Harvard Square looked busy over Memorial Day weekend despite Boston Calling’s gap year; merchants say Fenway partnerships, Sail Boston and niche tours are softening the blow.

Philip Glass withdrew his Lincoln symphony from the Kennedy Center; the Boston Symphony will premiere it at Tanglewood on July 5. The move spotlights a culture clash over who shapes national arts institutions.

RoxFilm returns June 18–26 with more than 100 films, opening at the MFA with a Clyde Best documentary and a week of virtual programming.

Old South Meeting House will open Ruckus! on July 2, 2026 — a 24-minute immersive show that uses projection and transparent screens to dramatize 1773.

Lainey Wilson and Chance the Rapper will perform with the Boston Pops on July 4 at the Hatch Shell as part of Massachusetts' 250th celebration with an expanded fireworks show.

Boston artists want to wrap the Tobin Bridge in climate‑driven lights, a $10M plan that has drawn civic interest and sharp warnings from dark‑sky advocates. The proposal mixes ambitious design with knotty permitting and wildlife concerns.

La CASA, a $33M cultural center built by IBA, opens May 15 in Boston’s South End with concerts, murals and community programming.

The Avett Brothers’ shipwreck musical Swept Away opens at SpeakEasy’s Calderwood Pavilion April 24. The band is also touring with Mike Patton and plays the Wang Theatre June 10.

Beloved Boston bassist Joe McMahon is recovering in the ICU after a heart attack during a rehearsal for the Hot Stove Cool Music fundraiser. Friends and the local music community have launched fundraisers that have already topped tens of thousands.

North Attleboro's Route One Cinema Pub will screen its final films on May 31 after a 27‑year run of dinner‑and‑a‑movie nights.

Trinity Rep has named Meredith McDonough its new artistic director; she'll arrive in August with a national reputation for new‑play development as the theater readies a $35M renovation.

Jazz Urbane Cafe secured a $2.46M financing package to move a long‑planned 200‑seat jazz club and restaurant forward in Nubian Square.

Zach Bryan paid $12.1M for Jack Kerouac’s original 120‑foot On the Road scroll and plans to install it at a new Kerouac Center in Lowell. Fundraising and renovations now follow.