To say we saw a long, cold winter would be an understatement—for a while, Boston felt more like an arctic field camp than the buzzing city we love. But now that we’ve crawled out of hibernation, we intend to spend as much time soaking up some vitamin D as possible. So we’ve rounded up 26 reasons to get outside this season, from a rooftop runway and a boatload of wine to opera in a park and dance in a parking lot.
Fenway isn’t the only park for fans this summer. The Red Sox and the Highland Street Foundation have teamed up for Out of the Park, bringing away games to a big screen at Franklin Park (June 22) and Boston Common (July 27), where you can snack on Fenway Franks and meet Wally the Green Monster while the Sox take on Oakland and Tampa Bay. A live band and Sox DJ TJ Connelly will pitch in, and there are no scalpers for these seats; screenings are free, so just bring your blanket. highlandstreet.org
Don’t miss the boat on Aug. 23 when Community Boating aims to get all of its 170-plus vessels—including sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers and paddleboards—onto the Charles. Last year’s inaugural All Boats on the Water Day brought out nearly 120 boats, a tally the country’s oldest public sailing center will try to top at this year’s count, followed by giveaways and a dock party. community-boating.org
Theater District hotspot Rooftop @ Revere has several new enticements for sun seekers, from SurfSet lessons that mimic the workout you’d get on the waves to “Classy Jello Shots” in flavors like spiked blackberry-ginger limeade. But we’re particularly pumped for its expanded Resort on the Rooftop series. Produced with stylist Christina K. Pierce, the free fashion shows kick off with local line Mike & Ton on June 4 and continue every Wednesday at 7 pm through August. reverehotel.com/rooftop
Fort Point has become instrumental in the Boston restaurant scene, so it’s only fitting to serve its cuisine with a side of classical music. On June 14, the Fort Point-based Boston Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra hosts A Taste of the Arts, a restaurant crawl through the neighborhood that picks up rhythm during the last course—a multimedia concert with a string quartet, dancers and more on Atlantic Wharf. bostonvirtuosi.org
Skip the symphony attire and still enjoy world-class acoustics from the comfort of a picnic blanket. On July 16, Boston Landmarks Orchestra will hit the Hatch Shell to open a stacked season of free concerts, featuring collabs with the Back Bay Chorale, Longwood Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, the New England Spiritual Ensemble and a “pocket-sized salsa orchestra,” plus Christopher Wilkins leading a bicentennial celebration of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” landmarksorchestra.org
Parks and parking lots transform into stages for Dancing in the Streets, a series of six outdoor performances popping up across Somerville through June. And during at least one show, the dancers won’t be the only ones on the move: On June 20, Stefanie Weber and Creatures of Habitat will start in the alley by the Veterans Memorial Rink, but take viewers to four different locations for Auto Mobile Body Works, a piece incorporating video projections and a cast of both humans and cars. somervilleartscouncil.org/dancefest
Because nothing says summer like dressing up in period garb and railing against the Confederacy! Or, you know, kicking back with an ice-cold beer and grooving to live music. You can do both on Georges Island, home of Fort Warren, where, among other things, they’ll be staging historical happenings (including a Civil War Ball and 1860s-style baseball games), holding a Narragansett beer tasting and hosting multiple Berklee Music Fests. bostonharborislands.org/georges
That’s the theme of this year’s ArtBeat, the arts fest bringing bands, dance troupes, crafts vendors and artists to Davis Square on July 18 and 19. Last year’s theme, “Micro,” inspired plenty of interesting projects, from a museum that measured 10x16x18 inches to a “mini-me” parade where participants walked with their small-scale pet, child or puppet doppelgangers. So we have no doubt this year’s participants will think outside the egg. somervilleartscouncil.org/artbeat/2014
If you can dream it, you can make it happen. That’s the general idea behind
Figment Boston, which takes over the Greenway on July 26 and 27. Now in its fifth year, Figment is a free participatory arts festival that encourages everyone to get involved. Past installments have included an exhibit of motion-sensitive LED lights and a clothesline hung with notes airing “dirty laundry,” so we’re expecting cool things. boston.figmentproject.org
Spice things up at the second annual Boston JerkFest, where you can sample vendors’ treats, try out the all-you-can-drink Rum & Brew tasting and finally put an end to your search for the best local hot sauce. The chef cook-off and food frenzy—all set to the tune of reggae and steel drums—comes to the South End on June 28. bostonjerkfest.com
Summers are for island getaways and chasing some tail, right? Spectacle Island was once home to a quarantine hospital and illicit casinos, but it’s now the best spot in town for pulling some strings. On Saturday afternoons starting June 21, make a kite or fly your own atop the highest point in Boston Harbor. bostonharborislands.org/spectacle
On June 20, the 17th annual Chefs in Shorts gathers some of the city’s top toques together at the Seaport World Trade Center for a blowout BBQ for a good cause. (Proceeds benefit Future Chefs, a nonprofit that helps urban teens train for culinary careers.) Along with tasty eats, the affair promises beer and wine tastings and, of course, more than 40 Boston chefs in casual attire. seaportboston.com/promotions/chefs-in-shorts.aspx
Talk about a tricked-out ride: The Somerville Arts Council is set to unveil the Multi Use Somerville Community Roving Art Transport (M.U.S.C.R.A.T.), an old school bus they bought on the cheap and transformed into a work of art on wheels with help from local talents. Serving as a mobile arts space, it’ll host classes and performances; hitch a ride when it makes its big debut at ArtBeat on July 18 and 19. somervilleartscouncil.org
The best way to season brisket is a pinch of Salt-N-Pepa. The ’90s hip-hop duo headlines the first night of Phantom Gourmet’s BBQ & Music Festival, which runs June 20-22 at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Enjoy beats and barbecue on the event’s man-made beach—and if you’re still hungry, consider signing up for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, a qualifier for the Coney Island finals. phantomgourmet.com
There’ll be a big bat in Christopher Columbus Park on the night of June 29. No need for alarm: It’s just the North End Music and Performing Arts Center’s English-language performance of Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”), Strauss’ fun and farcical operetta involving mistaken identities, a masked ball and—no joke—a character out for revenge on the buddy who left him passed out drunk in a bat costume in public. This third annual installment of Opera in the Park is free and semi-staged, but full ticketed performances run June 27-28 at Faneuil Hall. nempacboston.org
No disrespect to Paddy’s Day—we love green beer as much as the next guy—but the Boston Pride Parade is our favorite celebratory street march of the year. Just one of the many events taking place during Pride Week, the party in the streets on June 14 culminates at City Hall Plaza with the Pride Festival, featuring five headliners, including “Same Love” songstress Mary Lambert and Glee’s Alex Newell. bostonpride.org
If pink isn’t your favorite color, you might think differently (and drink differently) after the Boston Rosé Party on June 7. Imbibers are encouraged to dress in their rose-colored best for the three-hour cruise, which departs from Rowes Wharf and includes a DJ and an actual boatload of wine—a delightfully dry 2013 vintage of 90+ Cellars’ Lot 33 Rosé from Languedoc to be precise, paired with bites from Southie fave KO Catering and Pies. bit.ly/drinkrose14 Q is for Quench
A round robin of top Boston DJs, that is. The sonic showdown on Aug. 29 will close out Wavelengths, the ICA’s new Friday-night series of harborside concerts and DJ dance parties. But don’t wait till the very end to check it out, as the lineup includes the likes of performance-art phenom Peaches, Boston-bred synth poppers Hooray for Earth and “nightlife princess” Juliana Huxtable of New York art/drag collective House of Ladosha. icaboston.org
For the fierce competitors at the National Sand Sculpting Festival, a day at the beach is, well, no day at the beach. On July 18-20, hop on the Blue Line and head to Revere Beach to watch 15 master sculptors from around the world construct jaw-dropping creations from this most unforgiving medium. And while they get their hands dirty, enjoy live entertainment, food trucks and fireworks. reverebeachpartnership.com
The USS Constitution hasn’t defended the U.S. since the middle of the 19th century, but Old Ironsides still gets out and about once a year. Its July Fourth 4.5-mile turnaround cruise through Boston Harbor lasts three hours, so you have plenty of time to spy it from the shore if you’re not one of the lucky 150 people aboard. Just don’t miss it this year; the ship is going into the shop until 2018. history.navy.mil/ussconstitutionT is for Turnaround
Bringing your blanket or lugging your lawn chair to the MFA is worth the effort, because the museum’s summer Concerts in the Courtyard series boasts one eclectic and electric lineup, from Berklee alum Sierra Hull’s mandolin stylings and Debo Band’s funky blend of Ethiopian pop and American soul to the Western swing of Hot Club of Cowtown and the psychedelic electro of Mauritania’s Noura Mint Seymali. Or pay a bit extra for a perch on Bravo’s balcony. Either way, you’ll have a great view of the artists—and the summer night sky. mfa.org
One of the Bard’s most appealing heroines returns to Boston Common for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of Twelfth Night, last staged in 2001. This time, the popular comedy’s cross-dressing lead is played by local drama queen Marianna Bassham, who’s previously tackled Viola with Actors’ Shakespeare Project and also garnered some gender-bending experience portraying Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow in Central Square Theater’s Matt & Ben, so we have high hopes. commshakes.org
For the past year, the obstacles in Somerville’s new Assembly Row have been tower cranes and hazard cones, but you can swap those out for pallet walls, monkey bars and agility tunnels at Rock and Run Boston. On June 21, the 5K obstacle race tours through the new development, with live bands to motivate you at every mile (as if the after-party’s beer garden wasn’t enough). rockandrunboston.com
On June 14, channel your inner Capt. Sparrow as you pillage and plunder bar taps with a few hundred fellow buccaneers during the sixth annual Pirate Crawl. This voyage also includes a plank walk aboard a cruise around the Harbor. Eye patches and shoulder-perched parrots strongly encouraged. crawlinboston.com
It’s ordinarily tough to keep calm at Fenway Park—but then, you’re not usually watching the scoreboard while in a warrior pose. On June 8, the second annual FenwaYoga offers two morning yoga classes around the diamond with Mandy Ingber, instructor to Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale and Brooke Shields. Getting your Om on requires a $250 fundraising minimum, but it goes to a good cause: helping local kids through the Red Sox Foundation’s Red Sox Scholars and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities programs. fenwayoga.com
A trip to Franklin Park Zoo’s tropical forest pavilion should be even more transporting with a wine glass in hand. On May 31 at Uncorked, the zoo’s first annual wine tasting, sip selections from vendors such as the Naked Grape, Stray Dog and Greenvale Vineyards while showing the surrounding lemurs, hippos and gorillas what it really means to be a party animal. zoonewengland.org
Primed for Summer
An A-Z Guide to Alfresco Adventures.
By Improper Staff | Photo Credit: Holly Rike | May 23, 2014
To say we saw a long, cold winter would be an understatement—for a while, Boston felt more like an arctic field camp than the buzzing city we love. But now that we’ve crawled out of hibernation, we intend to spend as much time soaking up some vitamin D as possible. So we’ve rounded up 26 reasons to get outside this season, from a rooftop runway and a boatload of wine to opera in a park and dance in a parking lot.
A is for Away Games
Fenway isn’t the only park for fans this summer. The Red Sox and the Highland Street Foundation have teamed up for Out of the Park, bringing away games to a big screen at Franklin Park (June 22) and Boston Common (July 27), where you can snack on Fenway Franks and meet Wally the Green Monster while the Sox take on Oakland and Tampa Bay. A live band and Sox DJ TJ Connelly will pitch in, and there are no scalpers for these seats; screenings are free, so just bring your blanket. highlandstreet.org
B is for Boats, and lots of ’em
Don’t miss the boat on Aug. 23 when Community Boating aims to get all of its 170-plus vessels—including sailboats, kayaks, windsurfers and paddleboards—onto the Charles. Last year’s inaugural All Boats on the Water Day brought out nearly 120 boats, a tally the country’s oldest public sailing center will try to top at this year’s count, followed by giveaways and a dock party. community-boating.org
C is for Catwalks and Cabanas
Theater District hotspot Rooftop @ Revere has several new enticements for sun seekers, from SurfSet lessons that mimic the workout you’d get on the waves to “Classy Jello Shots” in flavors like spiked blackberry-ginger limeade. But we’re particularly pumped for its expanded Resort on the Rooftop series. Produced with stylist Christina K. Pierce, the free fashion shows kick off with local line Mike & Ton on June 4 and continue every Wednesday at 7 pm through August. reverehotel.com/rooftop
D is for Dine and Dash
Fort Point has become instrumental in the Boston restaurant scene, so it’s only fitting to serve its cuisine with a side of classical music. On June 14, the Fort Point-based Boston Virtuosi Chamber Orchestra hosts A Taste of the Arts, a restaurant crawl through the neighborhood that picks up rhythm during the last course—a multimedia concert with a string quartet, dancers and more on Atlantic Wharf. bostonvirtuosi.org
E is for Esplanade
Skip the symphony attire and still enjoy world-class acoustics from the comfort of a picnic blanket. On July 16, Boston Landmarks Orchestra will hit the Hatch Shell to open a stacked season of free concerts, featuring collabs with the Back Bay Chorale, Longwood Symphony, Boston Lyric Opera, the New England Spiritual Ensemble and a “pocket-sized salsa orchestra,” plus Christopher Wilkins leading a bicentennial celebration of “The Star-Spangled Banner.” landmarksorchestra.org
F is for Fancy Foot Work
Parks and parking lots transform into stages for Dancing in the Streets, a series of six outdoor performances popping up across Somerville through June. And during at least one show, the dancers won’t be the only ones on the move: On June 20, Stefanie Weber and Creatures of Habitat will start in the alley by the Veterans Memorial Rink, but take viewers to four different locations for Auto Mobile Body Works, a piece incorporating video projections and a cast of both humans and cars. somervilleartscouncil.org/dancefest
G is for Guns and ’Gansetts
Because nothing says summer like dressing up in period garb and railing against the Confederacy! Or, you know, kicking back with an ice-cold beer and grooving to live music. You can do both on Georges Island, home of Fort Warren, where, among other things, they’ll be staging historical happenings (including a Civil War Ball and 1860s-style baseball games), holding a Narragansett beer tasting and hosting multiple Berklee Music Fests. bostonharborislands.org/georges
H is for Hatch
That’s the theme of this year’s ArtBeat, the arts fest bringing bands, dance troupes, crafts vendors and artists to Davis Square on July 18 and 19. Last year’s theme, “Micro,” inspired plenty of interesting projects, from a museum that measured 10x16x18 inches to a “mini-me” parade where participants walked with their small-scale pet, child or puppet doppelgangers. So we have no doubt this year’s participants will think outside the egg. somervilleartscouncil.org/artbeat/2014
I is for Imagination
If you can dream it, you can make it happen. That’s the general idea behind
Figment Boston, which takes over the Greenway on July 26 and 27. Now in its fifth year, Figment is a free participatory arts festival that encourages everyone to get involved. Past installments have included an exhibit of motion-sensitive LED lights and a clothesline hung with notes airing “dirty laundry,” so we’re expecting cool things. boston.figmentproject.org
J is for Jerk
Spice things up at the second annual Boston JerkFest, where you can sample vendors’ treats, try out the all-you-can-drink Rum & Brew tasting and finally put an end to your search for the best local hot sauce. The chef cook-off and food frenzy—all set to the tune of reggae and steel drums—comes to the South End on June 28. bostonjerkfest.com
K is for Kite
Summers are for island getaways and chasing some tail, right? Spectacle Island was once home to a quarantine hospital and illicit casinos, but it’s now the best spot in town for pulling some strings. On Saturday afternoons starting June 21, make a kite or fly your own atop the highest point in Boston Harbor. bostonharborislands.org/spectacle
L is for Legs
On June 20, the 17th annual Chefs in Shorts gathers some of the city’s top toques together at the Seaport World Trade Center for a blowout BBQ for a good cause. (Proceeds benefit Future Chefs, a nonprofit that helps urban teens train for culinary careers.) Along with tasty eats, the affair promises beer and wine tastings and, of course, more than 40 Boston chefs in casual attire. seaportboston.com/promotions/chefs-in-shorts.aspx
M is for Mobile Art
Talk about a tricked-out ride: The Somerville Arts Council is set to unveil the Multi Use Somerville Community Roving Art Transport (M.U.S.C.R.A.T.), an old school bus they bought on the cheap and transformed into a work of art on wheels with help from local talents. Serving as a mobile arts space, it’ll host classes and performances; hitch a ride when it makes its big debut at ArtBeat on July 18 and 19. somervilleartscouncil.org
N is for Nineties Jams
The best way to season brisket is a pinch of Salt-N-Pepa. The ’90s hip-hop duo headlines the first night of Phantom Gourmet’s BBQ & Music Festival, which runs June 20-22 at Boston’s City Hall Plaza. Enjoy beats and barbecue on the event’s man-made beach—and if you’re still hungry, consider signing up for the Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest, a qualifier for the Coney Island finals. phantomgourmet.com
O is for Operetta
There’ll be a big bat in Christopher Columbus Park on the night of June 29. No need for alarm: It’s just the North End Music and Performing Arts Center’s English-language performance of Die Fledermaus (“The Bat”), Strauss’ fun and farcical operetta involving mistaken identities, a masked ball and—no joke—a character out for revenge on the buddy who left him passed out drunk in a bat costume in public. This third annual installment of Opera in the Park is free and semi-staged, but full ticketed performances run June 27-28 at Faneuil Hall. nempacboston.org
P is for Pride
No disrespect to Paddy’s Day—we love green beer as much as the next guy—but the Boston Pride Parade is our favorite celebratory street march of the year. Just one of the many events taking place during Pride Week, the party in the streets on June 14 culminates at City Hall Plaza with the Pride Festival, featuring five headliners, including “Same Love” songstress Mary Lambert and Glee’s Alex Newell. bostonpride.org
If pink isn’t your favorite color, you might think differently (and drink differently) after the Boston Rosé Party on June 7. Imbibers are encouraged to dress in their rose-colored best for the three-hour cruise, which departs from Rowes Wharf and includes a DJ and an actual boatload of wine—a delightfully dry 2013 vintage of 90+ Cellars’ Lot 33 Rosé from Languedoc to be precise, paired with bites from Southie fave KO Catering and Pies. bit.ly/drinkrose14 Q is for Quench
R is for Round Robin
A round robin of top Boston DJs, that is. The sonic showdown on Aug. 29 will close out Wavelengths, the ICA’s new Friday-night series of harborside concerts and DJ dance parties. But don’t wait till the very end to check it out, as the lineup includes the likes of performance-art phenom Peaches, Boston-bred synth poppers Hooray for Earth and “nightlife princess” Juliana Huxtable of New York art/drag collective House of Ladosha. icaboston.org
S is for Sandcastles
For the fierce competitors at the National Sand Sculpting Festival, a day at the beach is, well, no day at the beach. On July 18-20, hop on the Blue Line and head to Revere Beach to watch 15 master sculptors from around the world construct jaw-dropping creations from this most unforgiving medium. And while they get their hands dirty, enjoy live entertainment, food trucks and fireworks. reverebeachpartnership.com
The USS Constitution hasn’t defended the U.S. since the middle of the 19th century, but Old Ironsides still gets out and about once a year. Its July Fourth 4.5-mile turnaround cruise through Boston Harbor lasts three hours, so you have plenty of time to spy it from the shore if you’re not one of the lucky 150 people aboard. Just don’t miss it this year; the ship is going into the shop until 2018. history.navy.mil/ussconstitutionT is for Turnaround
U is for Under the Stars
Bringing your blanket or lugging your lawn chair to the MFA is worth the effort, because the museum’s summer Concerts in the Courtyard series boasts one eclectic and electric lineup, from Berklee alum Sierra Hull’s mandolin stylings and Debo Band’s funky blend of Ethiopian pop and American soul to the Western swing of Hot Club of Cowtown and the psychedelic electro of Mauritania’s Noura Mint Seymali. Or pay a bit extra for a perch on Bravo’s balcony. Either way, you’ll have a great view of the artists—and the summer night sky. mfa.org
V is for Viola
One of the Bard’s most appealing heroines returns to Boston Common for Commonwealth Shakespeare Company’s production of Twelfth Night, last staged in 2001. This time, the popular comedy’s cross-dressing lead is played by local drama queen Marianna Bassham, who’s previously tackled Viola with Actors’ Shakespeare Project and also garnered some gender-bending experience portraying Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow in Central Square Theater’s Matt & Ben, so we have high hopes. commshakes.org
W is for Watch Out!
For the past year, the obstacles in Somerville’s new Assembly Row have been tower cranes and hazard cones, but you can swap those out for pallet walls, monkey bars and agility tunnels at Rock and Run Boston. On June 21, the 5K obstacle race tours through the new development, with live bands to motivate you at every mile (as if the after-party’s beer garden wasn’t enough). rockandrunboston.com
X is for X Marks the Spot
On June 14, channel your inner Capt. Sparrow as you pillage and plunder bar taps with a few hundred fellow buccaneers during the sixth annual Pirate Crawl. This voyage also includes a plank walk aboard a cruise around the Harbor. Eye patches and shoulder-perched parrots strongly encouraged. crawlinboston.com
Y is for Yogis
It’s ordinarily tough to keep calm at Fenway Park—but then, you’re not usually watching the scoreboard while in a warrior pose. On June 8, the second annual FenwaYoga offers two morning yoga classes around the diamond with Mandy Ingber, instructor to Jennifer Aniston, Kate Beckinsale and Brooke Shields. Getting your Om on requires a $250 fundraising minimum, but it goes to a good cause: helping local kids through the Red Sox Foundation’s Red Sox Scholars and Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities programs. fenwayoga.com
Z is for Zebras and Zinfandel
A trip to Franklin Park Zoo’s tropical forest pavilion should be even more transporting with a wine glass in hand. On May 31 at Uncorked, the zoo’s first annual wine tasting, sip selections from vendors such as the Naked Grape, Stray Dog and Greenvale Vineyards while showing the surrounding lemurs, hippos and gorillas what it really means to be a party animal. zoonewengland.org
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