Spring Break in Boston

The Taste of Iceland in Boston Festival gives locals a chance to experience some of the finest cuisine, music, film, and literature that Iceland has to offer. Photo courtesy of Iceland Naturally

Spring break, that harbinger of longer days and warmer weather, has arrived. For some, that means a trip to someplace warm and sunny, for others, a chance to visit family and friends. For the first time, all residence halls will remain open during spring break. However, dining halls will be closed starting Saturday, March 5, and will reopen for dinner on Sunday, March 13. The George Sherman Union will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For those who can’t get away and plan to stay local, we’ve put together a great mix of events happening throughout the city—theater, food, movies, sporting events—to tempt you to do more than binge-watch Netflix.

Food

Dine Out Boston

If you’ve been hankering for a good restaurant meal, but couldn’t afford it, here’s your chance. Every March and August, the Greater Boston Convention & Visitors Bureau and American Express team up to present Dine Out Boston (formerly known as Restaurant Week Boston). Participating restaurants create great value prix fixe lunch and dinner menus. Local favorites like the Capital Grille, Max Brenner, and Papa Razzi are among the restaurants participating. Diners have a chance to win a $100 gift card to a participating restaurant simply by taking a picture of their dish and posting it to Instagram with the hashtag #DineOutBoston and the name of the restaurant. The photo with the most likes will win, with a winner chosen each day. Note: Dine Out Boston is popular, so reservations are encouraged.

Dine Out Boston is Sunday, March 6, through Friday, March 11, and Sunday, March 13, through Friday, March 18. Lunch is $15, $20, or $25; dinner is $28, $33, or $38 per person. Find a list of participating restaurants here. Make a reservation here or by contacting a restaurant directly.

Taste of Iceland in Boston Festival

Here’s the next best thing for those who haven’t yet made it to Iceland: the annual Taste of Iceland in Boston Festival, a four-day celebration of Icelandic culture, March 4 through March 7. Among the festival’s events is a delicious, authentic Icelandic meal being offered at Merchant, in Downtown Crossing, prepared by award-winning chef Thrainn Freyr, Iceland’s Blue Lagoon LAVA Restaurant head chef. Vigfusson is teaming up with Merchant executive chef Matt Foley to prepare the four-course menu, for $65, available March 4 to 7. Other events include a talk by noted Icelandic author Eliza Reid at the Prudential Center Barnes & Noble on Saturday, March 5; the Reykjavik Calling Concert, featuring several Icelandic bands, at the Middle East in Cambridge, also on March 5; and a screening of Rock in Reykjavik, a documentary about Iceland’s growing rock scene, at Cambridge’s Brattle Theatre on March 6.

The Taste of Iceland in Boston Festival runs from Friday, March 4, through Monday, March 7. Find a full list of events here. For a Merchant reservation, call 617-482-6060.

Third Annual Great Boston Chili Bowl

A great bowl of chili is among the best winter comfort foods. Here’s a chance to indulge and support a great cause. Head over to Cambridge for the third annual Great Boston Chili Bowl, where local restaurants and breweries showcase the best of their chili and beers. All proceeds support the Therapy Development Institute’s drug development research to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease. Participating restaurants include Cambridge’s Fuji, Puritan & Company, and the Red House, and Boston’s Lolita Cocina & Tequila Bar, Taranta, and Yvonne’s. Among the breweries are Somerville’s Aeronaut Brewing and Boston’s Downeast Cider House and Portico Brewing Company.

The Great Boston Chili Bowl, open to those 21 and older, is Saturday, March 5, from noon to 3:30 p.m. in the Tech Square Atrium, 100 Technology Square, Cambridge. General admission tickets ($56.50), include parking, unlimited samples of chili and beer, and a commemorative tasting glass, and must be purchased online. Take an inbound Green Line trolley to Park Street, transfer to an outbound Red Line train towards Alewife, and get off at Kendall/MIT.

Music and Dance 

In-and-Out Concerts at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

The concerts in this series are held each Monday, featuring music this month by the Callithumpian Consort, an ensemble dedicated to performing new music. The series is informal, so museumgoers can experience rarely performed pieces in a leisurely come-and-go atmosphere, staying for a few moments or for the entire performance.

The In and Out Concerts are every Monday at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, 25 Evans Way, Boston, at 2:30 p.m., and are free with museum admission. Museum admission is free for BU students with a valid ID, $15 for adults, $12 for seniors (65 and up), $5 for college students, and free for museum members, visitors under 18, and anyone named Isabella. The museum is open daily (closed Tuesdays), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., until 9 p.m. Thursdays. Find directions here.

Compagnie Hervé Koubi at the Institute of Contemporary Art 

Compagnie Hervé Koubi, a dance company of 12 French-Algerian and African male dancers, makes its Boston debut performing Ce que le jour doit a la nuit (What the Day Owes the Night), a fluid, highly physical piece combining a variety of influences, including martial arts and contemporary dance. The dancers, renowned for their fusion of acrobatics, gymnastics, modern dance, and ballet, come mostly from street dance and hip-hop backgrounds. The ICA offers free preperformance discussions with Boston Dance Alliance executive director Debra Cash 30 minutes prior to curtain in the ICA lobby.

Compagnie Hervé Koubi performs Ce que le jour doit a la nuit on Friday, March 11, and Saturday, March 12, both at 8 p.m. at the ICA, 100 Northern Ave., Boston. Purchase tickets, $36 for members and students with a valid BU ID, $40 otherwise, here. Find directions here.

Theater and Film 

H.M.S. Pinafore at Oberon at the American Repertory Theater 

If you’re in the mood for an interactive and anything-but-typical theater experience, look no further than the Chicago-based Hypocrites theater company production of Gilbert & Sullivan’s classic operetta H.M.S. Pinafore, currently at Oberon at the American Repertory Theater. This zany new adaptation features versions of the operetta’s best known songs, like “I’m Called Little Buttercup.”

H.M.S. Pinafore runs through March 20 at Oberon at the American Repertory Theater, 2 Arrow Street, Cambridge. Purchase tickets (starting at $25; student tickets $15) here. Find directions here.

August Wilson’s How I Learned What I Learned, Huntington Theatre Company

In this solo autobiographical show, the late Tony- and Pulitzer-winning playwright August Wilson (Hon.’96) shares stories about his early jobs, time spent in jail, friendships, loves, and encounters with racism. Directed by Todd Kreidler and starring Eugene Lee as Wilson, both longtime Wilson collaborators, it enumerates obstacles Wilson faced and explores what it means to be an African American artist in today’s society.

The Huntington Theatre Company production of How I Learned What I Learned is at the BU Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave., Boston, through April 3. Purchase tickets online, by phone at 617-266-0800, or at the BU Theatre box office. Patrons 35 and younger may purchase $30 tickets (ID required) for any production, and there is a $5 discount for seniors. Military personnel can purchase tickets for $20 with promo code MILITARY, and student tickets are available for $20. Members of the BU community get $10 off (ID required). Call 617-266-0800 for more information.

T: An MBTA Musical at Improv Boston

T: An MBTA Musical is for anyone who’s ever harbored a grudge against the T. It’s the story of three 20-somethings whose lives are upended by the MBTA’s incompetency. When they discover a secret map allowing them to stop the system’s inadequacy, they embark on a journey that’s equal parts love story, scavenger hunt, and melodrama. It all adds up to a transportation nightmare. With a punchline like, “If you see something, sing something,” how can you resist?

T: An MBTA Musical is performed at ImprovBoston, 40 Prospect St., Central Square, Cambridge, every Friday at 10 p.m. through May 20. Admission is $25. Order tickets here. Find directions here.

16 in ’16 Irish Film Festival at Somerville Theatre

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day, the 16th annual Irish Film Festival comes to the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square. This year’s title is a play on its 16th anniversary coinciding with 2016. Some 45 films will be screened, and a number of Irish filmmakers and directors will appear. The festival kicks off on Thursday, March 10, with Mark Noonan’s debut feature film, You’re Ugly Too, winner of this year’s Best Breakthrough Feature Award. It stars Game of Thrones actor Aidan Gilllen. The festival concludes on Sunday, March 13, with a number of screenings commemorating the 100th anniversary of Ireland’s Easter Rising, or Easter Rebellion.

The 16th annual Irish Film Festival is at the Somerville Theatre, 55 Davis Square, Somerville, from Thursday, March 10, through Sunday, March 13. Tickets to each screening are $15 for opening night and $12 for all others. An all-access pass is $85. Find a complete schedule of events and buy tickets here. Tickets are also available at the theater box office. 

Museums 

#techstyle at the Museum of Fine Arts

Clothes produced by a 3-D printer ready to wear, dresses you can tweet—visitors will be able to see these and more at #techstyle, a new exhibition at the MFA. Drawing on the museum’s collection of contemporary fashion and accessories, the show explores ways fashion and technology intersect, and how that’s changing the way designers design. Among the highlights: a digitally printed dress by Alexander McQueen and a 3-D dress designed by Iris van Herpen and produced in collaboration with MIT designer Neri Oxman. This show’s a must for anyone interested in cutting-edge fashion.

#techstyle is at the Museum of Fine Arts, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston, through July 10. The museum is open Monday, Tuesday, Saturday, and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m., and Wednesday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 9:45 p.m. Admission is free for members or students with a BU ID, $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and students 18 and over, free for children ages 6 and under, youths 7 to 17 on weekdays after 3 p.m., weekends, and Boston public school holidays (otherwise $10), and to the public on Wednesday evenings. Find directions here.

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

Housed in a 15th-century Venetian style palace, the Gardner houses some 2,500 paintings, sculptures, and tapestries, a collection gathered by Boston socialite Isabella Stewart Gardner in the late 19th and early 20th century. The art isn’t the only draw: the museum’s soaring courtyard, at present home to a display of tropical and subtropical plants called Midwinter Tropics, offers a tranquil respite for anyone hungering for spring. Beginning March 10, the Hostetter Gallery is hosting a special exhibition, Off the Wall: Gardner and Her Masterpieces, featuring 25 collection highlights. This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition is a chance to see masterpieces by Botticelli, Raphael, and Rembrandt in the museum’s new contemporary gallery space, with state-of-the-art lighting. Also included is archival material showing how Gardner went about building her world-class collection.

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum is at 25 Evans Way, Boston; phone: 617-566-1401; hours: daily (closed Tuesdays), 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., until 9 p.m. Thursdays. Admission is free for BU students with a valid ID, $15 for adults, $12 for seniors (65 and up), $5 for college students, and free for museum members, visitors under 18, and anyone named Isabella. Find directions here. 

Concrete Visions: The BAC and Boston City Hall Design Competitions at Boston Architectural College

Concrete Visions examines how the competitions to design two new buildings in Boston in the 1960s—Boston City Hall and the Boston Architectural Center—ushered in a new era of architecture in the city, sparking the creation of a “New Boston.” Both competitions drew a wide range of submissions that can be seen here, and they helped young, innovative architects land their first major commissions.

Concrete Visions is on view at the Boston Architectural College’s McCormick Gallery, 320 Newbury St., Boston, through April 11; free and open to the public; hours: Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 10:30 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Take an inbound Green Line trolley to Hynes Convention Center.

Nautical Night at the MIT Museum

Seafarers take note: those pining for the ocean this spring break can head to the MIT Museum on Friday, March 11, for Nautical Night, part of the museum’s Second Fridays program. The evening will include nautically themed science experiments and activities and presentations about the intersection of underwater photography and conservation by Keith Ellenbogen and about digitizing the Herreshoff Collections by Kurt Hasselbalch, curator of MIT’s Hart Nautical Collections. There will also be hands-on activities like knot tying, using a wave energy generator, and learning about underwater robots and boat designs.

Nautical Night is Friday, March 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the MIT Museum, 265 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. The event is free with museum admission ($10 for adults, $5 for students). Take an MBTA Red Line train to Central Square.

Athletics

Terrier Men’s Lacrosse

The imminent arrival of spring means lacrosse season. Head over to Nickerson Field to cheer as the BU men’s lacrosse team takes on Patriot League rival the Colgate Raiders.

The BU men’s lacrosse game is Saturday, March 12, at 1 p.m., at Nickerson Field. Admission is free for BU students with a sports pass, $2 for faculty and staff, and $5 for the general public.

Harlem Globetrotters at TD Garden

Known for their blend of incredible athleticism, comedy, and theatrics, the world-renowned Harlem Globetrotters bring their skill and antics to the TD Garden. This year marks the exhibition basketball team’s 90th anniversary. One game and you’ll know why they’ve been in business so long. Here’s your chance to see players like Big Easy, TNT, and Hi-Lite strut their stuff in a show the whole family will enjoy.

The Harlem Globetrotters play on Saturday, March 12, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 13, at 1 p.m., at TD Garden, 100 Legends Way. Take a Green Line trolley to North Station. Tickets prices vary and are available here.

For 21 and Up….

2016 Harpoon St. Patrick’s Festival

Get into the festive spirit of St. Patrick’s Day early by heading down to the Seaport District’s Harpoon Brewery. The annual St. Patrick’s Festival offers live music, food from local vendors (corn beef and cabbage, of course), Harpoon Beer Hall pretzels, and a huge selection of Harpoon and UFO beer.

Harpoon St. Patrick’s Festival is Friday, March 4, from 5:30 to 11 p.m. and Saturday, March 5, from 1 to 7 p.m. at 306 Northern Ave., Boston. Pay the charge of $25 (comes with a souvenir pint glass and your first beer) at the door; additional perks and discounts available for Friends of Harpoon members. Take a Green Line trolley to Park Street and transfer to an outbound Red Line train to South Station, where shuttles will run to Harpoon Brewery.

Eighth Annual Boston Irish Pub Challenge

This annual bar crawl attracts nearly 4,000 participants and more than 30 participating bars. You have to register to take part, with the option of joining an existing Pub team or creating your own team with friends. The challenge is also part scavenger hunt. Teams use their cell phones to snap pictures, film videos, and for GPS check-ins through the app GooseChase. The winning team will receive a post-crawl party and a deluxe prize package. Those purchasing a ticket ($30, $45, $75) are automatically entered in a raffle with a grand prize of a five-night trip to Ireland. The IPC will donate $2 for every ticket purchased to several charities, named here, and additional raffle tickets can be purchased for $5, which goes directly to the charities. So buy a ticket on the website, join a team, and let the games begin.

The Eighth Annual Boston Irish Pub Challenge is Saturday, March 5. General admission tickets are $30, VIP tickets $45, and MVP tickets $75 and must be purchased online. Each ticket package comes will special perks and incentives. Find full details on each ticket package and purchase tickets here. 

Jennifer Bates can be reached at jennb7@bu.edu.