By: Spencer Shannon | @suspencey

Purveyors of local art and culture, rejoice! This is the weekend to explore Boston’s more creative side, with community-centered art projects, festivals, and parties popping up all over the place – both indoors and out. Share some neighborly love while perusing the local talent and the tireless innovations of the people that make our city so vibrant and diverse.

FRIDAY | 7.18

WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR DREAMS

Blanket forts: they’re cool again! WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR OUR DREAMS is the brainchild of Kevin Clancy (artist-in-residence at Mobius, Inc. in Cambridge), a three-week-long slumber party for “collective dreaming and utopic visions.” The last Dream Session is tonight, complete with a sunrise dance party starting at 3am with artist and DJ Ethan Kiermaier. You might want to pack some Red Bulls – ‘adult sleepover’ just took on a whole new meaning.

55 Norfolk St., Cambridge | 6pm, free | weareresponsibleforourdreams.tumblr.com

ArtBeat Festival 2014

Live bands. Dance troupes. 75+ craft vendors. Food! Art! Everyone’s favorite arts festival kicks off this afternoon in Davis Square, and invites the city to converge and transform the neighborhood into a launching pad for expression. This year’s theme: “hatch.” Births, breakthroughs, bursts, ArtBeat’s covering it all, and they want you to bust out of your shell and join the creative fun. All Lost references are welcome and encouraged.
1 Davis Sq., Somerville | 6pm Fri. – 10pm Sat., free | somervilleartscouncil.org/artbeat/2014

SATURDAY | 7.19

1^st Annual Jamaica Plain Porchfest

In a stroke of community-oriented genius that just further proves the fact that JP is awesome and everyone should live there, Porchfest 2014 was conceived by Marie Ghitman and Mindy Fried. The family-friendly event will host 60 bands on over 30 porches throughout the neighborhood, and the music will range from Afro pop to classical to rock n’ roll to draw fans from every genre and celebrate JP’s diversity. Check out the website for an interactive map (and directions to the afterparty!).
Jamaica Plain (MBTA: Orange Line to Green St) | 12pm-4pm; afterparty, 5pm-9pm, free | jpporchfest.org

The Geeky Cauldron: A Harry Potter Pub Quiz

If last week’s internet meltdown over that new short story J.K. Rowling posted on Pottermore is anything to go by, the Harry Potter fandom is still alive and kicking. The time has finally come to capitalize on all that useless knowledge – this comprehensive pub quiz hosted by Geeks Who Drink is definitely not for ignorant Muggles. The winner gets a hefty cash prize, so study up on those novels, films, and spellbooks! Mingle with your fellow witches and wizards at White Horse Tavern and knock back a butterbeer or five – then Disapparate the smirks off of your opponents’ faces with your Dumbledore-level wisdom.

116 Brighton Ave., Allston | 3pm, $5, under 21 admitted if accompanied by adult | geekswhodrink.com/198

CHEAP SEATS 19: “Saturday Night: Live”

Self-described as “an open source salon for the radically inclusive and artistically adventurous,” Cheap Seats is your one-stop variety show packed with recklessly original performance art. The mission: bring artists from divergent scenes together. Musicians, comedians, poets, and thespians are invited to showcase their unique talents – especially if it breaks from convention and defies identification. Despite its loose and laissez-faire approach, this menagerie is no joke. Interest is healthy, and 20 to 25 five-minute acts are packed into one frenzied night at the Cambridge Y’s Theater. It’s fun to stay at the YMCA!

820 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge | 7pm-10pm, $5 | facebook.com/events/501447189985587

SUNDAY | 7.20

Cobra@119

119 Gallery invites the public to this 30^th anniversary celebration/performance of “Cobra,” the unpublished and enigmatic composition from avant-garde composer John Zorn. Created for a group of improvisational musicians and a prompter, “Cobra” consists of a set of cues – and depending on the number of players, instruments used, and length of the session, the piece sounds different each time it’s played. Confused? Chances are, everyone is. But they’ll have fun trying.

119 Chelmsford St, Lowell | 1pm-3pm, free | facebook.com/events/312455248915969

Her Aching Heart

What better time for the consumption of pulpy romance novels than the slow, hot days of summer? In this witty romp of a play, audiences can enjoy a send up to the most classic of guilty pleasures (with the added comfort of air conditioning). Young actresses Lynne Guerra and Aimee Rose Ranger seamlessly portray a range of characters as they are transported into the Victorian world of their dirty imaginations – and an absurd, hilariously indulgent tale of desire unfolds.
450 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge | 2pm, $15-$49 (full listings online) | centralsquaretheater.org