Welcome to a day of connection, self-discovery, and relaxation designed exclusively for gay and open-minded men. After eight years of being offered in the Merrimack Valley, this event is moving to Somerville at MOTA Wellness!

Join in for a unique experience filled with workshops, discussions, and activities in a safe and supportive environment. This retreat is a perfect opportunity to meet like-minded individuals, share stories, and create meaningful connections.

Take a break from the hustle and bustle of daily life and immerse yourself in a day of introspection and community. Come as you are and leave relaxed and recharged.

Instructor featured on NBC's The Today Show for teaching yoga to men.

Get your ticket’s here!

The Center for the Arts at the Armory is proud to offer a weekly winter market with 71+ local food vendors with the best locally grown and regionally produced foods, including fresh produce, cheese, eggs, meats, fish, breads, tamales, pastries, chocolate, skincare products, and more.

Every Saturday from 9:30 am – 1:30 pm
November 2, 2024 – April 12, 2025 (except Nov. 30 and Dec. 28)

This market accepts SNAP/EBT and HIP benefits and offers a $15 SNAP match to customers each week.

Boogie over to Arts at the Armory Oct 28th for the 3rd annual viewing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with the Teseracte Players!

Jump into the 1975 musical comedy horror cult classic in-person and live this Halloween! Costumes and call backs are highly encouraged; the Teseracte Players will lead the charge and make sure you don’t miss a moment of the raucous ride.

Doors open at 7:00PM; the viewing starts at 8:00PM. Go early and enjoy wine, beer, and snacks from the Performance Hall bar.

The Teseracte Players of Boston have roamed New England, bringing Dr. Frank-N-Furter and friends to life for 20+ years.

Purchase your tickets here.

Recommended for Ages 17+. All ticket sales are final.

Join Machu Picchu for a spook-tacular Halloween brunch! Dress to impress and show off your best costume for a chance to win the costume contest. Prizes, treats, Halloween themed cocktails & good food await!
To reserve your table call (617-628-7070) or book on OpenTable.

*The winner of the costume contest will win a $100 visa gift card plus a $50 gift card to Machu Chicken Peruvian Pollo a la Brasa.

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Admission is sliding scale, $10-$25 cash or Venmo at door.
Presale tickets here: https://withfriends.co/blues_union
No one turned away due to lack of funds.

Blues Union is a friendly weekly social partner dance in Union Square, held on Thursdays at 16 Bow St, Somerville, MA 02143 in Dance Union Studio.

Partners not required. Come solo, with dance partners, or friends!

Blues is a dance form that allows for a great diversity of expression, with a broad vocabulary. It developed along with swing dance in African-American communities as a blend of African and European dance styles. The dance has a heavy focus on partner connection, and connection to the ground with weight and momentum. There is a definite "pulse" as the dancer sinks in with each beat. It is a tonic for the soul. Through it, you can connect to the past, the present, and each other.

Each evening includes a 1 hour beginner-friendly lesson before the social dance.

(7:00p - 8:00p) Lesson
(8:00p - 9:00p) Community Socializing Hour
(9:00p - 11:00p) Social Dance

For more information, and a week-to-week details, check out our website and Facebook pages.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bluesunion
https://bluesunionboston.com/

If you are considering purchasing now or in the future, join Hops & Homebuyers, a FREE First Time Home Buyer workshop at Aeronaut Brewing Co.'s Food Hub Space where you will learn about buying your first home, prepping for a mortgage and the application process. Whether you're considering buying in the next few months or looking to learn more for a purchase in the next few years, this workshop has something for everyone.

Learn more about the following tips:

• Improving your credit

• Reducing debt

• Saving for a down payment

• Local assistance programs

Attendees will receive a coupon for $500 off an appraisal for applications received by 4/30/25.

Your ticket includes:

• Refreshments

• One complimentary beer

Parking is available @ Naveo's Somerville Branch lot located at 493 Somerville Avenue, Somerville, MA 02143 or street.

Save the date for SomerStreets: Monster Mash on Sunday, October 20th from 2:00-6:00pm (rain date 10/27) on Somerville Ave between School St to Warren Ave. A free and family friendly event! Make sure to dress up in your best Halloween costume.

Head to Somerville Ave for some exciting activities:
Halloween Parade led by School of Honk at 3pm
Good News Gus will have interactive puppet shows throughout the event and you can make your own video!
Parkour
Somerville Recreation
Event Them
Knucklebones
Crafts and Vintage market with Blue Bandana Relics and Tiny Turns Paperie
Ghost of Somerville Tour

Exhibition dates: October 5th - November 9th, 2024
Gallery hours: Saturdays, 12-4 pm

Louis Meola’s most recent body of work continues his investigations of the objects his late grandfather left in his workspace. With a practice based on the concept that the print serves as direct evidence of the existence of the object printed, Meola uses photopolymer plates for this series to increase the scale of corroded brass scrap. Visual information becomes lost through printing, scanning, scaling up, and reprinting. Process emphasizes material degradation as a reflection of the dementia his grandfather suffered throughout the final years of his life. These insignificant fragments of material reveal the effects of time on forgotten objects within this workspace.

➞One part curated, seasonally-themed secondhand sale

➞One part "Makers' Market" with local craft vendors

Not your traditional yard sale!

Rain date: Sunday, October 20

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Admission is sliding scale, $10-$25 cash or Venmo at door.
Presale tickets here: https://withfriends.co/blues_union
No one turned away due to lack of funds.

Blues Union is a friendly weekly social partner dance in Union Square, held on Thursdays at 16 Bow St, Somerville, MA 02143 in Dance Union Studio.

Partners not required. Come solo, with dance partners, or friends!

Blues is a dance form that allows for a great diversity of expression, with a broad vocabulary. It developed along with swing dance in African-American communities as a blend of African and European dance styles. The dance has a heavy focus on partner connection, and connection to the ground with weight and momentum. There is a definite "pulse" as the dancer sinks in with each beat. It is a tonic for the soul. Through it, you can connect to the past, the present, and each other.

Each evening includes a 1 hour beginner-friendly lesson before the social dance.

(7:00p - 8:00p) Lesson
(8:00p - 9:00p) Community Socializing Hour
(9:00p - 11:00p) Social Dance

For more information, and a week-to-week details, check out our website and Facebook pages.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bluesunion
https://bluesunionboston.com/

Spend the evening getting deeply acquainted with one medicinal plant each month! You’ll spend time getting to know each plant through drawing, taste, science, and stories of herbalists’ experience.

Bring your journal and leave with an in-depth account of botany, history, clinical use, safety, preparation and dosage, and much much more.

Come each month to build your materia medica or just once to meet a new plant friend! Explore a different herb each month with herbalist Mo Katz-Christy as part of the Community Growing Center’s Community Herb Project.

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Arts at the Armory's Spotlight Series presents BALA-BILA on the historic Performance Hall stage October 11, 2024 at 7:00 PM.

BALA-BILA brings together two African master musicians--Balla Kouyate on balafon, calabash, bass guitar and voice, and Matchume Zango on timbila, mbira, percussion and voice--through a live concert framed as an intercultural musical conversation between the two artists. Kouyate, from the West African country of Mali, and Zango, from the East African country of Mozambique, are leading exponents of their respective principal instruments–BALAfon and timBILA–two world heritage instruments that are played together for the first time.

This living-room-style concert features Kouyate and Zango as composers and multi-instrumentalists sharing the joy, beauty and complexity of their music but also provides a unique opportunity for the audience to get to know Kouyate and Zango as human beings, artists, ambassadors, and global citizens as they explore their connection to each other, their art, and their cultural patrimony.

Doors open at 7:00 PM, show starts at 8:00 PM.

Purchase your tickets here.

Admission is sliding scale, $10-$25 cash or Venmo at door.
Presale tickets here: https://withfriends.co/blues_union
No one turned away due to lack of funds.

Blues Union is a friendly weekly social partner dance in Union Square, held on Thursdays at 16 Bow St, Somerville, MA 02143 in Dance Union Studio.

Partners not required. Come solo, with dance partners, or friends!

Blues is a dance form that allows for a great diversity of expression, with a broad vocabulary. It developed along with swing dance in African-American communities as a blend of African and European dance styles. The dance has a heavy focus on partner connection, and connection to the ground with weight and momentum. There is a definite "pulse" as the dancer sinks in with each beat. It is a tonic for the soul. Through it, you can connect to the past, the present, and each other.

Each evening includes a 1 hour beginner-friendly lesson before the social dance.

(7:00p - 8:00p) Lesson
(8:00p - 9:00p) Community Socializing Hour
(9:00p - 11:00p) Social Dance

For more information, and a week-to-week details, check out our website and Facebook pages.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/bluesunion
https://bluesunionboston.com/

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Spend the evening getting deeply acquainted with one medicinal plant each month! You’ll spend time getting to know each plant through drawing, taste, science, and stories of herbalists’ experience.

Bring your journal and leave with an in-depth account of botany, history, clinical use, safety, preparation and dosage, and much much more.

Come each month to build your materia medica or just once to meet a new plant friend! Explore a different herb each month with herbalist Mo Katz-Christy as part of the Community Growing Center’s Community Herb Project.

Sat, September 28th 6-10 pm (Rain date: 9/29)
Union Square Plaza and Lot, Somerville

ABOUT THE EVENT:
This year’s Ignite Festival promises to be more tasty, fiery and international than ever. Numerous Union Square restaurants will be out on the street vending, along with many Nibble program chefs. The Ignite Festival’s International Food Court will feature cuisines from across the globe including Peruvian eats from Machu Picchu, Masala Square’s “fire samosas,” smoky chuzos de pollo from Elena’s Colombian Bakeshop, traditional Japanese cold udon & crispy tempura from Nagomi Bento -- and so much more! There will also be food demos starting at 6:15pm, followed by an incendiary curry eating contest hosted by Masala Square. This is your opportunity to tempt fate - or watch the brave contestants who participate in the crazy hot contest. You are also encouraged to stop by the Nibble table to share your global food stories!

And of course, there will be entertainment galore in the form of fire throwers, roving entertainment, and performers representing cultures from near and far. To kick things off at 6pm Samba Viva will fire things up with dance and samba. Also on deck is a Chinese dragon performance by Wah Lum Kung Fu & Tai Chi Academy, and Cofradia Cultural, a lavishly costumed Dominican dance troupe. And as always the Boston Circus Guild will round out the evening with their spectacular performance of fire throwing and twirling. There will al-so be light and art installations, roving dancers and circus artists, and a roving 10-foot-tall cat named Lima Bean.

ABOUT NIBBLE:
A Somerville Arts Council initiative that includes Nibble Kitchen restaurant (at Bow Market, Union Square), food festivals like Ignite, and the Nibble Culinary Entrepreneurship Program (NEP). NEP and Nibble Kitchen provide a space for entrepreneurs who are predominantly female and hail from our diverse immigrant communities to test out restaurant concepts in a low-risk environment before launching independent businesses. Nibble supports immigrant communities, celebrates cultural exchange and spurs cultural and economic development.

LOGISTICAL INFORMATION:
Limited parking; You are encouraged to take public transportation. Event is free but festival goers are encouraged to support festival food vendors and all local business.

Harvest activities and games, pumpkin decorating and a celebration of the bounty nature shares with us throughout the year. Explore the harvesting ways our our visiting pollinators through games and tours with Earthwise Aware and the Somerville Garden Club.

This event is free and open to the public, weather dependent, and located at The Somerville Community Growing Center.

Rain Date: Sunday, September 29

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Once again, the Somerville Arts Council and the Georgian Studies at Harvard University’s Davis Center join forces to catalyze a vibrant cross-cultural collaboration among four talented artists—two from Somerville and two from the country of Georgia. The genres this year are dance/choreography and percussion/drumming. After a rigorous selection process, the Exchanging Notes jury selected four artists to participate in the program: dancers/choreographers Claire Lane, Lasha Mdzinarashvili, and percussionists/drummers Georgi Oniani, and Marcus Santos.

About the Exchanging Notes final performance: an Evening of Dance and Drums
Our cross-cultural quartet of artists will present the work they have been collaborating on over the summer – working both in person and remotely. The dance segment of the evening will showcase not only traditional Georgian dance but also the fusion of Claire’s contemporary style with Lasha’s style, which is deeply steeped in historical Georgian tradition. Marcus and Giorgi will also present their musical fusion by showcasing how drumming as a language melts cultural divide, with Marcus also infusing the work with the rhythms of his native Brazil. Also expect to see an explosive performance with all four artists, fusing genres and cultures. Marcus, who teaches at Somerville High School, will also invite Somerville youth drummers to be part of this one-of-a-kind cultural performance.

For more information and to RSVP, visit here:
https://somervilleartscouncil.org/exchangingnotes/2024

What the Fluff? A Tribute to Union Square Innovation is a madcap festival honoring the invention of Marshmallow Fluff. It celebrates Somerville’s proud tradition of innovation with live music, fluffalicious feasts, sticky games, zany happenings, and much more happening Saturday, September 21 from 2-6pm in Union Square (rain date Sunday, September 22). 

Leave your sepia-toned world behind. Make all your technicolor dreams come true. This year’s festival– Somerville Over the Rainbow: No Place Like Fluff is the place for you. For the 19th year, Fluff fans from far and wide will gather in the heart of the City to celebrate Somerville’s favorite sticky treat with all shades of silly. 

Laugh the day away as you join a colorful cast of characters and explore this joyful jubilee’s deliciously diverse food, toe-tapping musical performances, and family-friendly games. This year’s What the Fluff? will make your troubles melt like lemon drops and have you rejoicing “peanut butter & bread & Fluff! Oh my!” in no time. 

So, don your most hue-riffic ensemble (ruby slippers optional), round up your sidekicks (Toto, too!), and follow the marshmallow road to the most magical square in Somerville. There’s No Place Like Fluff.

What the Fluff? is brought to you by Union Square Main Streets, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, with a mission to preserve the unique character and advance the strength of the Union Square business district and community in partnership with the Somerville Arts Council as part of the ArtsUnion initiative to enhance the cultural economic development of Union Square.

Photo credit: Linda Gritz

Arts at the Armory's Spotlight Series will present Meshell Ndegeocello on September 20, 2024! The concert will showcase Ndegeocello's current project and soon-to-be-released album, No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin.

Ndegeocello is a virtuosic creative as a multi-instrumentalist, singer, and songwriter. Her storied career has included songs topping Billboard charts, most notably her original "If That's Your Boyfriend (He Wasn't Last Night)" in 1994. Ndegeocello has collaborated on bass and rapped alongside Madonna on her album Bedtime Stories, and on Chaka Khan's single "Never Miss the Water" in 1996. Her recent album release and Blue Note Records debut, The Omnichord Real Book, is an exquisite, deeply jazz-influenced album that earned Ndegeocello the 2024 Grammy for Best Alternative Jazz Album.

No More Water: The Gospel of James Baldwin, is set to be released on August 2, 2024 in honor of Baldwin's 100th birthday.

Experience Meshell Ndegeocello live at Arts at the Armory on Friday, September 20th for an evening filled with her soulful melodies and innovative compositions.

Purchase your tickets here.

Doors open at 7:00PM, the show will start at 8:00PM.

Se Réfleter Dans celebrates the dynamic vision of Haitian-born painter, textile designer, and sculptor Colette Brésilla who explores the cultural and creative contexts as a tool for social change. Curated from the artist’s private collection, the exhibition is organized thematically into a fifteen-piece series of work with a remarkable interpretation of mirrored images which, like their reflections, can be ambiguous and even contradictory; yet a glaring characterization of the complexities of human identity both personal and cultural.
The female form and principle is prominently featured in the artist’s artwork; from a Haitian market women with pipes and Japanese geishas to thinkers, and mothers. The inspiration of these selections was drawn from the artist's interest in representations of complicated figures at ease with themselves who at the same time mirror particular identities.

This exhibit ranges from small to big dimensions, and was created by the artist from 2012-2015, and offers a captivating glimpse into her evolution over the past 30 years. Brésilla exclusively works with palette knives, oil sticks, and wax paste and has a connection to the ancient technique of appliqué, an important art from Benin, West Africa, the ancestral homeland named by many Haitians.

Machu Picchu's Monthly Brunch Party: With Live DJ playing all the best hits and Brunch menu offerings from Passion fruit mimosas to Peruvian style breakfast.

Make your reservation here.

Join Union Square Main Streets and 50+ of your favorite local food producers for the 20th Annual Union Square Farmers Market! Shop local Saturdays from May 11-October 26, except September 21, from 9am-1pm on the Union Square Plaza. 

The market provides visitors and residents with top-quality, fresh, and local produce at fair prices; encourages active lifestyle values; educates consumers about farming and locally sourced foods; and gives customers opportunities to interact directly with farmers. The market also shares information and education about community issues, promotes local activities and businesses, and sows opportunities for the community to gather and visit. 

Thanks to our partnership with The City of Somerville and the Somerville Farmers Market Coalition, we are proud to continue to offer our $15 SNAP match! 

To get the latest updates about the Union Square Farmers Market, be sure to sign up for our email list or follow us on Facebook and Instagram!

See you at the Market!

Save the date!

The 2024 Somerville Rock + Roll Yard Sale is happening on Sunday, September 8, 12-5pm in Union Square Plaza with a rain date of Sunday, September 15.

This is the 20th year! Come find yourself (or a loved one) a vintage treasure. This event features vendors selling an eclectic mix of vinyl records, vintage + DIY handmade goods. This is the perfect way to support independent small businesses!

Somerville Rock & Roll Yard Sale is the Boston-Area "Sister - Event" to the the Providence Record Show and Rock & Roll Yard Sale and is a Sale of Vinyl Records and DIY Handmade Goods produced by what cheer records.

Please contact Event Manager Iaritza Menjivar with any questions
imenjivar@somervillema.gov

Celebratory activities in the garden for fairies and their friends include storytelling, building a fairy house and creating a fairy wand. Everyone is invited to come dressed up as their favorite magical being. Donations are encouraged to support the Growing Center and future Gatherings of the Fairies. Link to flyer: bit.ly/fairies-24

Las actividades de celebración en el jardín para las hadas y sus amigos incluyen cuentacuentos, construcción de una casa de hadas y creación de una varita mágica. Todo el mundo está invitado a disfrazarse de su ser mágico favorito. Folleto: bit.ly/fairies-24

As atividades comemorativas no jardim para as fadas e seus amigos incluem contar histórias, construir uma casa de fada e criar uma varinha de fada. Todos estão convidados a se vestir como seu ser mágico favorito. Folheto: bit.ly/fairies-24

Join Arts Union for the 10th Annual Evolution of Hip Hop Festival on Saturday, September 7, from 4 to 7:30pm, rain date Saturday, September 14 at Union Square Plaza in Somerville.

This Arts Union event will feature rappers, singers, spoken word poets, dancers, and visual artists from the Somerville community and surrounding cities. This showcase of hip hop music, dance and culture displays the immense creativity throughout the region. There will also be craft vendors and local community groups. Gregory Smith of Show Riders will provide a collection of vintage cars for you to look at and take pictures in front of (please be mindful and do not touch the cars).

DJ Tee Lawson will take control of your senses for the evening!

Performances starting at 4pm by:
A.M.B.
Ossa
Main
AQ
Wally Sparks
Dro Casso
Forte
5:50 - 6:30 Oompa
6:30 - 700 Sassisane and Terry B-

Show up and support your local hip hop artists!

This ArtsUnion event is produced in partnership with Wat's Da Wurd & Mass Movements. We want to thank Pacey Foster for building this platform in Somerville. Thank you to the Ultimate Entertainment Group with Kevin Stone and Frank Poindexter supporting the mission.