Five Reasons to Leave the House This Weekend

Ignite! Somerville. / Photo by Heather Balchunas

FIRE AND FOOD
Ignite!

Union Square is becoming a food-lover’s mecca, and this Saturday evening the Somerville Arts Council is lighting a flame and celebrating it. There will be outdoor food stands with diverse and global options such as Venezuelan arepas and krautchi, a homemade fusion of sauerkraut and kimchi, and if you’re looking for something more extravagant, from 6:15-7:45 p.m. there will be interactive food demonstrations such as blowtorch sushi. The eclectic food will be joined by outdoor art installations, live music, and flame dancers.

Saturday, August 13, 6-10 p.m., Union Square, Somerville, somervilleartscouncil.org. 

From the film Black Girl. / Photo by Janus Films

FEATURE FILM
Black Girl

A drama as well as a radical political statement, Black Girl, is a film about a young Senegalese woman who moves to France to do housework for a wealthy white couple, where their small apartment eventually becomes a figurative and literal prison. This layered and groundbreaking film by world-renowned director Ousmane Sembene has multiple showings each day throughout the weekend.

August 12-14, Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle St., Cambridge, brattlefilm.org. 

Boston Contemporary Dance Festival 2013. / Photo by Michael Seamans Photography

FOOTLOOSE
Boston Contemporary Dance Festival

After a one-year hiatus, the Boston Contemporary Dance Festival returns as a way to celebrate the diverse array of the country’s dance artists. Performers locally and from far away will join together for two performances as well as an opportunity for audience members to meet and mingle with critics, photographers, and producers in the national dance community.

Saturday, August 13, 2 and 7:30 p.m., BU Dance Theater, 915 Commonwealth Ave., Boston, bostoncontemporarydance.org. 

Moon Festival dragon photo by Danielle Walquist Lynch on Flickr/Creative Commons

JUBILEE
August Moon Festival

A harvest festival traditionally meant to thank the season for good crops, the 47th August Moon Festival, will be celebrated in the streets of Chinatown with folk dance, lion dance, opera, outdoor shopping vendors, and more. The celebration will take place throughout the streets but the main stage is in Phillips Square.

Sunday, August 14, 10-5 p.m., Phillips Square, Boston, ccbaboston.org. 

Boston Comic Con. / Photo by Boston Comic Con

MARVEL-OUS
Comic Con

Comic creators and readers will forfeit the mystery and join together at this weekend’s Comic Con at the Seaport World Trade Center. The center will host over 120,000 square feet of vendors selling comic books, trading cards, and other memorabilia. Creators and celebrities will also be available to meet and take photographs with during the event including William Shatner and Sin City and 300 creator Frank Miller.

August 12-14, Seaport World Trade Center, 200 Seaport Blvd., Boston, bostoncomiccon.com.