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Boston Globe
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Five things to do around Boston, June 2
June 4 Petal Talk Stroll the beautiful grounds of the New England Botanic Garden at Tower Hill during its Spring Horticulture Walk & Talk. From 11 a.m. to noon, enjoy nature as you wander through the trees and blooming flowers with guidance from expert horticulturist Hunter Blanchard — learning about local ecology, pollinators, and more along the way. $5 for members, $25 for non-members. Advertisement June 5-8 Greek to Me Celebrate Greek culture at the Arlington Greek Festival. This four-day extravaganza, at St. Athanasius the Great Greek Orthodox Church, showcases cuisine such as roast lamb, gyros, and souvlaki. Enjoy live music and see the Sons and Daughters of Alexander the Great troupe performing traditional dances. Food and drinks available for purchase. 5-9 p.m. Thursday; 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. Free. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up June 6-8 Crafters' Coven Enjoy local art, music, dance, and theater at the 17th annual Salem Arts Festival. From 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in downtown Salem, join in on interactive art-making, shop for original local art pieces at a crafters' marketplace, watch a live mural slam, and listen to pop-up music performances. Events are all accessible from Boston via MBTA commuter rail. Free. Advertisement June 8 Dragon Dash Celebrate East Asian culture as you watch nearly 70 teams from around the globe compete at the 46th annual Boston Hong Kong Dragon Boat Festival. From noon to 5 p.m. at Harvard's John W. Weeks Footbridge, participants will race ornate boats on the Charles River, in a sport that has been around for over 2,000 years. Also: Shop for traditional Asian arts and crafts, enjoy lion dance and martial arts demonstrations, listen to traditional Japanese Taiko drumming, and sample a wide variety of Asian cuisine. Free, with food and drinks available for purchase. Share your event news. Send information on Boston-area happenings at least three weeks in advance to week@ Adelaide Parker can be reached at
Boston Globe
25-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Five things to do around Boston, April 28-May 4
Tuesday Roaring '20s Celebrate Milo Todd's debut novel, 'The Lilac People,' with a trip back in time at A Night at the Eldorado at the Somerville Theatre. 'The Lilac People' follows a trans man in prewar Berlin who finds community at the Eldorado Club — the epicenter of Berlin's queer community — but is forced into hiding as the Nazis rise to power. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., spend a night at the El Dorado yourself for an evening of Roaring '20s-era music, dance, and queer joy. Afterward, the author will sign copies of his novel. $35 (event only). Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Friday-Sunday Advertisement Blooming Brushstrokes Spring has sprung at the annual Art in Bloom at the Museum of Fine Arts. Talented florists and designers from across New England will create interpretive flower arrangements based on MFA artworks. See these pieces showcased next to the art that inspired them, and enjoy special events, tours, and dining. 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Included with general admission: $27; free for MFA members. Friday-Sunday Panda-Monium Savor food from all over Asia at Boston Panda Fest, one of the largest outdoor Asian food festivals in the United States. Take your pick of more than 200 traditional foods from stalls and food trucks; see live performances of modern and traditional Asian music, dance, and theater; watch a lion dance parade; and shop for unique Asian-inspired clothes, jewelry, specialty ingredients, and more. Starting at 4 p.m. each day, at City Hall Plaza. Tickets start at $13, with food available for purchase. Advertisement Saturday Alpaca Palooza Visit adorable alpacas and shop for a variety of wool products at Harvard Alpaca Ranch's Meet the Alpacas. From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Amesbury's Cider Hill Farm, enjoy a meet-and-greet with two of the ranch's alpacas, and explore a mobile pop-up selling sweaters, socks, and other items made from natural wool. Free, but registration is encouraged. Share your event news. Send information on Boston-area happenings at least three weeks in advance to week@ Adelaide Parker can be reached at
Boston Globe
18-04-2025
- General
- Boston Globe
Bees terrified me. Then my beekeeper grandfather asked for my help.
'Why'd you plant those?' I asked my grandma, eyes on the bushes. 'Oh, the lavender? It's for the bees.' ' Hm ... ? ' I shuddered. My grandpa had become a beekeeper. I spent that summer eyeing him through the wide kitchen windows. He'd putter around all day, building hives or planting flowers. Poppy was a round man who always wore the same checkered shirt when he cared for his bees. I watched the sun bleach its pattern as the summer loped on. While he worked, he beamed with happiness. Poppy cared for his bees like a doting first-time parent. When a Advertisement As I parked the car one afternoon, I saw Poppy on the porch. The moment I got out, he jogged up to me, a baseball cap teetering atop his head. 'I've been winterizing the hives,' he said, pausing to catch his breath. 'All that's left is to collect honey. But it's a two-person job ...' Advertisement My stomach jolted. 'And you want me to help?' Poppy nodded. 'I know you're busy. But I'd love the assistance.' I longed to say no. But I was a guest in his home. And he was so kind, and I knew how he loved his bees. I watched myself reply, as if in the third person: 'I'd be happy to help.' He rushed inside, giddy. He emerged with what looked like a mesh-covered safari hat to protect my face. The hive would be calmest if we didn't wear full beekeeper suits, he said. There was nothing stopping bees from stinging everywhere but our faces. Poppy strode over to a hive — a whitewashed wooden box with a removable triangle roof, reminiscent of a child's drawing of a house. He opened the top. He puffed smoke inside, then — casually as if lifting Popsicles from the freezer — he reached in and grabbed a board coated in honeycomb. 'See, it's not hard.' He brandished the comb. 'Wanna try?' I slipped on a glove and stepped over. The bees were woozy from the smoke but still conscious. The moment I approached, they perked up. I shut my eyes and gripped a board in the hive. I felt specks of something climbing on my arm. I did my best not to think about what, but I knew bees were crawling on my skin. I scrunched my eyes closed and tried to block out their buzzing. Steeling myself, I pulled the board upward. It caught at first, then slid out smoothly. I opened my eyes to look at what I was holding. The comb was a lace of thousands of holes, as intricate as any city. Bees meandered along my arm. None angry or stinging. All happily along for the ride. Advertisement I helped my grandpa ladle bees off our honeycomb, then loaded the boards into a centrifuge to extract the honey. We placed the bees and their share of comb back in the hives, then surveyed our harvest. Grinning, Poppy handed me a chunk of honeycomb. 'I saved this for you. The harvested honey is good, but I think it tastes best straight from the comb.' I popped it in my mouth. The beeswax clumped as I chewed, and honey squashed out like milk from a tres leches cake. I closed my eyes and smiled. I could taste a hint of lavender. Adelaide Parker can be reached at
Boston Globe
08-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
A Harvard student's guide to the best Harvard Square coffee shops
I ordered the Daydream Latte with cinnamon and honey on the Blank Street app. The app took a few minutes to load, but from there, ordering was easy. Blank Street is right next to the Harvard T station, so I grabbed my drink on my way to work. The cinnamon shone through nicely, and although the drink was sweet, it wasn't overly so. I wish I'd been able to taste the espresso more, though. Get Winter Soup Club A six-week series featuring soup recipes and cozy vibes, plus side dishes and toppings, to get us all through the winter. Enter Email Sign Up Blank Street, 1380 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Advertisement Price range: $3.50-$9. Most simple drinks (an espresso, americano, or cappuccino) are just under $4, but flavored drinks and larger sizes reach $9. Some of the coffees Adelaide Parker tried on her tour of Harvard Square coffee shops. Adelaide Parker Bluebottle — 10/10 Bluebottle is my personal favorite Harvard Square coffee shop. Every morning, I come here and order a 16-ounce iced NOLA (cold brew concentrate with chicory). In my opinion, the NOLA is the perfect drink. It has a refreshing taste with just the right amount of coffee flavor, it only takes one minute to prepare, and its caffeine content is equivalent to four espresso shots. Advertisement Bluebottle is on the pricier end of Harvard Square cafés, but its coffee is noticeably high-quality. (Even Jeffrey Grossman, an MIT professor Bluebottle, 40 Bow St., Cambridge. Price range: $6-$9. Café Gato Rojo, in the basement of Harvard Yard's Lehman Hall, is this list's only student-run café. Adelaide Parker Café Gato Rojo — 9/10 Café Gato Rojo, in the basement of Harvard Yard's Lehman Hall, is this list's only student-run café. If you're not a Harvard student, you can't enter. But if you are a Harvard student, it's wonderful! The café is packed with tables and cozy armchairs, and there's always an ambient buzz of conversation and indie music. It's one of my favorite places to sit and work. I ordered a chai latte because, at 3:30 p.m., it was too late in the day to drink something genuinely caffeinated. The latte was tasty and came in a warm mug, which was perfect for a cold, rainy day. Best of all, it was free! (Because this is a university-run café, Harvard undergraduates can buy drinks with dining dollars.) Café Gato Rojo, 1351 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Price range: $3-$5. Capital One Café — 6/10 I have no idea who frequents Advertisement Capital One Café, 24 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge. Price range: $3-5.50; discounts if you pay with a Capital One Card. Faro Café on Arrow Street, Cambridge. Faro Café Faro — 8/10 Faro is Harvard Square's indie coffee shop. I aspire to be someone who goes here, but I rarely do. For sustainability reasons, they don't put lids on their to-go cups, they ban computers, and they charge extra for dairy milk. Though I support these things in theory, in reality, it's difficult to carry around a to-go coffee with no lid without spilling. And the no-computers rule means I never sit and drink coffee at Faro because I'd rather go somewhere where I can work at the same time. I ordered a latte (with oat milk, of course) and a canelé. The coffee was good, and the canelé was springy and wonderful. Faro also has great ambiance. It's filled with plants and thrifted furniture, and because of the no laptops rule, it had more people sitting and chatting than any other café I visited. I definitely want to start coming here more on the weekends. Faro, 5 Arrow St., Cambridge. Price range: $4-$6. Flour — 5/10 Like Tatte, the reason to go here is Flour's food, not their coffee. But unlike Tatte, Flour's coffee is bad instead of just inoffensive, and their food isn't as good as Tatte's either. I got a latte and a brownie, and both were worse than their equivalents at Tatte (not to mention that Flour is also much farther from Harvard Yard than Tatte is). Go to Tatte instead. Flour, 114 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge. Advertisement Price range: $3.50-$7. Coffee Connection founder George Howell returns to Harvard Square at Lovestruck Books. George Howell Coffee (at Lovestruck Books) — 7/10 I ordered a dirty chai latte, and its warmth was comforting after the snowy walk here. The coffee was delicious, and I enjoyed a perfectly crumbly scone on the side. Lovestruck Books, George Howell Coffee & Wine Bar, 44 Brattle St., Cambridge. Price range: $4-$7. Pavement — 9/10 Pavement is criminally underrated. It's located on the first floor of Harvard's Smith Campus Center, right in the heart of the Square. My favorite thing to get here is their seasonal drinks — In addition to coffee, Pavement has wonderful bagel sandwiches. I ordered the 'Presto! Pesto!,' a sandwich with egg, avocado, and sun-dried tomato pesto. I liked it so much that I've since gone back to order it three more times since. Pavement Coffeehouse, Smith Campus Center, 1350 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Price range: $4-$8. Peet's — 6/10 For a big coffee chain, Advertisement Peet's Coffee, 100 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge. Price range: $3-$7. Peet's house blend coffee beans. Wendy Maeda/Globe staff/file Starbucks — 4/10 The Harvard Square Starbucks is like any other Starbucks — you know what you're getting. I ordered an iced latte (fine but not great) and a grilled cheese (pretty good). Since Harvard Square is filled with so many better cafés, there's no real reason to go here. Starbucks, 1 John F. Kennedy St., Cambridge. Price range: $4-7. Tatte — 7/10 The Harvard Square Tatte is always bustling with tourists. If you eat here, be ready to take your order elsewhere because it's nearly impossible to find a table. Tatte's coffee is unremarkable. I ordered an iced latte, and it wasn't bad, but there are several other places in the Square where I could've found a better one. The barista also recommended I try an espresso spritz: a combination of espresso, simple syrup, and carbonated water. If that sounds bad, that's because it was. Unpleasantly acidic and sickly sweet, the espresso spritz was genuinely the worst coffee drink I've ever tasted. It's worth coming to Tatte for their food, though, which is delicious. My favorite items are their Jerusalem bagels, Linzer cookies, and their weekend-only Savory French Toast. If you're here for breakfast, Tatte's coffee is good enough to order on the side. But I wouldn't come here just for coffee (and certainly not for their espresso spritz). Tatte Bakery & Cafe, 1288 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. Price range: $3.50-$6.50. Adelaide Parker can be reached at
Boston Globe
28-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Five things to do around Boston, March 31-April 13
April 4-13 Pride on Screen See the very best of this year's LGBTQ film at the Wicked Queer film festival. One of the world's longest-running events of its kind, Wicked Queer is back for its 41st year. See feature-length movies, documentaries, and short films that celebrate queer storytelling and filmmaking, at venues throughout Greater Boston. Prices vary. April 5 The Last Laugh Watch Boston's best up-and-coming comedians face off for a $7,000 prize at the Boston Comedy Festival Contest Finals. These eight competitors have been winnowed down from a field of 72 comics. In this final round, at 8 p.m. at Somerville Theatre, watch them perform their funniest routines for a chance to win over the crowd. $36.95. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up April 5 Advertisement Hard-Core Parkour With the Boston Women's Parkour Workshop, the Dojo at Somernova invites anyone who is female-identifying or nonbinary and at least 14 years old to sample the sport at 10 a.m. on its Somerville course. Staff will be there to teach newcomers the basics, while more seasoned athletes can jump right in. Half-day session starts at $40, free for Cambridge and Somerville high schoolers. April 11 Strung Along Listen to one of the world's most unique ensembles at this performance from the Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain. Making its first visit to Boston since 2018, the orchestra will perform an evening of innovative, genre-defying music starting at 8 p.m. at the New England Conservatory's Jordan Hall. $62. Editor's note: This edition of Your Week Ahead covers two weeks. Look for the next Globe Magazine on April 13. Share your event news. Send information on Boston-area happenings at least three weeks in advance to week@ Adelaide Parker can be reached at
