Published July 30, 2010
David Rawlings and Gillian Welch belt it out at last year's Newport Folk Festival. (DarwinsPlatypus/Flickr)
We’re making the leap into August, otherwise known as The Last Month Of Summer, but don’t pack away your beach towels and and coolers just yet. Folk music has its big moment, Woods Hole and Roxbury make big use of their big screens, and Nantucket welcomes some side-splitting entertainers. So go ahead and laugh in the face of fall — summer is still very much on.
EAT
Finish off your weekend with all the pulled pork you can eat at Redbones. (Sifu Ranka/Flickr)
Redbones’ 9th Annual Pig Pickin’
- Monday, Aug. 2, 6 to 9 p.m.
- Redbones Barbecue, 55 Chester St., Somerville
- $25 for adults, $5 for children under 10
I’d say a good, down-home barbecue is one of summer’s best indulgences. Stuff your face with Redbones’ slow roasted pork and all the fixin’s this Monday — I know, I know, it’s technically post-weekend, but it’s too good to keep to myself. Plus, the pig-out benefits the Somerville Homeless Coalition. Good food, good cause and plenty of BBQ sauce.
DO
- Saturday, July 31, to Sunday, Aug. 1
- Bumpkin Island, Boston Harbor Islands
- $14 for the ferry, $15 for special Art Encampment Boat Shuttle (two days)
Eric Conrad's "Tactilist Theater" installation at 2008's art encampment. (kino-eye/Flickr)
With a name like Bumpkin Island, it better be the host to some pretty fantastical events. This weekend’s fourth annual interactive art installation project, which allows eight artists to take temporary ownership of eight plots of land on Bumpkin Island, definitely fits the bill. Each participant is responsible for living on the land and creating a site-specific performance or installation. This year’s artists are building inflatable 20-foot Monatuk Monsters, setting up tea-and-Tarot-reading outposts and knitting a shoreline shelter for an octopus — just to name a few.
- Friday, July 30, and Saturday, July 31, various times
- Jetties Beach, Nantucket, and other locations
- Tickets start at $150 (aside from one free event Saturday at 10 a.m.)
Nantucket gets markedly funnier this weekend. (lakewentworth/Flickr)
Nantucket lets loose this weekend as it welcomes a host of big-name comedians to its annual comedy festival, including the writers of “The Simpsons,” runner-up on the first season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing,” Cory Kahaney, and comedic veteran Al Ducharme. I’d prepare for some New England prepster jabs.
- Saturday, July 31, 8:30 to 9:30 p.m.
- Meets at the end of the Scussett Beach Boardwalk, Cape Cod
- Free
Pretend you’re on “Lost” (minus the smoke monster, of course) and admire the beach like you’ve never seen it before. Don’t be afraid of the dark, though; there are no flashlights allowed.
LISTEN
- Friday, July 30
- Comcast Center, 885 South Main St., Mansfield
- Tickets start at $18.75, plus service charge
Tegan and Sara add to the girl power at Lilith Fair this Friday. (parttimemusic/Flickr)
One of the highest grossing tours in the world in the 90s, girl powerhouse festival Lilith Fair is making a comeback this year for the first time since 1999. Founded by Grammy-award winning artist Sarah McLachlan, the tour’s Boston’s line-up includes Tegan and Sara, Sarah Bareilles and Cat Power. It’s feminism at its musical finest.
- Sunday, Aug. 1, 7:30 p.m.
- Bank of America Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave.
- Tickets start at $99
Montreal-based indie-pop rock stars Arcade Fire are sure to put on a blazing performance as they stop in to tour their latest album, “The Suburbs”. Known for their multi-instrumental approach, the band could be toting along anything from a viola to a glockenspiel, which may be enough to make it worth the trip in from the suburbs (rimshot).
- Friday, July 30, to Sunday, Aug. 1
- International Tennis Hall of Fame and Fort Adams State Park, Newport, R.I.
- Tickets start at $75, $15 for children under 15
Folk music has its big moment in the sun this weekend, as the biggest names (and biggest fans) flock to picturesque Newport for three days of the best in folk, from Andrew Bird to The Swell Season to foot-stomping bluegrass and banjo from Steve Martin and Tim O’Brien.
SEE
- Friday, July 30, at 8 p.m. and Saturday, July 31, at 2 p.m.
- Hanover Theatre, 554 Main St., Worcester
- $32 to $38
Country singer Patsy Cline is remembered on stage. (giveawayboy/Flickr)
This successful off-Broadway musical about the legendary country singer Patsy Cline makes its way to the Boston area for the weekend. The show is based on the true story of Cline’s friendship with Louise Seger, a fan she met at a Texas honky-tonk in 1961 and corresponded with up until her tragic plane crash in ’63.
Roxbury International Film Festival
- Thursday, July 29, through Sunday, Aug. 1, various times
- The Wentworth Institute, MassArt, and other locations
- $10 for individual screenings, festival passes start at $75
In the mood for a romantic comedy (rom-com, if you will) about speed dating? Or perhaps you’re curious about the unlikely post-Katrina re-election of New Orleans’ mayor, or interested in catching the Sundance Official Selection “Children of Invention,” set outside Boston? No matter what you’re looking for, Roxbury’s film fest is full of a diversity you don’t want to miss.
- Saturday, July 31 through August 7, various times
- Various locations, Woods Hole
- $10 for individual screenings, $90 for opening weekend pass
It’s the weekend of the film fest — not that I’m complaining. Woods Hole’s round-up boasts a slew of comedic shorts by the Iron Mule collective, a documentary about the Dixie Chicks (and Academy Award-winning filmmaker Barbara Kopple as its artist in residence) and a nod as one of the 25 coolest film fests in the country from Movie Maker magazine.
Want to go, but not sure where you’re headed? Check out this map for directions to all of this weekend’s events.
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