Things to do in Boston this weekend: June 22-24, 2023

Welcome to BosTen, your weekly guide to the coolest events and best things to do in Boston this weekend. Sign up for our weekly email newsletter here. Have an idea about what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook group, or email us at [email protected].

Feed your soul at BAMS 2023

On Friday and Saturday, more than a dozen musicians will convene at Boston’s largest public park for a bit of music, a bit of art, and a whole lot of soul. The Boston Arts & Music Soul (BAMS) Festival will take over Franklin Park Friday and Saturday, amplifying local artists of color for a diverse audience spanning generations. The highest profile name on the bill is hip-hop legend Grandmaster Flash, while others worth checking out are R&B/soul singer Zyah Belle, Motown Records artist Kevin Ross, and reigning Boston Music Awards Best New Artist winner kei. There will also be dance lessons, a graffiti art showcase, and plenty to eat at Soul Food Row where you can try Cape Verdean cuisine, West African food, Haitian bites, and everything in between. — Kevin Slane

Enjoy a ‘family meal’ at Bully Boy Distillers

Italian trattoria Pammy’s will be popping up at Bully Boy Distillers’ Cedric Street location this Friday from 5-7 p.m., celebrating the Tre Fratelli Gin. At this event, gin-based cocktails will be served, and there will be a gin sampling station, as well as an opportunity to buy bottles. With a $38 ticket, you’ll be able to dig into an Italian hero sandwich, made with meats and cheeses from Formaggio Kitchen, sip on one cocktail, and access the Cocktail Garden. Purchase tickets here. — Shira Laucharoen

Laugh it up with ‘SNL’ star Devon Walker

Devon Walker might not be at the point where he’s getting regularly recognized for his “Saturday Night Live” sketches — yet. But the recently added featured player on everyone’s favorite long-running sketch comedy show seemed to just be getting into a groove (for instance as a visibly uncomfortable actor pitching HIV medication) when “SNL” went on a writers-strike hiatus that scuttled the end of the season. Fortunately you can catch him live and in person when he brings his standup act to Laugh Boston for three shows this Friday and Saturday; no word whether he’ll revive his professional-athletes-in-quarantine bit from during the pandemic, but we can only hope. — Peter Chianca

See thought-provoking films at Roxbury Film Fest

The 25th Annual Roxbury Film Festival made its triumphant return to Boston this week, bringing independent film screenings celebrating people of color to venues across the city. Following a pre-fest screening on Wednesday, the festival’s opening night on Thursday will feature two premieres at the Museum of Fine Arts — “Welcoming the Embrace,” which documents the making of the new monument on Boston Common dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and “The Honeymoon,” a South African film about a bride whose friends take her on her honeymoon after her fiancé leaves her at the altar. Other films will screen throughout the week at venues like Hibernian Hall and Northeastern’s Blackman Auditorium, as well as online. The fest will wrap with a throwback screening of “Eve’s Bayou” on June 28, followed by a conversation with the director, Kasi Lemmons. Find the festival’s full schedule here.  — Natalie Gale

Get loose at the Cambridge Dance Party

This Friday evening from 6-10 p.m., the city of Cambridge will close its main thoroughfare to traffic but open it to dancers. Thousands are expected to descend on City Hall for the city’s annual dance party, which is returning for the first time since the start of the pandemic. A DJ will spin music, and after the sun sets, the city will launch bright, colorful lights to keep the party going. — Kevin Slane

Grab some magical beans at Beantown Festival

Arguably, it’s another major U.S. city that has a stronger claim to the title of “Beantown,” yet this historic (some would say “dorky”) nickname has been Boston’s since the early 20th century. A new food festival this weekend is making Boston beans cool again: Beantown Beanfest, happening this Saturday from 11-5 p.m. on the Rose Kennedy Greenway, celebrates both this humble foodstuff and the modern, diverse city that Boston has become. Featuring local vendors with bean dishes representing various ethnic cuisines — plus music, entertainment, bean-themed crafts, games, and activities for all ages — Beantown Beanfest is a fundraising event for the Equalizer Institute, an initiative of the New England Legal Foundation, which provides corporate legal aid to entrepreneurs from underrepresented communities. — Jacqueline Cain

Check out a pair of Porchfests

A pair of towns will be holding their Porchfests this Saturday, following the example of Somerville’s annual celebration of local music — which has featured hundreds of local artists performing on porches around the city since 2011. Reading will hold its Porchfest from noon to 6 p.m., while Quincy’s Merrymount, Wollaston Hills, and Squantum neighborhoods will be alive with the sound of music from 3 to 9 p.m. For a full schedule of performers, check out the websites for Reading Porchfest and Quincy Porchfest. — Kevin Slane

Hit the dance floor with Afrojack at Big Night Live

Four-time Grammy nominee Afrojack has been ranked among DJ Magazine’s top 10 DJs in the world every year since 2015 — as well as 2011-2013 — and among the top 20 annually since 2010. Among the many with whom he has collaborated are Pitbull, Beyoncé, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott, Ty Dolla Sign, and fellow Dutch artist Eva Simons, with whom he recorded the million-selling 2010 single “Take Over Control.” Co-writing and producing Paris Hilton’s song “Good Time” may not have been one of his prouder moments, but the two were dating at the time. (He is now married to Elettra Miura Lamborghini, whose grandfather founded a car company in the early ‘60s.) All of that is a long way of saying that Afrojack will surely have decades of hits in the mix when he plays Big Night Live this Saturday at 9:30 p.m. — Blake Maddux

Say farewell to Dead & Company at Fenway

For the first time since 2017 — and likely the last time ever — Dead & Company will return to Fenway Park for a pair of concerts this Saturday and Sunday. Since forming in 2015, the jam band’s six members (former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Bob Weir, singer-songwriter John Mayer, Allman Brothers’ bassist Oteil Burbridge, and Fare Thee Well and RatDog keyboardist Jeff Chimenti) have become familiar to Boston audiences: The band played Fenway in July 2016 and June 2017, TD Garden in November 2017, and completed the sports venue hat trick with a Gillette Stadium set in June 2019 and July 2022. Their current tour, dubbed the Final Tour, is the supergroup’s last, and for the moment, a handful of tickets are still available via the Fenway Park website. — Kevin Slane

Grab a slice at the Boston Pizza Festival

If you’re a crispy, cheese-encrusted pizza, you’ll want to stop by the Boston Pizza Festival, coming back after a three-year hiatus this Saturday and Sunday. At this event at City Hall Plaza, admission is free, but you can purchase pizza slice tickets in advance here. Participating pizzerias include Rina’s Pizzeria, de LaPosta, Cafe Quattro, and even a few restaurants from Italy, all baking their pies in Marra Forni artisan pizza ovens. There will also be live music, entertainment, and an interactive pizza-making demo. Come by to celebrate, and enjoy drinks from Anheuser-Busch and 19 Crimes Wine. — Shira Laucharoen

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