In selecting events for this weekend, we paid special attention to Sunday, so you’re not just sitting on your couch thinking, “Hey, it’s Sunday. This is a TV. On Sundays, the TV shows me football. Is the TV broken? Are there going to be nachos? Why am I so alone?”
This article was provided by our content partner, The Boston Calendar.
[Photo credit: Tim Sackton/Creative Commons]
| 1. | Thursday, Feb. 6 – Cocktails and Love Tales |
The Franklin Park Zoo benefit promises tasty beverages, hors d’oevres, music, and a zoo historian talk covering titillating tales from the animal kingdom. That’s just the $25 package. For $100, you can get the VIP treatment, including an “exclusive encounter” with the giraffes. The zoo is a weird place when you’re a grown-up. (6 p.m., $25, 21+)
| 2. | Friday, Feb. 7 – Taza Chocolate/Drink Craft Beer Benefit |
The annual event to raise funds for the Greater Boston Food Bank brings in offerings from 10 craft brewers, each paired with Taza chocolate and food from six local chefs. Also, probably no one talks to you about animal sex. (7 p.m., $25, 21+)
| 3. | Friday, Feb. 7 – ICA First Fridays |
The ICA debuts new exhibitions from Nick Cave and William Kentridge, plus a screening of the Internet Cat Video Festival: a 75-minute compilation of the web’s funniest felines. I’m not really a cat person so I’ll be in the corner watching videos of dogs greeting soldiers as they come home from Afghanistan, and just having a good cry. (5 p.m., $15, 21+)
| 4. | Friday, Feb. 7 – SoWa First Fridays |
If you prefer your First Fridays cat-free — and even better, cover charge-free — check out the SoWa galleries and artist open studios. Also, traditionally the one day a month we collectively agree to let “SoWa” happen. (5 p.m., FREE, all ages)
| 5. | Friday to Sunday, Feb. 7 to 9 – ”The Line that Picked Up 1,000 Babes” |
This one-hour comedy from new theater company The Opposite of People features six 20-somethings navigating the bar scene. Just because football season’s over doesn’t mean you can’t use gridiron terminology to analyze your unsuccessful dating life: Missed scoring opportunities in the red zone. Failure to convert on third dates. The importance of ball security. (8 p.m., FREE, 21+)
| 6. | Saturday, Feb. 8 – Speedy Ortiz |
Tasty Burger hosts the Northampton indie rockers’ EP release show and fires a flaming arrow in the Harvard Square Burger Wars of 2014. Your move, Shake Shack. Your move. (8 p.m., FREE, all ages)
| 7. | Saturday, Feb. 8 – MFA Lunar New Year Celebration |
Celebrate the Year of the Horse at the MFA with free admission, lion dances, martial arts demonstrations, live music, and more. (10 a.m., FREE, all ages)
| 8. | Sunday, Feb. 9 – Chinese New Year Parade |
If you prefer your lion dance experience immediately followed by dim sum, Chinatown’s annual procession starts from the gate at Beach Street and Surface Road. The parade winds around the neighborhood, stopping at local businesses — just follow the sound of firecrackers. (11 a.m., FREE, all ages)
| 9. | Sunday, Feb. 9 – Street Dogs Rock the Vote Benefit |
The Boston punks and Lenny Lashley Gang of One play this free Rock the Vote youth voter registration drive at the Blarney Stone in Dorchester. It’s an acoustic show for the Street Dogs, and if you don’t think acoustic guitars are punk rock then you’ve probably never smashed one over a fascist’s head. (3 p.m., FREE, 18+)
| 10. | Sunday, Feb. 9 – ”All You Need is Myth” |
On the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ appearance on the “Ed Sullivan Show” — also the 50th anniversary of my nana freaking out about all the twisting and the shouting (“Frank Sinatra doesn’t need to shout!”) — authors Jade Sylvan and Steve Wagner present this live show previewing their upcoming documentary about the band’s legacy. Featuring performances by the Number Nines, a one-night supergroup of Boston musicians, and an original alterna-burlesque dance. (7:30 p.m., $20, probably 18+ an account of the alterna-burlesque)
| 11. | All weekend – Sledding! |
If you haven’t gone yet this year, you’ll probably have plenty more opportunities because winter is immortal and unrelenting, but check out one of the top 10 sledding spots in and around Boston.