Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Honk your horns for peace, cheer on some scrappy skating, and chill out with yoga in a light forest.

weekend events boston

Photo by Leonardo March Provided by Honk! Festival

Festival
Honk! Festival of Activist Street Bands

Taking on the spirit of traditional New Orleans street bands, the Honk! Festival is a platform for activists groups to unite through the power of music. By combining Klezmer, Brazilian, and brass-band music, bands bring Mardi Gras to Harvard Square, while protesting global violence and oppression. Bring your best kazoo and you just might get recruited to be a lead soloist in the festivities.

Free, Thursday, October 10, to Sunday, October 13, various locations, honkfest.org

Art
Lucy Light Forest

The Lucy Light Forest is a public art display at the Esplanade that also serves as a venue for free fitness classes. Stretching the length of a football field, the light exhibit includes more than 10,000 LED solar-powered bulbs that react to movement. Vinyasa yoga and Pilates classes are just a couple of the free programs offered by the women’s fitness company Lucy. The exhibit ends this Sunday, so be sure to check out the interactive light show before it’s too late.

Free, October 3-13, Charles River Esplanade, lucylightforest.com

Sports
Boston Derby Games

Women on roller skates who can hold their own in a bar fight. If that got your attention, then the Boston Derby Games are for you. Head up to the Shriner Auditorium in Wilmington and check out the third bout of the season, where the Wicked Pissahs will be facing off against the Cosmonaughties. The trackside seats will put you right by the action, so be sure to keep your beers away from the speeding skaters.

$16, Saturday, October 12, 4 p.m., 99 Fordham Road, Wilmington, brownpapertickets.com

Music
Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson Performs Thick As a Brick

Flautist Ian Anderson will be performing his album Thick As a Brick for the first time since the ’70s. For the younger demographic currently scratching their heads at the significance of this, Ian Anderson is probably the only flute player who could lay claim to being a rock star. Thick As A Brick will be performed in its entirety at the Wilbur Theatre with a backup band and surprise guests.

$38.75-$85, Saturday, October 12, 8 p.m., 270 Tremont St., citicenter.org

Students
CollegeFest

Sick of crowded Allston keggers? Head down to one of the country’s largest college festivals, where more than 17,000 students are expected to scramble for free swag, jam out to mashup band White Panda, and twerk their hearts away. Did we mention that there will be free goodies?

$10 per day, $15 for a weekend pass, Saturday-Sunday, October 12-13, 900 Boylston St., collegefest.com