May 10 to 16, 2019:
Pictured above: Bread and Puppet Theater’s “The Basic Bye-bye Show” at Spontaneous Celebrations in Boston, April 21, 2018. (Copyright Greg Cook)
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Friday, May 10, 3 p.m.
Cass Sunstein talks about “How Change Happens” at Harvard Book Store, Cambridge
The Harvard Law School professor and Administrator of the Obama White House Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs discusses his latest book, “How Change Happens,” about “How does social change happen? When do social movements take off?”
Friday, May 10, 7 p.m.
Bread and Puppet Theater performs “Diagonal Life: Theory and Praxis” at Beneficent Congregational Church, Providence
The legendary Vermont theater of giant puppets, politics and sourdough bread brings its new show, of which founder Peter Schumann says, “The diagonal threatens collapse while always containing the possibility of uprising.”
Saturday, May 11
“A Passion for American Art: Selections from the Carolyn and Peter Lynch Collection” at the Peabody Essex Museum
Paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe, Winslow Homer, John Singer Sargent and Martin Johnson Heade plus sculpture, furniture, decorative art and Native American art spanning three centuries. All from the collection of Marblehead couple Carolyn and Peter Lynch, a Fidelity Investments financier. Exhibition continues through Dec. 1, 2019.
Saturday, May 11, 9 a.m.
“Tom Wessels: Reading the Forested Landscape” at Urban Forestry Center, Portsmouth, New Hampshire
Drawing on his book book, “Reading the Forested Landscape: A Natural History of New England,” author, ecologist and teacher Tom Wessels iintroduces people to approaches used to interpret a forest’s history while wandering through it—examining the shapes of trees, scars on trunks, the decay in stumps, the construction of stone walls, the lay of the land.
Saturday, May 11, 10 a.m. to p.m.
Watch City Steampunk Festival on Waltham Common
Waltham’s free, all-day, outdoor steampunk offers aerialists, a Victorian mystery caper show, a whip performance, music by Walter Sickert and the Army of Broken Toys, dance, talks, food, vendors, more music, and kids’ activities.
Saturday, May 11, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Boston Bubble Festival at Parkman Bandstand, Boston Common
giant floating bubble demonstrations from various bubble performers, a Country 102.5 DJ, a stilt walker, a World Water Day demonstration from Boston Water and Sewer Commission, and giveaways from HP Hood, Kind Snacks, A Dog’s Journey, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Spirit Riding. Free.
Saturday, May 11, noon to 6 p.m.
Somerville’s annual PorchFest all across the city
Part hootenanny, part a giant open studios for bands. More than 200 bands acts are scheduled to perform on porches, in backyards and in parks all across the city. Free.
Sunday, May 12, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
Mother’s Day Walk for Peace begins at Town Field Park, Dorchester
Boston’s annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace started in 1996 “so mothers of murdered children could receive support and love from their neighbors.” Twenty-three years later, the Mother’s Day Walk organized by the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute “continues to be a powerful way to honor our loved ones who have been murdered and embrace our partners in peacemaking.”
Sunday, May 12, 10 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Duckling Day begins at Boston Common
Inspired by Robert McCloskey’s classic children’s book “Make Way for Ducklings,” dress as characters from the book and celebrate Mother’s Day with a parade, led by the Harvard University Marching Band, from the Parkman Bandstand at Boston Common to the “Make Way for Ducklings” statues in the Public Garden. Prior to the parade, “Playtime on the Common” offers juggling, magic, circus games, face-painting and so on. Registration fee.
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If this is the kind of coverage of arts, cultures and activisms you appreciate, please support Wonderland by contributing to Wonderland on Patreon. And sign up for our free, weekly newsletter so that you don’t miss any of our reporting.