Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Boston Pride, free activities at the New England Aquarium, The xx, great food, and more.

boston-pride-parade

PHOTO VIA ACOOLERCLIMATE/FLICKR

Festival
Boston Pride Parade and Festival

With Massachusetts’ reputation as the first state to legalize same-sex marriage, it’s no surprise that the Boston Pride Parade is one of the most popular in the nation. This year’s parade—the theme of which is “Moving Forward…Proud, Strong, United”—will follow a new route, led by Mayor Tom Menino, who was selected as Grand Marshal through an online vote. But as always, the parade will culminate with a festival at City Hall Plaza—complete with more than 130 vendors, free massages courtesy of Bearhawk Massage and The Meeting Point, face painting for the kids, a beer and wine garden for the adults, and a performance by pop duo Karmin.

Saturday, June 8, noon-6 p.m., Copley Square to Government Centerbostonpride.org

Music
The xx and Grizzly Bear

The last time British trio The xx were in town, they seemed to have still been adjusting to the limelight, but what they lacked in stage presence, they certainly made up for in sound. Eight months have passed since their gig at the House of Blues, and now that they have a slew of arena shows, a popular new song from The Great Gatsby soundtrack, and the support of the equally (if not more) popular Grizzly Bear as an opening act under their belt, it will certainly be interesting to see how The xx does on a much bigger stage in Boston at the Bank of American Pavilion this Saturday.

$29.50+, Saturday, June 8, Bank of America Pavilion, 290 Northern Ave., 201-728-1600, thexx.com

Family
World Oceans Day Celebration at the New England Aquarium

The unveiling of its newly transformed Giant Ocean Tank is still a few weeks away, but this weekend the New England Aquarium welcomes you for a day of free, outdoor family fun in celebration of World Oceans Day. Watch seafood cooking demonstrations by chefs from the aquarium’s in-house caterer, Beacon Hill Hotel and Bistro, City Landing, and Turner Fisheries while the kids paint an ocean mural and play with oyster touch tanks from the Massachusetts Oyster Project and bug cubes from the Boston Harbor Islands. Then come together for a live appearance by Radio Disney and a narrated Boston Harbor cruise tour—available on a first-come, first-served basis, so make sure to get there early!

Sunday, June 9, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., New England Aquarium, 1 Central Wharf, 617-973-5200, neaq.org

Dance
Fifth Annual Dance for World Community Festival

Ballet, hip-hop, folk, African, modern, salsa, Irish step, belly dancing, you name it—they all come together this weekend in Cambridge for the Fifth Annual Dance for World Community Festival. If you feel inspired—and you most likely will after enjoying performances by more than 60 local dance troupes on four stages at the Cambridge Common on Saturday—you can put on your own dancing shoes on Sunday for a variety of free introductory classes at the José Mateo Ballet Theatre.

Saturday, June 8, 11 a.m.-6 p.m., Cambridge Common, 1667 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge, and Sunday, June 9, 2-7 p.m., José Mateo Ballet Theatre, 400 Harvard St., Cambridge, 617-354-7467, ballettheatre.org

Festival
Coolidge Corner Arts Festival and Brookline Food Festival

Here are two great festivals in one day at one location. More than 70 crafts people and fine artists will showcase and sell their work—jewelry, glass, ceramics, photography, watercolor, mixed media, etc.—as part of the 35th Annual Coolidge Corner Arts Festival, while local restaurants, including neighborhood favorite Zaftigs, will serve food and host tastings as part of the Sixth Annual Brookline Food Festival. Proceeds go to the Brookline Food Pantry.

Saturday, June 8, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Devotion School, 345 Harvard St., Brookline, coolidgecornerartsfestival.com