Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Boston Seafood Festival photo courtesy of the Boston Fisheries Foundation

Food
Boston Seafood Festival

The third annual Boston Seafood Festival, to be held at the Boston Fish Pier, coincides with the pier’s 100th anniversary of its opening. Local restaurants will offer seafood dishes, craft vendors will sell maritime-themed art and crafts, and anyone can register to compete in an oyster shucking contest with a top prize of $500. The Boston Fisheries Foundation is putting on the Boston Seafood Festival—for which Boston is a media sponsor—and, in keeping with the BFF’s mission, one goal of the festival is to promote the local seafood economy. “By promoting and celebrating the joy of seafood consumption, the festival will support a higher demand for seafood and thus help to preserve the role of fishermen and the fishing community as a vibrant part of New England’s heritage and economy,” writes BFF clerk Nikki Chenard in an email. A longer-term goal of the foundation is to open a Fisheries Museum in Boston. “By bringing interested people together in the process of planning the seafood festival, our hopes include getting the museum started in the next five years,” Chenard writes.

$10 general admission, Sunday, July 27, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Boston Fish Pier, 212 Northern Ave., Boston, bostonseafoodfestival.org.

Arts
Figment Boston

The two-day participatory arts festival will take over the Rose Kennedy Greenway for the fifth year this weekend. The approximately 60 artists and performers will exhibit work meant to be interactive with the goal of having the public “encounter art in a different way,” says Claire Davies, Figment’s communications director. On Saturday night, Dewey Square will host Figment After Dark, a nighttime dance party. “[Figment] is a genuinely fun event because it asks people to step out of their comfort zone,” Davies says. “You can see a spark in people when they come to the event.”

Free, Saturday, July 26, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. (including Figment After Dark), Sunday, July 27, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Rose Kennedy Greenway, boston.figmentproject.org.

Theater
Shakespeare on the Common: Twelfth Night

Shakespeare on the Common, presented by the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company, returns for its 19th season with a production of Twelfth Night. The comedy focuses on twins Viola and Sebastian who are separated in a shipwreck and have to contend with disguises and love triangles in a new land. The last time the company performed Twelfth Night was 2001, and this year’s production has a modern twist with a set inspired by urban street art.

Free, July 23 through August 10, various times, Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common, commshakes.org.

Music
Cambridge Jazz Festival

The first annual Cambridge Jazz Festival is already attracting some well-known artists. Motown legend Valerie Simpson—who co-wrote “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”—will perform along with two-time Grammy winner Terri Lyne Carrington, who won a Grammy in 2014 for Best Jazz Instrumental Album, the first female artist to win in the category. “The community is beyond ready for a jazz festival in Cambridge,” says Larry Ward, executive director of the festival. “I think the music is out of control.” One goal of the festival is to support education, Ward says, so any money the festival generates beyond the cost of running it will go to the Johnny Hodges Fund, named for the prolific saxophone player and Cambridge native. The fund will support scholarships and music education for Cambridge students. If it rains, the music will be moved into MIT’s Kresge Auditorium, and attendees will be seated on a first-come, first-serve basis. If the weather is nice, the festival will be outside, and local restaurants and food trucks will prepare an array of food and drinks.

Free, Sunday, July 27, 12 p.m.-6 p.m., University Park Commons, Sidney Street, Cambridge, cambridgejazzfestival.org.

Party
Roaring ’20s Lawn Party

Don your drop-waist dresses and put on your pearls! Boston Swing Central is partnering with the Trustees of Reservations for Castle Hill on the Crane Estate to present the second Roaring ’20s Lawn Party at Castle Hill in Ipswich. The party will include swing and charleston dance lessons, live music, and a vintage clothing fair. The Crane Estate mansion was built in the 1920s, and the atmosphere evokes the lavish era. Attendees are encouraged to dress in the style of the roaring ’20s, and there will be a search for the Great Gatsby and Daisy Buchanan of the evening.

$25 general admission in advance, Sunday, July 27, 3-8 p.m., Castle Hill on the Crane Estate, 290 Argilla Road, Ipswich, roaringtwentieslawnparty.blogspot.com.