Join us at Symphony Hall for a free Boston Instrumental Festival, where three nationally respected ensembles unite to share an incredible performance of wind band repertoire. Ensembles featured: Melrose High School Concert Band, Massachusetts Chaparral Wind Ensemble, California…
Free Things To Do in Boston
The Boston area offers an abundance of free and fun activities for everyone. See what's happening in Boston below!
Festivals
Back to Top of List- SoWa Art + Design District
- Recurring weekly on Sunday
Spend a Sunday afternoon at 450 Harrison Ave, and meet the artists directly. Family friendly and free event. Plenty of parking is available. SoWa Artists Guild Facebook/SoWa Artists Guild Instagram/SoWa Artists Guild
As our goat friends would say, Dudley Farm Day is baaaaa-ck for its second year! Join us for a day of farm animals, wool weaving, butter making, seed planting, craft-making fun here at the Shirley-Eustis House. We’ll be joined by representatives from a number of fellow…
- Recurring daily
The 11th Boston Design Week will take place April 23-May 5, 2024, featuring dozens of in-person, virtual and outdoor events citywide, including the annual Design Week Awards, Thursday, May 2nd. This 12-day design festival offers renowned guest speakers, panel discussions…
Looking for a new and exciting career in the hospitality industry? Boston’s hospitality industry is booming and employers are looking to fill hundreds of open positions! Not familiar with the industry? No worries! You will have an opportunity to build professional connections…
Museums & Exhibitions
Back to Top of List- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The BU Art Galleries host a variety of ongoing exhibitions in three locations on the University campus focused on national and regional artistic endeavors. Tours Availability: Tuesday – Sunday (closed on holidays recognized by the school) Gallery Hours: 11 pm - 5 pm
- Recurring daily
The Bunker Hill Museum’s exhibits and dioramas tell the stories of the Battle of Bunker Hill, the construction of the Monument, and the history of the Charlestown Neighborhood. The museum is housed in the old Charlestown branch of the Boston Public Library. Guests can request…
- Commonwealth Museum
- Recurring daily
The Commonwealth Museum brings history alive through exhibits and educational programs. Changing exhibits interpret artifacts and documents that illuminate Massachusetts history. The exhibits featured are typically focused on the work and words of men like John Hancock, Samuel…
- Harvard Art Museums
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Examine the museums’ recent acquisitions, spanning centuries and media. Future Minded highlights a selection of works acquired in recent years that exemplify the Harvard Art Museums’ collecting vision and strategies. Nearly all are on display for the first time. The museums are…
- Massachusetts Historical Society
- Recurring daily
Founded in 1791, the Massachusetts Historical Society is the nation's oldest historical society. The collections bring alive the stories of America's past through a series of changing exhibitions and public programs that are free to the public. Availability: Monday…
- Recurring daily
If you’re in the mood for a different kind of art, this museum houses collections loaned from institutions and art collectors all over the globe. Due to their reliance on loans, their exhibitions change quite frequently. In the span of a year, you could see pieces from China…
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
The MIT List Visual Arts Center offers visitors a dynamic program of temporary exhibitions in the galleries, as well as renowned permanent and public art collections located across the Institute making it an excellent location to discover unique artistic visions. Availability…
- Recurring daily
MOBA is the world's only museum dedicated to the collection, exhibition, and celebration of bad art in all forms. This year's theme is 99% Inspiration, 1% Persperation, a twist on Thomas Edison's famous definition of genius. Located in the basement of Somerville Theater…
- Harvard Art Museums
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Pablo Picasso’s painting Guernica was commissioned by the Spanish government for the 1937 Paris World’s Fair. It was exhibited in Josep Lluís Sert’s Spanish Pavilion, alongside Joan Miró’s The Reaper and other works. Completed in early summer 1937, the massive 11 × 25 foot…
- Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation at Massachusetts General Hospital
- Recurring weekly on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
The Paul S. Russell, MD Museum of Medical History and Innovation tells the rich story of Massachusetts General Hospital's two centuries of history. Visit us to learn about the hospital's important contributions to the medical field and see how these discoveries and advancements…
- Recurring daily
The Waterworks Museum interprets unique stories of the country's first metropolitan water system through exhibitions and educational programs on engineering, architecture, social history, and public health. Located along the Chestnut Hill reservoir, the Waterworks Museum…
- Downtown Boston BID
- Recurring daily
Winteractive is a free, walkable art experience featuring 16 artworks and interactive play elements, presented by the Downtown Boston Business Improvement District. Inspired by the vibrant winter festivals and art exhibitions of our neighbors in the province of Québec in Canada…
- Harvard Art Museums
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
See how Wolf Vostell created art, as well as an expansive aesthetic philosophy, that challenged human complacency toward war, genocide, and other catastrophic world events. “Art shall remind us that we must remember.” —Wolf Vostell A witness to the brutality of World War II and…
- Recurring weekly on Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Located on the top floor of the historic Faneuil Hall, the Military Museum and Armory displays uniforms, medals, and weaponry from The Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, among other, more modern military artifacts. Learn about the soldiers of the Ancient…
- Recurring weekly on Wednesday
This astronomical observatory owned and operated by Boston University. It's located on the roof of the College of Arts & Sciences and offers free public hours on Wednesday nights. • Although it won’t cost you a dime, you do need to obtain tickets ahead of time because there…
- USS Constitution Museum
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday
Old Ironsides is one of the most famous ships in the history of the United States. Learn about the legacy of the USS Constitution ship, the world's oldest commissioned warship, at the USS Constitution Museum. The museum of this historic vessel is open to the public for free…
- Institute of Contemporary Art
- Recurring weekly on Thursday
The ICA is free for all visitors every Thursday from 5 to 9 PM. Tickets for Free Thursday Nights will be available at icaboston.org/tickets at 10 AM on that Thursday morning. Beginning May 29, in line with the latest guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and…
- Recurring weekly on Saturday
The Boston Fire Museum houses some of the oldest devices used to fight fires in Boston. In addition to buckets, trumpets, and fire grenades, you will also see some of the earliest examples of fire engines – some dating back to 1793. Tour Availability: Saturday Saturday…
Join Artist-in-Residence Resa Blatman for an informal pop-up exhibit at Bigelow Chapel to view and discuss her work, “Uncontained,” a series of small moss terrarium paintings. “Uncontained” depicts imagined plant environments in which moss and flora are breaking free of the…
Family Friendly
Back to Top of ListJoin us at the Springhill Suites Marriott, Revere for a Spring Market celebrating Greater Boston's Women-owned Businesses on Saturday, March 23, 2024. The Marketplace: Come and explore a diverse array of products + services from 30 incredible women-owned businesses from the…
As our goat friends would say, Dudley Farm Day is baaaaa-ck for its second year! Join us for a day of farm animals, wool weaving, butter making, seed planting, craft-making fun here at the Shirley-Eustis House. We’ll be joined by representatives from a number of fellow…
Performing Arts
Back to Top of ListJoin us for a free performance of electronic music by the Kenyan-born, Berlin-based artist Joseph Kamaru (KMRU) inside Boston’s cavernous City Hall. KMRU, is Nairobi-born, Berlin-based sound artist Joseph Kamaru. For him, sound is a sensorial medium through which social, material…
Please join us for a free community chamber concert on March 22 at the Fenway Center. Musicians: Takumi Taguchi and Sophie Wang, violins Danny Kim, viola Christine Lee, cello Andrew Sandwick, clarinet Program: COLERIDGE-TAYLOR Quintet in A for Clarinet and String Quartet…
Violinist and erhu player Shaw Pong Liu, cello innovator Mike Block, and tabla virtuoso Sandeep Das come together as the Soul Yatra Trio to coach and play alongside young musicians from Boston String Academy.
Join us at Symphony Hall for a free Boston Instrumental Festival, where three nationally respected ensembles unite to share an incredible performance of wind band repertoire. Ensembles featured: Melrose High School Concert Band, Massachusetts Chaparral Wind Ensemble, California…
The Rasa String Quartet explores the musical space where classical and global folk traditions intersect and influence one another, inspiring curiosity and powerful emotions. They bring together folk selections and highlights from anime and film scores from Chinese, Japanese…
Join us at Symphony Hall for a panel discussion focused on the latest research into the use of music and sound in developing treatments for diseases of the brain, including Alzheimer's. Civilizations have used music for millennia to modulate mood and promote health, but science…
Don’t miss an unforgettable musical performance that illustrates how traditions treasured by Africans enslaved on sugar plantations shaped musical styles across Latin America. Hear how African influences have endured and evolved across the centuries in today’s Latin music and…
Join Revolutionary Spaces for a live reading of the screenplay Dill, a story inspired by real people and real events on the Cape Ann Shore in Massachusetts during a tumultuous time on the cusp of the American Revolutionary War. The protagonist is an enslaved woman named Dill…
Classes / Lectures
Back to Top of ListJoin Revolutionary Spaces for a live reading of the screenplay Dill, a story inspired by real people and real events on the Cape Ann Shore in Massachusetts during a tumultuous time on the cusp of the American Revolutionary War. The protagonist is an enslaved woman named Dill…
Join us to hear Ross Nedervelt, the 2023 Frances E. Malamy Fellow at PEM’s Phillips Library, present the findings of his research project: “Loyalism, Privateering, and American Sovereignty in the Atlantic Border-sea, 1783-1815.” Between 1783 and 1819, the newly independent United…
Join Artist-in-Residence Resa Blatman for an informal pop-up exhibit at Bigelow Chapel to view and discuss her work, “Uncontained,” a series of small moss terrarium paintings. “Uncontained” depicts imagined plant environments in which moss and flora are breaking free of the…
Join us at Symphony Hall for a panel discussion focused on the latest research into the use of music and sound in developing treatments for diseases of the brain, including Alzheimer's. Civilizations have used music for millennia to modulate mood and promote health, but science…
Tours & Trails
Back to Top of List- Recurring daily
This tour provides an opportunity to visit and interact with the spaces that influential Black women in Cambridge inhabited during the 19th century. These historical figures include Harriet Jacobs, Charlotte Hawkins Brown, Alberta V. Scott, Pauline Hopkins, Maria Baldwin, Mary…
- Recurring daily
In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the Boston Women’s Memorial, special recordings have been created for the statues of prominent women's rights advocates, enabling the statues to speak! This memorial, which is also one of the stops on the Boston Women's Heritage Trail…
- Recurring daily
Take a self-guided tour of Grove Hall and Nubian Square. Download the mobile app by visiting the Google Play or Apple app store · Download the 'Distrix' app · Make sure location is on · Select Roxbury Memory Trail · Have fun!
- Recurring weekly on Sunday, Friday, Saturday
Join us for free tours of the original Romanesque church (The Mother Church Original, 1894) and the Byzantine-Renaissance extension (The Mother Church Extension, 1906), which houses one of the world’s largest pipe organs. Friday: 11:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. Saturday: 11:00 a.m. and…
- Downtown Boston BID
- Recurring weekly on Saturday
Get an inside look at a selection of the 16 art installations of Winteractive! Every Saturday at 10 am, through April 6, the public is invited to join a member of the BID leadership team for a guided tour of Boston's buzzing public art experience. Please register in advance at…
Join The Trustees and our guide on this stunning DCR property of Belle Isle Marsh for our FREE monthly birdwatching walk at Belle Isle Marsh, Boston's last remaining salt marsh. Watch the wave of migratory birds call this place home throughout the seasons and learn about climate…
Outdoor Fun in Boston
With nearly 300 parks and iconic waterways, Greater Boston has plenty of space to explore.
Parks in Boston
Relax on the Boston Common and Public Garden, discover the Kelleher Rose Garden in the Back Bay Fens, escape to the Boston Harbor Islands, or stand in awe at Mount Auburn Cemetery - uncover Greater Boston's top parks.
Guide to Spring in Boston
Get outside in Boston, one of America’s great walking cities where the historic port, beautiful waterways, elaborate bike paths and networks of urban green space invite you to have fun outdoors.
Great Deals
Find discounts on attractions, restaurants, theatre tickets, tours, and more with our Great Deals.