list, check out our searchable events calendar.
Thursday, Jan. 29
12:30 to 1 p.m. Jan. 29
Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Gallery Talk: Uncovering the Layered Past of a Haniwa Figure
Free. Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies’ Kaela Nurmi discusses a newly installed sculpture, a 6th-century terracotta sculpture from Japan’s Kofun period (c. 250–600), called a haniwa and how the conservation treatment uncovered original surfaces obscured by layers of restoration.
5 to 9 p.m. Jan. 29
Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., in the Baldwin neighborhood near Harvard Square, Cambridge.
ArtThursdays: Puzzle Party
Free and 18-plus. For one night only, the museum offers an exclusive certificate in CRYPTOzoology. Sea monsters, unicorns, sasquatches — creatures long dismissed as “pseudoscience” — will finally be studied. Be among the first to “apply” for this prestigious new program by tackling a series of playful, museum-based puzzles that will test your powers of deduction and close looking. Along the way you’ll craft a short application “essay” to prove you’ve got what it takes to be a certified cryptozoologist.
6 to 8 p.m. Jan. 29
Cambridge Main Library, 449 Broadway, Mid-Cambridge.
Documentary screening: “The Next Dream”
Free, but RSVP. This independent documentary tells the story about more than 1 million Temporary Protected Status families across the U.S. who are at risk of deportation and family separation.
Friday, Jan. 30
1 to 3:30 p.m. Jan. 30
Brattle Street (between Eliot and Church Streets).
18th Annual Taste of Chocolate Festival
NOTE: The Chocolate Tasting Event has been postponed to March 7 due to cold forecasted temperatures.
3 to 5 p.m. Jan. 30
Cambridge Public Library’s Central Square Branch, 45 Pearl St.
Movie screening: “Fantasia”
Free. Watch the iconic 1940 “Fantasia” consisting of eight animated segments set to pieces of classical music conducted by Leopold Stokowski, seven of which are performed by the Philadelphia Orchestra.
7 p.m. Jan. 30
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., near Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Robert Carlock and Tina Fey in Conversation: Creative Mischief and the Art of Being Funny Together
Free, but register. Screenwriters Carlock and Fey share insights into their artistic process and creative collaboration. They have worked on “30 Rock,” which he wrote for and produced, and “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” which debuted in 2015. He also wrote the screenplay for Fey’s film “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.”
Saturday, Jan. 31
7 p.m. Jan. 31
Longy School of Music, 27 Garden St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Women of Valor
$25. An artistic exploration of women’s strengths, struggles, perseverance and leadership featuring visual artist Zahurah Nur Truth and music by Anthony R. Green, Mary Kouyoumdjian, Francine Trester, Cole Reyes and spoken word artist Amanda Shea.
8 p.m. Jan. 31
Agassiz Theatre, 5 James St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Harvard College Opera presents “Le Nozze di Figaro”
$20. Mozart’s comic-opera, set-in 18th-century Spain, follows a single day in the lives of Figaro and Susanna, servants in the household of Count Almaviva. As they prepare for their wedding, complications arise when the Count schemes to seduce Susanna.
Sunday, Feb. 1
6 p.m. Feb. 1
Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square.
Film: “Massachusetts Avenue: Life Along Cambridge’s Main Artery”
$10 to $16. A tour of Massachusetts Avenue featuring aerial cinematography, revealing interviews with small business owners, controversial news-making stories, a look at the Avenue’s origins and Central Square’s dance party as seen from above.
6 p.m. Feb. 1
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Harvard Square Book Circle
Free. This month’s title: “Year of the Tiger: An Activist’s Life” by Alice Wong.
Monday, Feb. 2
7 p.m. Feb. 2
Boston Figurative Arts Center, 285 Washington St., Ward 2, Somerville.
Picture + Panel: We Are What We Cook with Robert Mgrdich Apelian and Shaina Lu Free to $5 and 21-plus. Author-illustrator Mgrdich Apelian and community artist Lu, both whose graphic novels explore the intersections of culture, community and comestibles, come together to talk about food and family at this monthly confab of graphic-novel creators. Sponsored by the Boston Figurative Arts Center, Porter Square Books and the Boston Comic Arts Foundation.
7 p.m. Feb. 2
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Ave., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Rachel Eliza Griffiths and Tracy K. Smith discuss “The Flower Bearers: A Memoir”
Free. Griffiths, a poet, turns to prose to trace her trauma from losing her best friend to nearly losing her new husband, Salman Rushdie, during a brutal attack. She also documents her healing from these events and says goodbye to the woman she was before. Former Poet Laureate of the United States Tracy K. Smith joins.
Tuesday, Feb. 3
2 to 4 p.m. Feb. 3
Cambridge Public Library’s Central Square Branch, 45 Pearl St.
Fire Cider Class
Free. Mo Katz-Christy discusses the ingredients in fire cider, different recipes for different conditions and when and how to use them to help our immune system kick out colds, flus and more.
7 p.m. Feb. 3
Porter Square Books, 1815 Massachusetts Ave., Porter Square, Cambridge.
Roddy Bottum reads from “The Royal We”
RSVP. A founder of the influential band Faith No More discusses growing up gay with no role models, to traveling to San Francisco, where he formed Faith No More and went on to tour the world, surviving heroin addiction and the plight of AIDS, to become a queer icon. Music performer Bitch joins.
10:30 p.m. to midnight Feb. 3
Lilypad, 1353 Cambridge St., Inman Square, Cambridge.
Jam session with Nick Brust and Liz Sinn
$10 to $15. The Boston jazz saxophonist and pianist-composer have put together a quartet with bassist Ehud Ettun and drummer Rafael Barata to perform uncommon standards and originals. The house band plays a set up front, followed by an open jam session.
Wednesday, Feb. 4
7 p.m. Feb. 4
Grolier Poetry Book Shop, 6 Plympton St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Poets Christopher Jane Corkery, Holli Carrell and Rebecca Hart Olander
$5 to $10, but register. With an introduction by Carla Panciera.
7 p.m. Feb. 4
Aeronaut Brewing, 14 Tyler St., near Union Square in Ward 2, Somerville.
Berklee Music Series: Paloma Chesky
Free but RSVP and 21-plus. Up-and-coming talent from the Berklee College of Music perform in the Aeronaut taproom. Chesky is a singer-songwriter who released her album “Memory” in 2025.
Thursday, Feb. 5
7 p.m. Feb. 5
The Burren, 247 Elm St., Davis Square, Somerville.
Adam Sherman: “Sorrows and Smiles” album release
$20 to $25. Songwriter Sherman, nominated for Performer of the Year at the 2025 New England Music Awards, celebrates the release of his fourth album. The Daylilies join.
8 p.m. Feb. 5
The Comedy Studio, 5 John F. Kennedy St., Harvard Square, Cambridge.
Black Girl Magic comedy
$24. Comedians Nonye Brown-West, Bethany Van Delft and Tooky Kavanagh bring their talents to the stage.
8 p.m. Feb. 5
Cantab Lounge, 738 Massachusetts Ave., Central Square, Cambridge.
The Chicken Slacks perform
8 p.m. at $10, and 21-plus. The seven-piece funk and soul band is kind of a local legend at providing a good time for a diverse and multigenerational crowd.
A stronger
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