The Weekender: December 5 to 8

The SoWa Open Market returns this weekend for its annual winter festival; it sells some of the best artisan gifts in the city. Photo courtesy of SoWa Boston

Eat, shop, go

The weather is getting colder and the days continue to get shorter. On the plus side, winter break is just over two weeks away. This weekend, brave the cold to see some illuminated art, eat some delicious (and warm) barbecue, and check out a bazaar selling items from foreign countries.

Sweet Cheeks Q

Barbecue is usually considered a summer staple, but revisit it this winter at Sweet Cheeks Q in Fenway for a treat. The trays come with one type of meat, one hot item (collard greens or mac and cheese), and one cold item (coleslaw or potato salad), along with pickles and onions. Prices vary by what type of meat you order, but the $24 Big Cheeks Tray and $26 Fat Cheeks Tray come with two and three types of meat (like pulled pork, brisket, or fried chicken). Head here for big portions of comfort food.

Sweet Cheeks Q, 1381 Boylston St., Boston, is open from 11:30 am to 11 pm every day, except Sundays, when it closes at 10 pm.

SoWa Winter Festival

The SoWa Open Market will reopen this weekend for its annual winter festival. Closed from November until May, this weekend gives Bostonians one more chance to check out handmade gifts from more than 100 artists, just in time for the holidays. After you shop, enjoy the live ice sculpting and grab a beer or a glass of wine (for those 21+) or a bite from the caravan of food trucks.

The SoWa Winter Festival, 460 and 500 Harrison Ave., Boston, is open from 6 to 10 pm Friday, December 6, 10 am to 8 pm Saturday, December 7, and 10 am to 6 pm Sunday, December 8. Find parking information and directions here.

Crossing Lines, Constructing Home Exhibition at Harvard Art Museums

The Crossing Lines, Constructing Home exhibition at the Harvard Art Museums features galleries of art from displaced peoples. The exhibition considers displacement as a result of political and cultural climates, in addition to geographic reasons, and features more than 40 pieces of work like photographs from Serena Chopra and Richard Misrach and prints from Zarina.

The Crossing Lines, Constructing Home exhibition at the Special Exhibitions Gallery, Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy St., Cambridge, will be on display until January 5, 2020. Tickets are free with a BU ID.

Illuminus

Boston hosts this walk-through light show December 5 and 6 in the Financial District near Downtown Crossing, where artists and creators come together to show off their brightest works. The event features light displays, interactive art installations, performances, and immersive experiences using light and sound in and on the area’s alleys, facades, and plazas. Installations include Catherine Siller’s #buynow, which takes viewers into an imaginary Instagram influencer’s world that slowly disintegrates into a postapocalyptic landscape.

The Illuminus exhibition winds through Boston’s Financial District (see full map here) and will be displayed Thusday and Friday, December 5 and 6, from 5 to 11 pm. Find more information here. 

Cultural Survival Bazaar

Each year, the people at Cultural Survival put on a series of bazaars that bring together indigenous artists, cooperatives, and their representatives to showcase the things they make and to give them a chance to sell their wares directly to the public. Peruse baskets from a Botswanan weaver or a Suzani textile from an Uzbekistani artist. Other vendors sell clothing, home goods, jewelry, artwork, and more.

The Cultural Survival Bazaar is at the Prudential Center, 800 Boylston St., from Friday, December 6, to Sunday, December 8. It is open from 10 am to 10 pm Friday and Saturday and 10 am to 8 pm Sunday.