From left: Futures at Fenway (Boston Red Sox); “Audubon’s Birds, Audubon’s Words” (Museum of Fine Arts); Angelique Kidjo will be at Summer Arts Weekend (Andrea de Silva/Reuters)
Making plans? Short on ideas? No worries. See Milva DiDomizio and June Wulff’s picks for the top things to do around the Hub this weekend.
FRIDAY
TGI FRIDAY Citizens Bank, The Boston Globe, and WGBH team up to make summer in the city even hotter with the 2nd annual Summer Arts Weekend. Opening night features Italian guitar/harmonica player Noe Socha, all-female bluegrass band Della Mae, and in the category of venerable, established artists, Dr. John and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band. Saturday’s offerings include a line-up of family concerts, and a focus on world music with Galician piper Carlos Nunez, ukulele virtuosos Jake Shimabukuro, singer-songwriter Angelique Kidjo, Bhangra band Red Baraat, and Boston ensemble Session Americana. The festival closes on Sunday with a performance by Grammy-winning bluegrass superstar Alison Krauss. July 26, 7 p.m. July 27, 11 a.m. July 28, 1 p.m. Free. See website for full schedule of performances and events. Copley Square, Boston. www.bostonsummerarts.com
SPICY VARIETY The all gender, all genre variety cabaret show celebrates nine years of drag, burlesque, aerials, and performance art with MC Heywood Wakefield at “Traniwreck: Old + Now.” Performers include Madge of Honor, Johnny Blazes, Boston Sass Attack, and Rainbow Frite. DJ Brian Halligan provides music for dancing. July 26, 8 p.m.-1 a.m. $15-$35. Oberon, 2 Arrow St., Cambridge. www.cluboberon.com
SATURDAY
DOGS AND MORE DOGS When is the last time you saw dogs at Fenway that weren’t the eating kind? For Futures at Fenway, you can bring your pooch to the park for photos and a pre-game dog parade around the warning track at this celebration of minor league baseball. At noon, it’s game time when the Portland Sea Dogs (more dogs) play the Harrisburg Senators. July 27, noon (gates at 11 a.m.; dog owners must bring completed waiver from website). $5-$30. Fenway Park, 4 Yawkey Way, Boston. 877-733-7699, www.redsox.com/futures
A BIRD’S LIFE John James Audubon didn’t wait for the birds to come to him, he went to the birds. During the early 1800s, he traveled all over the eastern US and Canada to observe North American birds where they live, and create his famous drawings for “The Birds of America.” “Audubon’s Birds, Audubon’s Words” features 30 works (including prints from “The Birds of America”) paired with writings that illuminate the artist’s methods, obsessions, and difficulties he encountered. July 27-May 11. Mon-Tues and Sat-Sun, 10 a.m.-4:45 p.m. Wed-Fri 10 a.m.-9:45 p.m. $25, discounts for students, seniors, and kids. Museum of Fine Arts, Edward and Nancy Roberts Family Gallery, 465 Huntington Ave., Boston. 617-267-9300, www.mfa.org
IT’S REAL Do you think art is something fun you can participate in? It’s not all in your imagination, it’s at Figment Boston. The weekend of art, performance, and creativity features interactive art projects, dance performances, and music. July 27, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. July 28, noon-6 p.m. Free. Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston. www.figmentproject.org
PAULA’S RETURN One of the reasons we love NPR’s “Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me” is comic Paula Poundstone. The Massachusetts native who now resides in California returns to the venue where her recent CD “I Heart Jokes: Paula Tells Them in Boston” was recorded. July 27, 7:30 p.m. (rescheduled from April). $22, $35. Wilbur Theatre, 246 Tremont St., Boston. 800-745-3000, www.thewilburtheatre.com
SUNDAY
EXTERIOR DECORATING Head for the financial district to see the city in a new, geometric, art deco kind of light. Boston By Foot’s Art Deco Tour features Harold Field Kellog’s Batterymarch Building, Arthur Bowditch’s Paramount Theater, and other architectural and landscaping examples of the 20th-century design style. July 28, 2-3:30 p.m. $15. Meet at Angell Memorial Fountain, Post Office Square, Congress and Milk St., Boston. 617-367-2345, www.bostonbyfoot.org
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