Welcome to The Ticket, our guide highlighting the top things to do in and around Boston each weekend, as curated by Globe critics, editors, and writers.
On tap this weekend: the Head of the Charles is back, plus the Boston Rodeo returns.
Things to do in and around Boston this weekend
The Stetson University Crew rows in the Men’s Collegiate Fours on the third day of the Head of the Charles Regatta in Cambridge on Oct. 19, 2025. PAT GREENHOUSE/GLOBE STAFF
BOSTON RODEO This isn’t the Boston Rodeo’s first rodeo anymore (it’s back for the second time). Saddle up and head to the Seaport to see professional cowboys and cowgirls compete across eight events like barrel racing and bareback riding. Two stages of live music and a saloon full of beverages will satisfy those who simply dream of getting up on that horse. Oct. 16-17. One-day tickets from $59. 302 Northern Ave. bostonrodeo.com — Megan Johnson
HEAD OF THE CHARLES It wouldn’t be autumn in Boston without the Head of the Charles Regatta, the annual competition that brings the world’s best crew teams to battle it out on the Charles River. The Weld Exhibition at Riverbend Park is the prime spot to picnic and watch, and the food and beverage samplings will be plentiful. Check out the website for additional viewing location ideas. Oct. 16-18. hocr.org — MJ
BOSTON BOOK FESTIVAL The annual free celebration of words is back in 2026with a diverse roster of writers ranging fromacclaimed locals like Tom Perrotta and Alice Hoffmann toout-of-town stars like “Moneyball” scribe Michael Lewis and “Into the Blue” author Emma Brodie. The majority of events are free, but some, like Lewis’s Friday opening night chat with Geraldine Brooks, cost a price of admission. Check the website for further details. Oct. 17. 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Various locations in Copley Square. bostonbookfest.org — MJ
MUSHROOM FEST Get festive with fungi at the one-day celebration of all things mushrooms at Bow Market. Learn about the phenomenon of wild foraging, hit the mushroom dyeing station, or bring the kids to hit the mushroom-themed craft station. Oct. 17, 12-5 p.m. 1 Bow Market Way, Somerville. tickettailor.com/events/bowmarket/2444146 — MJ
MATT SHORE After years of perfecting his one-man music show, complete with a looper and an ironing board, Shore celebrates the release of his debut studio album, “2X Nicest Boy,” with a full band. Oct. 17, 6 p.m. $30.88. The Middle East Upstairs, 472 Massachusetts Ave., Cambridge. 617-864-3278, mideastclub.com — Nick A. Zaino III
STAND UP TO SAVE LIVE: AN EVENING WITH ALEX BORSTEIN The voice of Lois Griffin on “Family Guy” and alum of “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” and “Mad TV,” Borstein returns to headline in Boston for Save One Life, an organization that helps people with bleeding disorders. Featuring Joe Fenti, who recently moved from Boston to New York. Oct. 17, 7:30 p.m. $27.25-$83.75. Wimberly Theatre in the Calderwood Pavilion, 527 Tremont St. bostontheatrescene.com — NZ
BOSTON VEG FOOD FEST Everyone from vegans to meat eaters are invited to this two-day festival of all things veggie. Talk to food producers and find out what’s new in the meat-free industry or catch an expert on a panel as you feast up on a bevy of plant-based options. Oct. 17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Oct. 18, 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Admission is free. Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, 1350 Tremont St. bostonveg.org/foodfest — MJ
THE KIKI MOONLIGHT CABARET Stand-out Improv Asylum Main Stage cast member Kellie Moon hosts this night of improv sketch, and musical comedy featuring improvisors Steph Simon, Brian Kearney, Billy Cox, Madison Gillis, and Zack Barker. Oct. 18, 7 p.m. $20. Improv Asylum, 216 Hanover St. 617-263-6887, improvasylum.com — NZ
BOSTON ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL New England’s largest Asian American film festival returns in 2026 with a powerful lineup. Films screening over the weekend include “Jersey Boy,” about a young Sikh boy struggling to hold onto his identity when he feels he doesn’t belong, and “Chinatown Cha-Cha,” about 92-year-old former nightclub dancer Coby Yee who decides to get back on stage. Several filmmakers will be on hand for Q&As. Through Oct. 25. Standard film tickets start at $15. Various locations. baaff.org — MJ
Critics’ picks for this weekend and beyond
Don Aucoin’s picks
BOUNCERS
There’s nothing quiet about the desperation suffusing John Godber’s “Bouncers,” in which — over the course of a long and increasingly out-of-control night in a Yorkshire discotheque — an awareness dawns on the four men of the title that their lives just might have reached a dead end. Director Bill Doncaster and his exceptionally versatile cast of four — Michael Ferrari, Bradley Belanger, Liam McCarron, and especially Joe Siriani — make a strong case for Godber’s gritty portrait of British working-class nightlife. While shot through with dark humor, and staged by Doncaster in an immersive, high-energy style that generates a nightclub
vibe. you feel every jagged edge — and there are many — in Godber’s play. Through Oct. 24. Visual City, LLC, and the Modern Theatre at Suffolk University. At Modern Theatre at Suffolk University, 525 Washington St. ci.ovationtix.com/34432/production/1280397
THE SITAYANA (OR “HOW TO MAKE AN EXIT”) The much-admired Chicago playwright and director Lavina Jadhwani, who died one year ago of cancer at 42, specialized in reworking classics from more diverse perspectives. In “The Sitayana,” Jadhwani reimagined the Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic, by telling the story through the eyes of princess-turned queen Sita, the wife of Rama, the king. Five women — Vijaya Sundaram, Ann Varghese, Vidisha Agarwalla, Audrey Seraphin, and Riya Ramaswamy — portray Sita at different phases of her life (and Rama as well). Directed by Tushar Mathew. Through Oct. 31. CHUANG Stage. At Black Box Theatre, Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St. 617-297-7161, chuangstage.org
PHANTOM No, not that “Phantom.” No Andrew Lloyd Webber score here, though this musical by Maury Yeston (music and lyrics) and Arthur Kopit (book) is drawn from the same source material: Gaston Leroux’s novel “The Phantom of the Opera.” Featuring Sean Seamus Thompson as The Phantom, a disfigured musical genius living in the catacombs of the Paris Opera House, and Madison Claire Parks as Christine, the gifted young singer with whom he becomes obsessed. Directed by Robert W. Schneider and choreographed by Briana Fallon. Oct. 21-Nov. 1. North Shore Music Theatre, 54 Dunham Rd., Beverly. 978-232-7200, nsmt.org
BLACKHOLLOW: A GOTHIC TALE OF POSSESSION A new solo drama starringAnna Slate as Lucy Cull, an ambitious young nurse working in a 19th century “criminal lunatic asylum” who gets caught up in medical experiments that cross the line from science into something darker. Written by Weylin Symes, the longtime artistic leader of Greater Boston Stage Company, and codirected by Symes and Daniel Begin. Oct. 23-Nov. 8. Greater Boston Stage Company, 395 Main St., Stoneham. 781-279-2200, greaterbostonstage.org
A.Z. Madonna’s picks
BOSTON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA Violinist Hilary Hahn and cellist Seth Parker Woods join the BSO and music director Andris Nelsons for the local premiere of Carlos Simon’s Double Concerto Suite, co-commissioned by the orchestra; the new piece is sandwiched between Tchaikovsky pieces for the stage, the Polonaise from “Eugene Onegin” and act 2 of “The Nutcracker.” (Oct. 15 & 16) Next week, the orchestra presents its “Technology and Our Humanity” festival, featuring the world premiere of MIT Media Lab director Tod Machover’s “already and not yet” conducted by Kent Nagano. (Oct. 22-24).
Symphony Hall, 301 Massachusetts Ave. 617-266-1200, bso.org
CASTLE OF OUR SKINS In this free afternoon concert, a small group of singers and instrumentalists maps the evolution of the African-American spiritual from sacred folk tradition to the concert stage. The lineup of featured composers includes Florence Price, William Grant Still, Shawn E. Okpebholo, and James Dargan. Oct. 17, 3 p.m. Presented by Vivo Performing Arts. Twelfth Baptist Church, 160 Warren St., Roxbury. vivoperformingarts.org
Murray Whyte’s picks
SARAH SZE: IMAGES IN TRANSLATIONJust opened:Sze, one of the country’s best-known artists, had her breakthrough moment in 2013 as the U.S. representative at the Venice Biennale, where she transformed the American Pavilion inside and out with her densely intricate chaotic installations of found objects teetering precariously on the verge of disaster. At Yale, her alma mater – Sze is from Boston, and was awarded the inaugural Meraki Art Award at the ICA in 2025 – she will present new paintings hung in the midst of a room-sized sculptural piece that challenges the nature of both. Through Feb. 14. Yale University Art Gallery, 1111 Chapel St., New Haven, Conn. 203-432-0601, artgallery.yale.edu
EXCAVATING ANTIOCH: THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF AN ANCIENT CITYIn 1930, Princeton University, in partnership with the French government, led an excavation of the ancient city of Antioch in what’s now modern-day Turkiye. Through the colonial archaeological practice of partage – literally, sharing – finds were divvied up among the various excavating parties and dispersed to museums across Europe and North America. After three years of research by Wellesley College, this exhibition tries to put the pieces back together – many of them not seen, or even known, for decades. Through May 30. The Davis Museum at Wellesley College, 106 Central St.
, Wellesley. 781-283-2051, wellesley.edu/davismuseum
90 YEARSOpening this week:Given its relatively-recent surge to prominence in the Boston art landscape, locals are often surprised to find that the Institute of Contemporary Art is one of the oldest modern and contemporary art museum in the country. No, really – founded in 1936 as a sister institution to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, its long life tracks much of the arc of the art of the past century, including some biggies: It was among the first in the country to showcase Modern Mexican artists like Jose Clemente Orozco (in 1941), an early survey of Andy Warhol’s work in 1966, and a commitment to video art when it was a headscratcher for most. So why wait for the century mark? A celebration
of a longtime proud outsider, this show helps use hindsight as 20-20 validation. Oct. 15–March 7, Institute of Contemporary Art Boston, 25 Harbor Shore Dr.. 617-478-3100, icaboston.org
Last chance
OLIVIA RODRIGO Tickets are sold out for Rodrigo’s three consecutive nights at the Garden, but those lucky enough to snag tickets to the songbird’s “Unraveled” tour will have nothing but fun getting down to the “Queen of Sad.” Her latest album, “You Seem Pretty Sad for a Girl So in Love,” has topped the charts in recent months. Through Oct. 18. TD Garden, 100 Legends Way. tdgarden.com/events/detail/olivia-rodrigo-2026 — MJ
COVENANT In this gripping production of York Walker’s eerie Southern gothic drama, one of the questions implicitly asked and chillingly answered is: How far would you go to get what -- or whom -- you want? Directed by Dawn M. Simmons with a sure grasp of atmosphere and pace, “Covenant’’ tells the story of a Robert Johnson-like bluesman (Anthony T. Goss) who prompts rumors he sold his soul to the devil when he returns to his Georgia hometown in the mid-1930s, possessing musical gifts he didn’t have before. He proceeds to woo and win a young woman (Deannah DRIPP Blemur) who has no idea what she’s getting into.
Through Oct. 17. SpeakEasy Stage Company. At Roberts Studio Theatre, Calderwood Pavilion, Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont St. 617-933-8600, speakeasystage.com — DA
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