The Weekender: September 28 to October 1

Photo via AP Photo/Bizuayehu Tesfaye
September 28 to October 1
Fall is officially back in Boston: The air is crisp. Leaves of every color, shape, and size are starting their delightful descent to the ground. And we’ve got you covered for the best ways to get into the autumnal spirit. Spend your weekend listening to live music at Brookline Porchfest, wander around the historic Boston Athenaeum, and close out your Sunday fun at the Cambridge Science Festival’s Carnival.
CineFest Latino Boston
Spend the weekend (or the whole week) getting acquainted with a world of independent Latinx cinema with CineFest Latino Boston, the city’s annual film fest dedicated to “highlighting stories by and about Latinos.” This year’s highlights: the genre-bending You Were My First Boyfriend, filmmaker Cecilia Aldarondo’s semidocumentary, semi-hallucinatory attempt to reconcile her humiliating teenage years; La Singla, chronicling filmmaker Paloma Zapata’s quest to uncover the life of bygone flamenco star Antonia Singla; and Charcoal, about a rural family who takes in a traveling stranger, only to find out that he is a wanted drug lord. The fest offers plenty of opportunities to catch a Q&A or a short film marathon, so check out the 2023 schedule to see what’s showing where.
Wednesday, September 27, through Thursday, October 5. Check out showtimes and screening locations and purchase individual tickets here.
Brookline Porchfest
Want to go to a concert, but can’t afford to drop your life savings on just one ticket? Brookline Porchfest has you covered. Enjoy live, outdoor music played by dozens of local musicians and bands, all from the comfort of their own homes. Featured artists include a barbershop quartet, an eight-piece klezmer band, the Brookline Symphony Orchestra, independent singer-songwriters, the Boston Typewriter Orchestra, a clarinet choir, heavy rock bands, and a ukulele sing-along. The lineup map features 78 stops where attendees can hop around and discover the town’s most talented performers.
Saturday, September 30, from noon to 6 pm, Brookline.
Community Day Open House at the Boston Athenaeum
A day pass usually costs $40 dollars at this historical haven, but this Saturday, history buffs, art connoisseurs, and music admirers alike can enjoy all of the offerings of one of America’s oldest independent libraries at no cost. At the Boston Athenaeum’s annual community day, check out special collections of over half a million books from the 1800s to the present; 100,000 works of art, ranging from paintings and sculpture to prints and photographs; and immersive curator- and staff-led show-and-tells.
Saturday, September 30, from 10 am to 3 pm at 10-1/2 Beacon St., Boston.
Massachusetts Independent Comic Expo
The Massachusetts Independent Comic Expo (MICE) is dedicated to the exciting and accessible art of independent comics and graphic novels, hosting hundreds of small-press publishers, self-published artists, and special guests. Here you can explore the possibilities of sequential art and rare gems from exciting new comics artists and writers, free of charge. (The expo is hosted by the BU College of Fine Arts School of Visual Arts and held on campus at the 808 Gallery.) This year’s special guest is Jillian Tamaki, an award-winning Canadian graphic novelist, illustrator, and author of Boundless (Drawn and Quarterly, 2017) and Skim (Groundwood Books, 2008).
Saturday, September 30, from 11 am to 6 pm, and Sunday, October 1, from 11 am to 5 pm, at 808 Commonwealth Ave.
Cinemathéque: An Evening with James Friend
This Friday, spend an evening with Academy Award–winning cinematographer James Friend at a screening of All Quiet on the Western Front (2022), followed by a Q&A . A member of the American Society of Cinematographers and British Society of Cinematographers, Friend has won numerous awards for his work, including a BAFTA for Rillington Place (2016) and multiple honors for 2018’s Patrick Melrose.
Friday, September 29, from 6 to 9 pm, College of Communication, 640 Commonwealth Ave., Room 101. Admission is free, but registration is recommended. Reserve a spot here.
ArtsThursdays: The Brain and Your Senses
Explore your senses at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and the Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology. This fun-filled “arts and sciences night” features exhibitions, cocktails, mocktails, raffles, and so much more. This month, the program will be partnering with the Harvard Brain Science Initiative and the Cambridge Science Festival to help museum-goers of all ages understand their ability to perceive and process visual, smell, touch, sound, and taste stimuli with presentations, galleries, and conversations.
Thursday, September 28, from 5 to 9 pm at the Harvard Museum of Natural History, 26 Oxford St., Cambridge; free event parking at the 52 Oxford Street Garage. RSVP here.
The Cambridge Science Festival
The Cambridge Science Festival is returning with a series of fun and educational events this weekend, featuring over 100 activity booths, ranging from a robot petting zoo to liquid nitrogen ice cream. On Saturday, Boston Fashion Week teams up with CSF and ILLUMINUS to present IMPULSE, an immersive experience that’s part runway show, part light installation, and part live performance. Come back on Sunday for the carnival, an adventure playground for visitors of all age groups, complete with live music and daring demonstrations.
Impulse: Saturday, September 30, at 7:30 pm, at the Alexandria Technology Square atrium, 100 Technology Square, Cambridge.
Carnival: Sunday, October 1, from noon to 4 pm, at the Kendall/MIT Open Space.
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