Free Summer Arts Events

The Boston art world is alive and thriving! We’re excited to be able to share this list of live and virtual FREE arts events happening this summer. Get out and explore the city during these sunny warms months, or engage from the comfort of your own home.

With help from ArtsBoston, the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, The Boston Calendar and more resources, we have developed our annual list of Free Summer Arts Events. We will continue to update this list through the summer so check back!

Have a free arts event that you want included? Email us at artsinbu@bu.edu. 

Jump to: May |June | July | August | September | Ongoing| 

MAY

Lunch Break: Needle Felting with Alex Makes Art – May 17, 2022 at 12:15PM

Black Super Hero Magic Mama – Through May 21, 2022 at 7:00PM

In all the books that Sabrina Jackson reads to her son Tramarion, tragedy’s just an origin story, something to propel the heroes into wondrous new worlds. When tragedy strikes in her own life, Sabrina launches herself into a fantastical, technicolor universe where she gets to be the hero. A high-flying adventure that refuses to be held down by the gravity at its core, Inda Craig-Galván’s Black Super Hero Magic Mama is a powerful refutation of the disproportionate expectations placed on Black mothers and their sons.The performance runs approximately 2 hours, inclusive of a 15-minute intermission.

Tip of the Tongue Exhibition – Through May 21, 2022 at 4:00PM

Gallery 263 is pleased to announce Tip of the Tongue, a national juried exhibition. In Tip of the Tongue, the selected artists utilize language as form and function. This group show is juried by Santiago Cucullu

The Caribbean Street Market – May 21, 2022 – July 30, 2022 at 10:00AM

Enjoy free admission and come shop local small businesses. There will be: Food, Desserts, Candles- Jewelry, and much MUCH more! A large lot will be converted into an outdoor vendor market. THE FIRST OF ITS KIND.

Martin Parr: Time and Place  – May – June 5, 2022 at 10:00AM

Martin Parr: Time and Place features at its core a career-spanning selection of Parr’s Irish photographs, which describe the radical evolution of Ireland over the last four decades and the major themes of his work—social class and consumption, curiosity and humor, humanity and its predictable idiosyncrasies. Photographs from other series, Autoportraits, The Last Resort, Small World, and The Cost of Living—made in Europe, North America, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia—demonstrate how Parr developed a powerful vocabulary of visual and conceptual ideas informed by overlapping feelings of familiarity and alienation, and instincts that are anthropological as well as artistic.

JUNE

MIT Public Art Tour – June 3, 2022 at 12:15PM

Join MIT List Visual Arts Center on a public art walking tour showcasing the MIT public art collection across the east side of campus. View select artworks and consider how art and the architectural environment have enhanced MITs campus design on this tour featuring renowned contemporary artists such as Pablo Picasso, Sol LeWitt and Cai Guo-Qiang.

42nd Annual Coolidge Corner Arts Festival   – June 4, 2022 at 11AM

The 42nd Coolidge Corner Arts Festival is planned for Saturday, June 4, 2022, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm. It will be held at the Babcock Street Parking Lot and along Babcock St. between John and Harvard streets in Coolidge Corner, Brookline. This free event features nationally recognized artists and emerging, local creators from around New England.  Festival attendees will have the opportunity to shop the work of 75 artists and makers who work with an array of mediums from jewelry, fiber, glass, and ceramics to photography, watercolor, and mixed media. Painter Liz Prescott is the recipient of this year’s Susan Lichter Jury Prize, which honors artists who exemplify the highest level of art and craft. The Coolidge Corner Arts Festival began 43 years ago and is one of the largest, longest-running events in Brookline Festival-goers will also be able to enjoy our live DJ, a great assortment of Food Trucks with patio dining plus there will be a Wine and Beer Garden for attendees over 21. The event is accessible by the Green “C” line to Harvard Street in Coolidge Corner or the #66 MBTA bus.

Community Night: Bridgeside Cypher, presented by HipStory  – June 8, 2022 at 6:30PM

The Bridgeside Cypher is a platform for local rappers, singers, beatboxers, and/or musicians to collaborate in a public and improvised format and a space for upcoming artists to work on their craft without fear of judgment or criticism from others. The Cambridge Hip-Hop Collective encourages artists of all ages and experience levels to come and participate. Fans are also welcome to come and support!

Boston Festival Chamber Series: The Super Trio – June 9, 2022 at 7:00PM

BFO Artistic Director Alyssa Wang takes you through a classical music journey designed to inspire new listeners, classical music veterans, and everyone in between! In the Harvard Musical Association’s intimate space, you can interact with BFO musicians up close, ask questions, converse with your fellow audience members, and have a wholly unique and personal experience.

BOSTON ART & MUSIC SOUL (BAMS) Festival  – June 11, 2022 at 12:00PM

BOSTON ART & MUSIC SOUL (BAMS) Festival is a cultural movement led by Greater Boston Black and Brown artists, culture makers and creative entrepreneurs who are on the front lines of racial equity, spatial justice, and economic empowerment. Come enjoy the sweet sounds of music icons such as SWV, Chelsey Green, and D Smoke. 

Buy the Block Party 2; Featuring Hip-Hop legend KRS-ONE – June 11, 2022 at 1:00PM 

Black Market is commemorating Black Music History Month and a Black Market’s fifth birthday by celebrating the return of the BUY THE BLOCK PARTY in June. Black Market with Madison Park as lead Sponsor, is pleased to announce the BUY THE BLOCK PARTY 2’ a 3-day series of cultural events beginning on Thursday, June 9th-Saturday, June 11th in the Nubian Square District.

Cambridge Pride Brunch – June 11, 2020 at 9:00AM

The Office of Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui and the Cambridge LGBTQ+ Commission invites members of the local community to their annual Pride Brunch. This event will have entertainment, food, and awards honoring the recipients of the LGBTQ+ Commission Community Recognition Award, the Bayard Rustin Service Award, and the Rose Lipkin Scholarship Award.

Poetry Reading: Sarah Anderson, Alessia Hughes, and Kevin King  – June 14, 2022 at 7:00PM

Join Trident Booksellers & Café for an evening of readings with New England poets Sarah Anderson, Alessia Hughes, and Kevin King!

King Boston’s Nubian Square Juneteenth Celebration – June 17, 2022 at 4:00PM

King Boston is excited to cap of their 5-day festival and kick off the Juneteenth weekend within the heart of Boston at Nubian Square Business District with the most cherished of urban traditions- a block party. 

The Embrace Ideas Block Party will celebrate artistic expression through a lively party that will include some of the city’s best turntablists: SuperSmashBroz, Slick Vick, ReaL P, and DJ Chubby Chub. This evening celebration will be a joyful night of dancing, music, community, and delicious food provided by the area’s best BIPOC-owned food trucks will transform Nubian Square into the hottest party in town.

Juneteenth Joy: Focus on Freedom. A Hyde Park Celebration – June 18, 2022 at 11:00AM

All are welcome for this amazing outdoor event. Covid protocols will be observed. The Racial E & J Forum/West Fairmount Hill Community members are thrilled to announce Hyde Park’s second annual community wide Juneteenth Celebration planned for Saturday June 18, 2022 at 11:00am – 2:00pm ( rain date is same time on June 19), at the Martini Hatch Shell on Truman Parkway in Hyde Park. The event is titled Juneteenth Joy: Focus on Freedom. There will be performances, exhibits and vendors.

JUNETEENTH BROOKLINE –  June 19, 2022 at 10:00AM

 Juneteenth became a federal holiday June 17, 2021. Join us as we celebrated the day that all enslaved people in the United States of America became free. Please arrive at the Florida Ruffin Ridley school by 9:30am for the freedom March. The celebration will follow at The Brookline Avenue Playground 11am.

FOOD – DJ & LIVE PERFORMANCES – RAFFLES – VENDORS

Summer Solstice Celebration: Night at the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture – June 21, 2022 at 5:00PM

Celebrate the longest day of the year and mark the beginning of summer—in person!—with the Harvard Museums of Science & Culture on June 21, 5:00–9:00 pm. Enjoy free admission to all four HMSC museums, hands-on activities, food, music and more! Don’t miss this wildly popular event for all ages.

Peabody Museum of Archaeology & Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East, 6 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02138

Found in Translation: The Ghost of Keelung – June 25, 2022 at 6:00PM

Performed at Tiger Pavilion at Mary Soo Hoo Park on the Rose Kennedy Greenway come see a performance taking place in the present, as a woman visits her family home in Taiwan to appease an ancestral wrong. Found in Translation is a play-reading series through Winter 2021 to Spring 2022 that amplifies the power and complexities of being multilingual, immigrants, or identifying as AAPI in Greater Boston. Written by  Taiwanese-American theater artist, Jamie Lin, this performance is sure to be both reflective and riveting. 

CX Movie Nights feat. Moana and School of Rock – June 30, 2022 at 5:00PM

Join Cambridge Crossing for a FREE outdoor movie night in the Maria Baldwin Open Space at CX! This summer they are teaming up with the Brattle Theater to bring you family-friendly movies in the Maria Baldwin Open Space at Cambridge Crossing. Join us on Thursday, June 30 (rain date July 6) and Thursday, July 28 (rain date August 3) for double feature movie nights starting at 5:00 PM.

JULY

Mantra by Evan Rosenberg – July 1, 2022 at 5:00PM 

Please join Evan for his first solo show opening at Galatea Fine Art Gallery in SoWA! The event will take place from 5-8PM July 1st. Light refreshments will be served.

Chinatown Main Street Summer Festival  – July 2, 2022

Chinatown Main Street’s Summer Festival is back on and sure to wow the local area. This street fair will have vendors, martial arts, and a special lion dance performance. Grab some friends and enjoy the day.

Boston Fireworks and Pops Concert – July 4, 2022 at 8:00PM

Spectacular July 4th fireworks over Boston Common will light up the sky for in-person spectators and those watching the live broadcast of this beloved annual event.  The free Boston Pops Independence Day concert returns to Boston at the Hatch Shell as special guests join the beloved orchestra with a rousing celebration of the 4th.  The concert will also be live-streamed for everyone who can’t see it in person.

Fenway Porchfest 2022 – July 9, 2022 at 12:00 pm 

Fenway Porchfest is a collaborative partnership among three Fenway organizations —Fenway Community Development Organization, Fenway Civic Association, and the Fenway Alliance. It is a free music festival that takes place in a wide range of diverse outdoor spaces in the Fenway, ranging from the Verb Hotel and 401 Park to Massachusetts Historical Society to the Emerald Necklace and the MFA! Fenway Porchfest was organized in June 2018. In June 2019 Fenway Porchfest hosted 36 locations throughout the Fenway and over 85 performers!

MISSION HILL ARTS FESTIVAL –  July 9, 2022 at 5:30pm

A series of exciting summer events to gather and enjoy a variety of art forms as well as conversations between the artists, festival collaborators, and the audience featuring Leo Blanco. The music of pianist, composer, and educator Leo Blanco  pulses with global rhythmic elements influenced equally by his South American roots and European classical traditions interwoven with improvisatory developments.Blanco was born in the Venezuelan Andes where he absorbed folk music genres that were a mix of Afro-Caribbean, North American and European musical styles. By age eleven he was a violinist in the Merida Youth Symphony Orchestra.

HEAL & RELEASE Boston 2022 – July 9, 2022 at 12:00pm

All are welcome to come out and enjoy HEAL & RELEASE Boston, a beachside healing village. Join GetOpen Sessions, Urban Sanctuary, Lift As We Climb, and Be Free Radio as they  cultivate wellness and community through holistic disciplines, art, movement, and music.

This year is special as it marks their 1st outdoor gathering since 2019! Holistic and wellness professionals from multiple disciplines will provide services throughout the day. Some of the opportunities available include yoga, meditation, herbal medicine, exercise, and dance workshops designed for all fitness levels. There will also be visual arts installations and kids’ activities provided throughout the day as music fills the air then the festival closes with a family-friendly DANCE PARTY on the beach! 

Charles River Jazz Festival –  July 10, 2022 at 1:00pm 

Founded in 2021, The Charles River Jazz Festival is an annual all day music and art experience located at Herter Park Amphitheater in Allston, MA. This years festival will take place on Sunday July 10th and offer a full day of free music featuring some of Bostons best jazz artists. In addition to the music there will also be local food and beer venders on site.

Boston Carnival’s Cooler – Jul 16, 2022 at 10:00am

Join the Caribbean American Carnival Association of Boston in kicking off the Boston Carnival season at Carson Beach, Boston. This event will feature local DJs, Food Trucks, Give-Aways, Boston Carnival Bands, masqueraders, and the Caribbean Community at large. The day will be warm, so ice cream and water trucks will help keep all attendants cool. We know that the sounds of soca, calypso, and reggae can only bring West Indian vibez, so come and awaken the carnival season and catch a wine. Boston Carnival’s Cooler is a community celebration, and we’re committed to protecting all new swimmers, so we welcome young adults to come early to access free life jackets (life jackets will fit young adults between the ages 12-18 yrs). Everyone is encouraged  to secure their free event ticket to access free food, giveaways, and life jackets (reserved for young adults only) while supplies last.

Colombian artist Juan Obando’s Summer Sets comes to Boston’s Dock Square – July 18 – August 19, 2022

Colombian artist Juan Obando’s forthcoming Summer Sets installation is a project for Boston’s iconic Dock Square near Faneuil Hall that invites visitors to imagine and model alternative perspectives for monuments and public spaces with an oversized, hyper-realistic photographic image placed beside the iconic Samuel Adams statue. Curated by Boston’s Now + There, Summer Sets challenges the view that visitors may be expecting of the monument by replacing it with another idealized, vacated cityscape, standing 28-feet wide and 16-feet tall. An LED-daylight system will illuminate the front panel at night to preserve the color and surreal intensity of the image at all times. It will be on view from July 18 to August 19 in Dock Square, located between City Hall and Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market at the intersection of Congress St and North Street.

Revere Beach  International  Sand Sculpting  Festival – July 22 -24, 2022

Hosted by the Revere Beach Partnership, a non-profit organization, this free event is open to the public and draws crowds from all around the world. Over three days, over 1 million people venture down the event boardwalk and take in the sculptures, beach, entertainment, fireworks, and the food!

AUGUST

August Adventures with Highland Street Foundation -August 1 – 31

During the month of August 2022, we are excited to partner with special Massachusetts cultural institutions to provide one free activity each day for 31 days. Along with no-cost admission to zoos, museums and carousels, Out of the Park with the Boston Red Sox and City of Boston returns on August 7th.

Opening Reception – EXPOSURE 2022 PRC 26th Annual Juried Members Exhibition – August 6, 2022

FPAC invites you to the opening reception for EXPOSURE 2022, the PRC 26th Annual Juried Members Exhibition! The event will start at 3pm and end at 5pm. Refreshments will also be served and alcohol for those who are of age. Though this is a free event, registration is encouraged.

The Boston Home Art Show– August 11, 2022 at 6:00 pm

Join The Boston Home community for an exhibit and reception celebrating the creativity and talent of our resident artists. View outstanding work by 25 resident artists, while enjoying a live jazz performance by the Jeff Williams ensemble. Drinks and hors d’oeuvres will be served. This event is free to attend. Please RSVP. Contact Victoria Stevens, Director of Communications, for more information: 617-326-4310 or vstevens@thebostonhome.org.

Romeo & Juliet on the Boston Common – August 11-13, 2022 at 8:00 pm

Presented by Boston Lyric Opera and Commonwealth Shakespeare Company at Boston Common, Boston MA. Experience the rush of first love while enjoying a beautiful summer evening with a full orchestra playing the soaring music of this classic favorite.  Featuring passion-filled duets, backed by a sweeping chorus, feel the power of opera in an incredible setting. Ricardo Garcia and Vanessa Becerra play the young lovers, CSC’s Steven Maler directs, and BLO Music Director David Angus will lead the BLO Orchestra and Chorus. The performance, sung in English with subtitles, coincides with the 20-year anniversary of BLO’s last free Boston Common show, “Carmen.”

Art on the Plaza: Move with MAAM! – August 13, 2022 at 12:00 pm

On Saturday August 13, dance the afternoon away at MAAM! Enjoy live music by Boston musicians and create your own wearable work of art inspired by Joana Vasconcelos: Valkyrie Mumbet. While you’re there, don’t miss the exhibition Designing Motherhood: Things That Make and Break Our Births.

New Narratives Series: Present and Future – August 13, 2022 at 3:00 pm

​​This event is the final of the VISIONS/VOICES: YEAR OF THE TIGER performance series. Through a partnership with the Greenway Conservancy, Cheryl Wing-Zi Wong has been commissioned to create an artwork celebrating the Year of the Tiger, as part of an annual project honoring the Chinese Zodiac on The Greenway. Her upcoming artwork, YEAR OF THE TIGER, is a community pavilion and a site-specific public artwork composed of vibrantly colored seating, podiums and sprawling floor motifs. As both stage and seating, YEAR OF THE TIGER creates a new, intergenerational hub to gather outdoors, perform or engage in public programs. Pao Arts Center is proud to partner with the Greenway to bring public events to Mary Soo Hoo Park.

Boston Landmarks Orchestra & Fabiola Méndez – August 17, 2022 at 7:00pm

Enjoy an amazing evening at the DCR Hatch Memorial Shell. Native to Caguas, PR, Fabiola Méndez began playing the Puerto Rican cuatro at the age of 6. Fabiola has worked with organizations such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Celebrity Series of Boston, Agora Cultural Architects, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Puerto Rican Arts Alliance in Chicago, Museo de Arte de Puerto Rico, among others. Currently, Fabiola works as a cuatro player and singer-songwriter, presenting her original music projects inside and outside of Puerto Rico. In addition, she works as a composer for children’s animated series, including the PBS Kids show Alma’s Way, Work It Out Wombats, and Mecha Builders, produced by Sesame Street. You can listen to her music here.

 

SEPTEMBER

TBA

ONGOING

Zumix Summer Concert Series –  Sunday Evenings from 6 -8 PM 

Starting July 10 join Zumix through the summer as they put on their summer concert series in Piers Park featuring artists such as local reggae musicians Jahriffe & JAH-N-I Roots Movement, local funk band The Dope Lotus, and local salsa ensemble La Pura Vida among other artists. This summer concert series is free and open to the public.

Painting Classes – Teens & Adults – Boston   Saturdays at 1:ooPM

This free painting class is open for all ages. You are welcome to this class as a beginner as well. The instructor will be doing a painting on nature and learn how to blend colors. She will be walking you through a few techniques to make blending easier. She has different versions of the same painting so it suits all ages

Comedy Night at The Bell in Hand Tavern –  May 10 – August 30, 2022 at 7:30PM

Located in the heart of Government Center, next to Fanueil Hall, The Bell in Hand is the oldest Tavern in America. Today, they are keeping the tradition going with the BEST new standup comedy show in Boston. Every Tuesday, the Bell in Hand features some of the funniest professional comics working in New England. Hosted by Andrew Della Volpe.

Reserve your FREE tickets now as seating is limited.

*This show is for anyone 21+*

Show Starts at 7:30PM

Doors open at 6:30PM

FREE SUMMER YOGA with Higher Love Yoga Project!– May 19 – August 25, 2022 at 6:00PM

Higher Love Yoga Project and The Street Chestnut Hill are thrilled to bring you FREE sweat and inspiration all summer long! All classes will be held at 6 PM on THURSDAYS on the green in front of Lululemon/Shake Shack.

Club Passim Live Stream Performances – Now – June 28 (Virtual)
Club Passim remains dedicated to providing exceptional musical experiences and to helping artists develop and thrive. While the club remains closed, they’re supporting artists by providing live stream performance opportunities. 

Shakespeare on the Common: Much Ado About Nothing – July 20 – August 7 at 8:00PM

Much Ado About Nothingis one of Shakespeare’s most popular and frequently performed plays. The plot revolves around two couples — witty Beatrice and Benedick, who publicly proclaim their disdain for each other but fall madly in love; and naive Hero and Claudio, who fall quickly in love only to be thwarted and then reunited (in both cases, with a bit of help from their friends). But it’s more than just a comedic romp. The play tackles serious themes too: trust and betrayal, power and privilege, gendered expectations around chastity and violence. This is a comedy entangled with a tragedy, where love and justice nevertheless manage to prevail with vigorous joy — a perfect play for our uncertain times.

SoHIP 2022 Summer Concert Season – June 23 – August 11 (Virtual)
The Society for Historically Informed Performance (SoHIP) Summer Concert Series has become a beloved tradition which continues to provide opportunities for new project by New England musicians and promotes and enriches public appreciation and understanding of historically informed performance of early music.

Friday Afternoon Concert Series – Fridays, July – August
A partnership between Berklee College of Music and the City of Boston, this concert series showcases the best of Boston’s local music talent. On Fridays in July and August, from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m., an artist or band will set up at The Patios on City Hall Plaza for a musical performance. Bring your lunch and a friend or two and enjoy some great music and sunshine!

Eliot Schoolyard Concert Series – June 5 – September 26
Join the Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts on Sunday afternoons LIVE at the Eliot Schoolyard in Jamaica Plain for a series of Summer Concerts, from jazz to hip hop, harp to steel drum.

SoWa  Sundays – Sundays from May 2 – October 31

Carefully curated local makers selling an array of hand-made goods. Products include jewelry, clothing, home goods, photography, ceramics, and more.A diverse collection of local farmers, bakers, and tasty treat makers. Fill your shopping cart with a weekly supply of fresh produce, meats, breads, cookies, and more.

National Show: Connected Land and Sea – June 17 – August 22
The Copley Society of Art is exhibiting a National Marine Art Exhibition featuring works from artists across the United States, including works that use coastal New England as inspiration. 

Public Art in Boston: Explore a variety of public art in Boston. Check out our website for BU Public Art on Campus, find nearby murals on the Boston Mural Map or cross the river and explore the MIT Public Art Map. Other ongoing public art exhibits are presented by amazing organizations like the Rose Kennedy Greenway and Now + There.

BU Museum Memberships: Remember BU Students, Faculty & Staff can get free access, even over the summer, to the Museum of Fine Arts, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, the Harvard Art Museums and the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA/Boston). Please check our Museum Membership website for reopening and ticketing information.