Oktoberfest Weekend in Harvard Square
featuring
Oktoberfest & HONK! Parade
October 13th, 2019
12pm – 6pm
(Rain Date, Monday, October 14th)
The Harvard Square Business Association is pleased to announce the return of the 41st Annual Oktoberfest and slightly irrepressible and fabulously madcap 14th Annual HONK! Parade on Sunday, October 13th, 2019. Come be a part of this unique, irreverent and family friendly annual tradition where musicians and spectators “reclaim the streets for horns, bikes and feet”!
Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest features food from all over the world, arts, crafts, vintage goods, free samples, sidewalk sales and one-of-a-kind gifts. In addition, Oktoberfest boasts five beer gardens hosted by Alden & Harlow, Charlie’s Kitchen, The Hourly Oyster House, The Sinclair and Wachusett Brewing Company.
This annual celebration of fall features live music, including a Passim stage and an all HONK! Review on the main stage! Dancing in the streets is encouraged!
One of the highlights of the festival is the HONK! Parade which arrives in the Square at approximately 1pm. In its 14th year, the HONK! movement has become a global phenomenon. This year, more than 25 HONK! bands from around the country will march from Davis Square to Harvard Square. Spectators will be treated to a horn-tooting, hand-clapping, foot-stomping, mind-blowing spectacle and are welcomed to join the back of the parade and make their way to Oktoberfest! .
Oktoberfest in Harvard Square was started in 1978 by the late Frank Cardullo, a Square mover, shaker and owner of the renowned Wurtshaus, which served up traditional German food from 1917 until it closed in 1996. The early festivals were in keeping with old world customs. Over the years, the festival has taken on a more discerningly Cambridge vibe to become an Oktoberfest unlike any other.
Main Stage Schedule (in the Super Cross Walk in front of Out of Town News)
12:00pm Enjoy excerpts of upcoming productions created and supported by the American Repertory Theater:
A.R.T.’s family holiday programming, Thumbelina: A Little Musical (December 20 – 31 at the Loeb Drama Center); Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s production of Mamma Mia! (October 11 – October 19 at the Loeb Drama Center), and Boston Circus Guild’s Cirque of the Dead (October 18 – 31 at OBERON). Led by Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director and Tony Award winner Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, the American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University’s mission is to expand the boundaries of theater by transforming the ways in which theater is developed, programmed, produced, and contextualized, always including the audience as its partner.
12:45pm Performance from the Cast of Rocky Horror Show – Don’t miss a preview performance by cast members from Moonbox Productions’ The Rocky Horror Show. Opening on October 18th and running through November 2nd, The Rocky Horror Show will be performed live in a pop-up theatre located in the heart of Harvard Square at 25 Brattle Street With an irresistible rock ’n’ roll score, The Rocky Horror Show is a hilarious, wild ride, that no audience will soon forget. Tickets are available here or by calling 866-710-8942..
1:00pm HONK! Parade
2:00pm Extraordinary Rendition Band
2:15pm School of HONK
2:30pm Forward! Marching Band
2:45pm Emperor Norton’s Stationary Marching Band
3:00pm The Party Band
3:15pm The Brass Balagan
3:30pm Dirty Water Brass Band
3:45pm Summer Street Brass Band
4:00pm Fanfarra Feminina Sagrada Profana
4:15pm Environmental Encroachment
4:30pm Band Land Brass Band
4:45pm Brass Queens
5:00pm Clamor and Lace Noise Brigade
5:15pm What Cheer? Brigade
5:30pm Plezi Rara
5:45pm Young Fellaz Brass Band
Passim Stage (at the intersection of Brattle & Church Streets)
12:00pm Sheila Del Bosque & Nacho González
1:00pm Giorgio Albanese
2:00pm Hawthorn
3:00pm Robbie Pate
4:00pm The Treaty Trio
5:00pm Kathleen Parks
Wachusett Brewing Company Stage (at the intersection of JFK & Mt. Auburn Streets)
2:00pm – 5:00pm Dread Rocks
(please note that times and artists are subject to change)
American Repertory Theater Open House
12pm – 4pm
American Repertory Theater (A.R.T.) at Harvard University, under the leadership of Terrie and Bradley Bloom Artistic Director Diane Paulus and Executive Producer Diane Borger, invites the public to visit its mainstage, the Loeb Drama Center at 64 Brattle Street.
The peek behind the scenes of A.R.T. will feature free festivities for visitors of all ages, including:
• Backstage tours and demonstrations
• An introduction to the 2019/20 Season
• A conversation with Moby-Dick creator Dave Malloy (Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812)
• A sneak peek from upcoming family holiday programming Thumbelina: A Small Musical
• Harvard-Radcliffe Dramatic Club’s production of Mamma Mia! (tickets required)
• Giveaways throughout the day
• Much more!
American Repertory Theatre, 64 Brattle Street, (617) 547-8300, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/american-repertory-theater
Grendel’s Den Oktoberfest After Party
Grendel’s Den will feature a German themed food and beer menu all day during Harvard Square’s Oktoberfest Street Fair. We dress up in traditional Bavarian outfits, listen to our Munich themed playlist and offer a variety of German beer and food. If you’re looking for something to do after the fair, join us at the Oktoberfest After Party at 7pm for our 16th Annual Ceremonial Keg Tapping and Toast, beer drinking songs, and lederhosen. Seating is first come, first served, no cover, no reservations. Open 11:30 AM til 1 AM.
Grendel’s Den, 89 Winthrop Street, (617) 491-1160 grendelsden.com
Special thanks to our premiere sponsor, Capital One Café
Oktoberfest 2019 partners include:
Alden & Harlow, Charlie’s Kitchen, Dunkin Donuts, East Boston Savings Bank, Green Mountain Energy, The Hourly Oyster House, Irving House, LASIK Vision Institute, Launch Watertown Trampoline, New England Revolution, Power Crunch, Revise Energy, The Sinclair, Sweetie Ice Cream, T-Mobile and Wachusett Brewing Company.
But that’s not all! Harvard Square businesses will be hosting concerts, book readings and so much more all weekend.
Through October 31st
Cambridge Art Association’s 2019 Open Photo Exhibit
University Place Gallery, 124 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge MA
Juried by Karen E. Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
The Cambridge Art Association (CAA) is pleased to announce our 2019 Open Photo exhibit, juried by Karen Haas, Lane Curator of Photographs at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston. The exhibit opens on Thursday, October 3, at our University Place Gallery, and remains on view through October 31. An opening reception will be held on Thursday, October 3, from 6 to 8pm. This event is free and open to the public.
Cambridge Art Association, 25R Lowell Street, 617-876-0246, harvardsquare.com/cambridge-art-association
Through January 5th, 2020
Crossing Lines, Constructing Home: Displacement and Belonging in Contemporary Art at Harvard Art Museums
What does it mean to be displaced from culture and home? What are the historical contexts for understanding our contemporary moment? How does an artist’s work and process embody and engage the narratives of displacement and belonging?
Crossing Lines, Constructing Home investigates two parallel ideas: national, political, and cultural conceptions of boundaries and borders; and the evolving hybrid spaces, identities, languages, and beliefs created by the movement of peoples.
Harvard Art Museums, 32 Quincy Street, 617-495-9400, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/harvard-art-museums
October 11th
Mike Moreno Quartet at Scullers Jazz Club
8pm
Guitarist Mike Moreno has toured with some of the most venerable names in the Jazz world as well as rising stars of the scene.Over the years, they have included The Joshua Redman Elastic Band, Lizz Wright Band, Nicholas Payton Quartet, Stefon Harris Sonic Creed, Me’Shell N’Degeocello, Jason Moran, Terence Blanchard, Robert Glasper, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Aaron Parks, Claudia Acuña, Greg Osby 4, Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz At Lincoln Center Orchestra, Jeff “Tain” Watts, Jeremy Pelt, John Ellis, Myron Walden, Kenny Garret,Yosvany Terry, Ralph Bowen, Will Vinson and more.
Scullers Jazz Club, 400 Soldiers Field Road, 617-562-4111, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/scullers-jazz-club-doubletree-suites-hilton-hotel-boston
October 11th
YO SOY LOLA: LAS QUE SUEÑAN at OBERON
8pm
The highly celebrated Yo Soy LOLA presents Las Que Sueñan, a thought-provoking experience showcasing Latinas’ resilence in the face of adversity recounted via spoken word, acting, dance, and music. Come be part of the Yo Soy LOLA world that transforms around you, and then stay for the Latin dancing that continues into the night after the show.
As if you needed another reason to attend, net proceeds fund scholarships for Latinx youth pursuing higher education in the arts with goals that directly impact their communities. Yo Soy LOLA‘s mission is to raise awareness of the multi-dimensional Latina experience and to build a platform that unites Latinas to tell our stories, change our narrative, and give back to our communities.
OBERON, 2 Arrow Street, 617-496-8004, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/oberon
October 11th
Sheer Mag at The Sinclair
9pm
Sheer Mag’s dizzying rise initiated in 2014, when the Philadelphia band self-released the first of three 7-inches and started playing the Northeastern DIY circuit. Ironically, the music stood apart because it sounded so familiar. Indebted to ‘70s arena rock, power-pop, and proto-metal, Sheer Mag’s songs reminded a lot of us of the music we grew up with, but maybe couldn’t relate to because it was big, brash, and unapologetically macho. Sheer Mag reclaimed some of that energy without perpetuating the toxicity. On their debut album, Need to Feel Your Love (2017), the band surveyed their contemporary political landscape through the lens of history. Singer Tina Halladay transported herself back to the 1969 Stonewall Riots, denounced redlining practices that undermine the popular vote, and paid homage to White Rose activist Sophie Scholl. On paper, it’s a mouthful, but accompanied by guitarist/lyricist Matt Palmer, guitarist Kyle Seely, and bassist/producer Hart Seely, those songs became hook-laden rallying cries.
The Sinclair, 53 Church Street, 617-547-5200, harvardsquare.com/Sinclair
October 11th
Nancy Rosenblum and Russell Muirhead Book Reading at the Harvard Book Store
3pm
Harvard Book Store and the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics welcome authors and professors NANCY L. ROSENBLUM and RUSSELL MUIRHEAD for a discussion of their new co-authored book, A Lot of People Are Saying: The New Conspiracism and the Assault on Democracy. This event is also sponsored in part by Mass Humanities.
About A Lot of People Are Saying
Conspiracy theories are as old as politics. But conspiracists today have introduced something new―conspiracy without theory. And the new conspiracism has moved from the fringes to the heart of government with the election of Donald Trump. In A Lot of People Are Saying, Russell Muirhead and Nancy Rosenblum show how the new conspiracism differs from classic conspiracy theory, why so few officials speak truth to conspiracy, and what needs to be done to resist it.
Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-661-1515, harvardsquare.com/harvard-book-store
October 11th
David Kirp Book Reading at the Harvard Coop
7pm
The College Dropout Scandal
Higher education today faces a host of challenges, from quality to cost. But too little attention gets paid to a startling fact: four out of ten students — that’s more than ten percent of the entire population – -who start college drop out. The situation is particularly dire for black and Latino students, those from poor families, and those who are first in their families to attend college. In The College Dropout Scandal, David Kirp outlines the scale of the problem and shows that it’s fixable – -we already have the tools to boost graduation rates and shrink the achievement gap. Many college administrators know what has to be done, but many of them are not doing the job – -the dropout rate hasn’t decreased for decades. It’s not elite schools like Harvard or Williams who are setting the example, but places like City University of New York and Long Beach State, which are doing the hard work to assure that more students have a better education and a diploma. As in his New York Times columns, Kirp relies on vivid, on-the-ground reporting, conversations with campus leaders, faculty and students, as well as cogent overviews of cutting-edge research to identify the institutional reforms–like using big data to quickly identify at-risk students and get them the support they need — and the behavioral strategies — from nudges to mindset changes – -that have been proven to work.
Harvard Coop, 1400 Massachusetts Avenue, 617-499-2000, harvardsquare.com/shops/harvard-cooperative-society-coop
October 11th
Neave Trio: He Said, She Said: Balancing Energies | alumni artists/faculty ensemble-in-residence at Longy School of Music
8:00 pm
The Multifaceted Career: Iris ColeJazz and Contemporary Music Series
Reconsider traditional conceptions of the masculine and feminine through the 19th century works of Louise Farrenc and Robert Schumann — and rejoice in bucking those gender norms as energies collide in the world premiere of Bruce Lazarus’ He Said, She Said.
Longy School of Music, 27 Garden Street, (617) 876-0956, harvardsquare.com/services/longy-school-music-bard-college
October 11th – 13th
Oktoberfest Bierhaus at Beat Brew Hall
Harvard Square’s Beloved Brew Hall Hosts 3-Day Oktoberfest Celebration In Partnership with Jack’s Abby and Weihenstephan
On Friday, October 11 – Sunday, October 13, 2019, Harvard Square’s Beat Brew Hall is teaming up with Jack’s Abby Craft Lagers and Weihenstephan to host a three-day Oktoberfest celebration with a Bavarian Beer Hall theme, complete with Bavarian-inspired dishes paired with Beat’s special selection of German beers, a live oompah band, Stein Hoisting Competition, and more. On Day 3, Sunday, October 13th, Beat Brew Hall joins the 41st Annual Oktoberfest and 14th Annual HONK! Festival as it reclaims Harvard Square with horns, bikes and foot traffic between the hours of 12:00PM and 6:00PM.
Executive Chef Colton Coburn-Wood will be serving up German specialties including Bavarian sausages, pretzels, and sauerkraut in addition to the regular brew hall menu, while the bar will offer a variety of Oktoberfest-style brews, where guests can test their endurance in a round of Beat’s traditional Bavarian Stein Hoisting Competition. Revelers can also enjoy live music from Die Lustigen Musikanten des Heimatlandes aka The Mad Bavarian Brass Band as they take the stage to perform classic German beer drinking songs, marches, polkas, and other sing-along tunes.
Day 1 festivities kick off at 4PM on Friday, October 11, with doors open at 11AM on Saturday and Sunday, October 12-13, 2019. For more information or to make a reservation, please call 617.499.0001 or visit us here.
Beat Brew Hall, 13 Brattle Street, 617-499-0001, harvardsquare.com/restaurants/beat-brew-hall
October 11th – 14th
PYTHON-ATHON: 50 YEARS OF NONSENSE at the Brattle Theatre
The legendary television show Monty Python’s Flying Circus first premiered on the BBC on October 5, 1969 and so, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of this landmark occasion, we’ve assembled (almost) all of the Pythons’ big screen forays – as well a small selection of the post-Python diaspora. Featuring ‘And Now For Something Completely Different’, ‘Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life’, ‘Monty Python and the Holy Grail’, ‘Monty Python’s Life of Brian’, ‘Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride’, ‘Time Bandits’, and ‘The Adventures of Baron Munchausen’. See website for complete schedule.
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, 617-876-6837, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/brattle-theatre
October 12th
Bill Charlap with Willie Jones III and Sean Smith at Scullers Jazz Club
Shows at 8 and 10
Grammy award winning pianist Bill Charlap has performed with many of the leading artists of our time including Phil Woods, Tony Bennett, Gerry Mulligan, Wynton Marsalis, Freddy Cole and Houston Person. In 1997 Charlap formed his trio with bassist Peter Washington and drummer Kenny Washington, now recognized as one of the leading groups in jazz. In 2016, Tony Bennett & Bill Charlap: The Silver Lining, The Songs of Jerome Kern, was awarded a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album. In April, the Bill Charlap Trio released Notes from New York, their debut recording for the Impulse label. Alan Morrison’s five-star review in Down Beat stated that the new recording is “a masterclass in class.”
Scullers Jazz Club, 400 Soldiers Field Road, 617-562-4111, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/scullers-jazz-club-doubletree-suites-hilton-hotel-boston
October 12th
Mortified at OBERON
Hailed as a “cultural phenomenon” by Newsweek and celebrated for years by the likes of This American Life, The Today Show, The A.V. Club, and Entertainment Weekly, Mortified is a comic excavation of teen angst artifacts (journals, poems, letters, lyrics, home movies, schoolwork) as shared by their original authors—in front of total strangers.
OBERON, 2 Arrow Street, 617-496-8004, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/oberon
October 12th
Harvard Football vs Cornell
1pm
Harvard Stadium
October 12th
Jazz and Contemporary Music Series at Longy School of Music
8:00 pm
« Neave Trio: He Said, She Said: Balancing Energies | alumni artists/faculty ensemble-in-residence. The Multifaceted Career: Dana Varga »
The Jazz and Contemporary Music department is excited to showcase visiting artists, alumni and faculty in their yearly concert series. Announcements of performers and repertoire to be determined.
Longy School of Music, 27 Garden Street, (617) 876-0956, harvardsquare.com/services/longy-school-music-bard-college
October 12th
THE STASH! BAND at Passim
8pm
Celebrate the release of the Stash Band’s 3rd album, “Chapter 3”!
Referred to by the Boston Herald as a “Sonic Kaleidoscopic of Weirdness and Wonder” the STASH band is bluegrass meeting heavy metal meeting outer space music. Fronted by Stash Wyslouch they play original music on fiddle, guitar, bass and drums combining the song-writing of snarky rock bands of the days of yore and fresh psychedelic bluegrass-metal riffs churned out at lightning speed. Prepare to laugh, cry, jam and mosh.
Passim, 47 Palmer Street, 617-492-7679, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/passim
October 12th – 13th
John Scofield Solo Guitar at the Regattbar
7:30pm
Aside from being one of the principal innovators of modern jazz guitar, John Scofield is a creative artist of an even rarer sort: a stylistic chameleon who has forged a consistent, rock-solid aesthetic identity. A triple Grammy award winning artist with more than 40 recordings to his credit, Scofield has expressed himself in the vernacular of bebop, blues, jazz-funk, organ jazz, acoustic chamber jazz, electronically tinged groove music, jam band style and orchestral ensembles with ease and enthusiasm. Now he adds yet another credit to his resume: solo guitarist.
Regattabar, One Bennett Street, (617) 395-7757, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/regattabar
October 12th – 14th
Native American Poets Playlist: Poems in the Gallery at the Peabody Museum
In a program marking Cambridge’s Indigenous People’s Day–celebrated as the federal holiday Columbus Day–eight Native American poets may be heard reading their work in the galleries. Enrich your museum visit by listening to an evocative playlist of contemporary poems by Native American authors. Wander freely across the first-floor galleries to see where the poems take you and expand your understanding of Native arts and cultures. The poems, drawn from a powerful recent anthology, New Poets of Native Nations (edited by Heid E. Erdrich; Graywolf Press) celebrate Native poets first published in the twenty-first century. Hear the exhibits “come into voice” and experience the museum in a new way. Borrow a free audio player with regular museum admission.
Native American Poets Playlist: Poems in the Gallery will be available Saturday, October 12, 2019, through Sunday, October 14, 2019. The museum is open daily from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm.
Featured Poems and Poets
“Theory Doesn’t Live Here” Gwen Nell Westerman (Dakota)
Excerpt from “Nature Poem” Tommy Pico (Kumeyaay)
“Winiiam Aagimeke/William Making Snowshoes” Margaret Noodin (Anishinaabe)
“It Goes Something Like This” Eric Gansworth (Onondaga)
“Anasazi” Tacey M. Atsitty (Diné)*
“American Arithmetic” Natalie Diaz (Mojave)
“Not Just Anybody Can Have One” Trevino L. Brings Plenty (Minneconjou Lakota)
“Warming” dg nanouk okpik (Inupiat-Inuit)
Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, 11 Divinity Avenue, 617-496-1027, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/peabody-museum-archaeology-and-ethnology
October 13th
New England Chocolate Festival at the Cambridge Center for Adult Education
Organized by the Fine Cacao and Chocolate Institute, the New England Chocolate Festival’s Chocolate Education Program (all ages) on Sunday, October 13, 2019 features nineteen classes on making, tasting, and pairing chocolate, and more!
Schedule and tickets available here.
Cambridge Center for Adult Education, 42 Brattle Street, 617-547-6789, harvardsquare.com/cambridge-center-adult-education
October 13th
MELANIN PRIDE FESTIVAL at Brattle Theatre
CLOSING NIGHT
Co-presented by The Fenway Institute
Directed by Tristan Aitchison • 75 mins • Scotland/Kenya 2018
When his family tries to kill him, Sidney, who is intersex, flees to Nairobi where he meets a group of transgender friends. Together, they fight discrimination and discover life, love and self-worth. Feature documentary SIDNEY & FRIENDS is a heartfelt exploration of the hopes, dreams, and everyday reality of a group of intersex and transgender friends fighting to survive on the edge of Kenyan society. Join Sidney and his new friends as they share what it is like to grow up and live as a gender minority, in a region known for prejudice and discrimination against its LGBTI population. Filmed over 4 years, our friends reveal the secrets of their struggles with poignancy and sometimes also humor. The premise is simple: it’s about gender, friendship… and love.
Screens with…
The Network LaRed’s short film
Surviving with Wild Tongues (Sobreviviendo Con Lenguas Indomables)
Directed by Genevieve Rodriguez • (16 minutes)
Surviving with Wild Tongues is a short film that centers on the lives and experiences of queer, transgender, black, indigenous, working class and/or people of color who are survivors of partner abuse (domestic violence).
Brattle Theatre, 40 Brattle Street, 617-876-6837, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/brattle-theatre
October 13th
MOUTHS OF BABES at Passim
7pm
With more than a dozen albums and over a thousand shows between them, Ty Greenstein and Ingrid Elizabeth of Mouths of Babes are no strangers to the contemporary folk music scene. For years, their respective bands Girlyman and Coyote Grace captivated thousands of loyal fans as they criss-crossed the country, rocked festival main stages, and toured with the likes of the Indigo Girls and Dar Williams.
Now, as Mouths of Babes, Ty and Ingrid have distilled the very best of the songwriting, musicianship, and humor of their previous groups into a new duo that brings more style and depth than ever before. Mouths of Babes recorded their highly anticipated first full-length album, Brighter In the Dark at Prairie Sun Studios in northern California on the strength of a wildly successful, 800-backer, $56,000 Kickstarter campaign. Released in January 2017, the self-produced album contains twelve original songs with contrasting themes of light and dark, tragedy and comedy, personal and political. Mixed by Stewart Lerman (Dar Williams, Bob Dylan), Brighter features guest appearances from Birds of Chicago, Tania Elizabeth (The Avett Brothers), Mai Bloomfield (Jason Mraz) and others.
Passim, 47 Palmer Street, 617-492-7679, harvardsquare.com/arts-entertainment/passim
