- This event has passed. Check out other things to do instead.
BosTen is your weekly guide to the best events and coolest things to do in Boston.
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].
Tip off March Madness at Harpoon
The 2024 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament begins Thursday afternoon at 12:15 p.m., with Mississippi State and Michigan State kicking off the best weekend in sports — and inevitably wrecking close to 50 percent of brackets in the process. If you’re playing hooky (or simply want to stop by after work), Harpoon has a Hoops & Hops Watch Party starting at noon. Along with watching the games on Harpoon’s giant TVs, the brewery will host Pop-A-Shot contests and award prizes for the best “incognito” costume for those of you taking a “sick day.” (Thursday, March 21 from noon-9 p.m.; 306 Northern Ave., Boston; free; 21+) — Kevin Slane
Get your game on at PAX East
Starting Thursday, tens of thousands of gaming enthusiasts will flock to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center for PAX East, one of the biggest festivals of its kind nationwide. You’ll find hundreds of active exhibitions and tournaments devoted to board games, video games, role-playing games, and every other type of game at what one organizer has called “Woodstock for gamers.” Single-day passes for Saturday are sold out, but you can still snag tickets for Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. (Thursday, March 21 through Sunday, March 24 at various times; 415 Summer St., Boston; $67-250; all ages) — Kevin Slane
Get weird with Boston Underground Film Festival
It’s officially spring film festival season, with a total of four Massachusetts movie showcases kicking off this month. One of the most consistently excellent is the Boston Underground Film Festival, which brings its typical collection of cinematic oddities to the Brattle Theatre now through Sunday. Last year’s festival was the first chance for anyone in New England to see the excellent “How to Blow Up a Pipeline,” and Wednesday’s opening-night screening of Sydney Sweeney’s “Immaculate” (directed by Boston-raised filmmaker Michael Mohan) certainly fulfilled the festival’s self-described goal of providing viewers a “sensory bacchanalia from beyond the mainstream.” For a full schedule and ticketing info, check out the BUFF website. (Thursday, March 21 through Sunday, March 24; 40 Brattle St., Cambridge; $15) — Kevin Slane
Expand your worldview at the Salem Film Fest
As Massachusetts’ largest international documentary film festival, the Salem Film Fest offers residents a window into many different worlds and perspectives over the course of its four-day run. The fest will screen 23 feature-length docs and 14 shorts at either Cinema Salem, Peabody Essex Museum, or the National Park Visitor Center, with happy hours and filmmaker Q&As at local venues like East Regiment Beer Co. afterward. Individual tickets ($14) or five-ticket bundles ($60) are available on the SFF website. (Thursday, March 21 through Sunday, March 24 at various times and locations; $14 and up) — Kevin Slane
Snag restaurant deals during Dine Out Boston
Dine Out Boston wraps up its two-week run this Saturday, providing a final chance to visit some of the restaurants you’ve been meaning to try at a fraction of the normal cost. Restaurants in Boston and beyond are offering prix fixe lunch and dinner menus at four different price points — $22, $27, $32, and $36 for lunch, and $36, $41, $46, and $55 for dinner. There are 171 spots to choose from on this year’s list of participating restaurants, with multiple options in every Boston neighborhood and beyond. Note that some restaurants don’t offer their prix fixe menus during peak times like Saturday nights, and reservations are recommended since restaurants can book up quickly. (Now through Saturday, March 23 at various times and locations; $22-55) — Natalie Gale
Eat at a woman-owned restaurant for Women’s History Month
Boston has no shortage of women-owned eateries, some of which are among the best restaurants in the city. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’ve compiled a list of some of the city’s best women-operated restaurants for you to check out this month — or any time you feel like it. Other notable spots not on that list include Grace by Nia in the Seaport, Tres Gatos in JP, Yunnan Kitchen in the South End, Pagu in Cambridge, and Nightshade Noodle Bar in Lynn. — Natalie Gale
Get your running form back with a 5k
With the 2024 Boston Marathon less than a month away, you can bet that plenty of people will be out and about racking up the running miles this spring. If 26.2 is a bit much for you to bite off, there’s a trio of 5ks you can check out this Saturday. Depending on your neighborhood, you can lace up your sneakers to run the Rally for Research 5k along the river in Cambridge at 10:30, the Run the Fens 5k at Time Out Market at 9 a.m., or the Jamaica Pond Parkrun, a free run which leaves from the Pinebank Promontory every Saturday at 9 a.m. (Saturday, March 23 from 9-11:30 a.m.; various locations; various prices) — Kevin Slane
Celebrate National Cocktail Day at Bully Boy
This Sunday is National Cocktail Day, and there’s no better way to celebrate than a cocktail-making class at Boston’s first distillery since the prohibition era. Mixologists at Bully Boy Distillers will teach you to mix and shake like a pro, and you’ll be able to enjoy the fruits of your labors when the lessons are done. (Sunday, March 24 from 3-4:30 p.m.; 44 Cedric St.; $60; 21+) — Kevin Slane
Laugh along with Nate Bargatze at TD Garden
Nashville comedian Nate Bargatze could retire tomorrow safe in the knowledge that he headlined possibly the funniest “Saturday Night Live” sketch in decades, the already classic “Washington’s Dream” from last October. But fortunately for us he isn’t going anywhere, except on the road with “The Be Funny Tour,” which is selling out dates around the country thanks to Bargatze’s self-deprecating — and clean! — storytelling style of humor that is relatable to basically anybody who’s a human. He’ll be at TD Garden for two shows, including one at 3 p.m., for which we (and no doubt Jamie Lee Curtis) offer our full thanks and support. (Sunday, March 24 at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.; 100 Legends Way, Boston; $46-$96) — Peter Chianca
Sing ‘Love Songs’ with the Magnetic Fields
To properly celebrate the 25th anniversary of their massive (three-volume) collection “69 Love Songs,” indie rockers The Magnetic Fields, fronted by Stephin Merritt, and featuring Sam Davol, Shirley Simms, Chris Ewen, and Anthony Kaczynski, will perform the entire recording — yes, that’s 69 songs — in order, over two nights at Roadrunner: Part One on Sunday, Part Two on Monday. First named Buffalo Rome, the band came together in Boston in 1990, and their first release, “Distant Plastic Tress,” happened the following year. One has to wonder if an extra night would’ve been needed if Merritt’s original plan had come to fruition — an album that, rumor says, was going to be called “100 Love Songs.” (Sunday, March 24 at 8 p.m.; 89 Guest St., Boston; $45-$267) — Ed Symkus
Need weekend plans?
The best events in the city, delivered to your inbox
