Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend
Photo via cherrylet/Flickr
Food
Boston Local Food Festival
The third annual Boston Local Food Festival is a free event that showcases meal samples and servings from local restaurants and businesses in the New England area. This year, it will bigger, better, and stronger due to its new spacious location on the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The festival will have more room for all the free food samples, free music, free do-it-yourself workshops, free beer and wine samples, and tons more activities. Oh, did we mention that it’s free?
Free; Sunday, Oct. 7, 11 a.m.-5 p.m.; Rose Kennedy Greenway; 617-575-9165; bostonlocalfoodfestival.com
Family
Franklin Park Zoo’s Centennial Celebration
This Saturday, Franklin Park Zoo celebrates 100 years of fun and phenomenal animal adventures. To celebrate its birthday, local bakeries will donate zoo-themed cakes for guests to sample and critique in a creativity and taste contest. Participating bakeries include Cakes for Occasions, Custom Wedding Cakes by Penny, Cakeology, Kéyks Bakery and Konditor Meister. We can’t forget the animals, of course; guests are able to feed them special birthday treats throughout the day. Tons of cake and free gifts—what better way to celebrate a birthday that isn’t actually yours?
$17 general admission; $11 children under 12; Saturday, Oct. 6, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Franklin Park Zoo, 1 Franklin Park Road; 617-541-5466; zoonewengland.org
Music
Video Game Orchestra at Symphony Hall
The Video Game Orchestra is back due to high demand, and this year it will feature a 70-piece orchestra and five-piece rock band. Arrangements will include music from the “most renowned video games of all time” including Grandia, the Final Fantasy series, Castlevania, Silent Hill, and many others. The audience will be joined by a few special guest composers: Yoko Shimomura (Kingdom Hearts), Hitoshi Sakimoto (Final Fantasy XII), Noriyuki Iwadare (Grandia), and Kinuyo Yamashita (Castlevania).
$40.50-$100; Sunday, Oct. 7, 8 p.m.; Boston Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave.; 617-266-1492; vgo-online.org
Seafood
Boston Fish Pier Seafood Festival
What better way to give summer one last hurrah than with a giant clambake right on the ocean? At the first annual Boston Seafood Festival, fishermen, lobstermen, restaurant owners, students, and families are invited to share their love for seafood with contests, chef demonstrations, and more. The event will not only anchor the all-day clambake, but will also host the Best and Healthiest Chowder Taste-Off and the Oyster Shucking Contest with cash prizes.
$8-$10; children under 12 free; Saturday, Oct. 6, 11 a.m.-6 p.m.; Bank of American Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave.; 617-728-1600; bostonseafoodfestival.org
Contestants for the Oyster Shucking Contest must complete an entry form.
Oktoberfest
34th Annual Oktoberfest and HONK! Parade in Harvard Square
It’s the first weekend of October, so let the Oktoberfest activities commence! This festival held at Harvard Square will have more than 150 stands with arts and crafts, vintage items, and gift items for everybody. Fifty food vendors serving authentic international cuisine. Eight stages of entertainment with 44 different acts from reggae to acapella to folk music. Three beer gardens hosted by Grafton Street, FiRE + iCE, and John Harvard’s Brew House. There’s so much to do at this festival, you won’t even know where to start! Also keep an eye out for the seventh annual HONK! Parade and a RE/MAX hot air balloon floating about over Cambridge Common.
Free; Sunday, Oct. 7, 12 p.m.-6 p.m.; Harvard Square, Cambridge; 617-491-3434; harvardsquare.com
