🎟️🤯 Boston’s hottest ticket is ... $25?

🌮 Out: Taco Tuesday. In: FREE Taco Friday. Taco Azul is giving out free tacos from 3 to 5 p.m. this Friday to celebrate the Pats’ playoff W. WE’RE THERE.

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

It might be cold outside, but Boston’s arts and culture scene is PIPING. So we put together a list of some of the city’s best artsy happenings — all under $50. <3

Here’s what’s going on:

🎶 Skip the concert sticker shock. Why drop $200 for TD nosebleeds when you can be front row for an indie up-and-comer without breaking the bank? See: Indie group Sharp Pins on Jan. 22 for just $25, or cool-girl-approved disco soul trio Say She She for $41 on Feb. 21. And there are a LOT more cheap concerts where that came from.

✨ Learn about your fav English teacher. WBUR CitySpace is throwing a Swiftie night Jan. 27 with three experts who basically have PhDs in Taylor. Expect iconic photos, videos, and songs from every era, plus smart Swiftie discourse all night long.

✊🏾 Get cultured by local Black artists. Specifically, Allan Rohan Crite, whose work captured the Black community in Lower Roxbury and the South End. See it at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum through Jan. 19 or the Boston Athenaeum through Jan. 24. Another pick: Head to the ICA starting Feb. 12 to catch “Say It Loud: AAMARP, 1977 to Now,” a compilation of work from Northeastern’s longtime residency program for Black artists — one of just a few in the country.

🎥 Local film festivals > watching movies on your couch. This winter, there’s the MFA’s Festival of Films from Iran from Jan. 30 to Feb. 22, and the Somerville Theatre’s Boston SciFi Film Fest from Feb. 11 to 16 (which ends in a 24-hour movie marathon). Need to brush up for awards season? The Brattle is running back the best movies of 2025 through Feb. 5.

🎟️ … And friendly reminder: Alamo Drafthouse offers $7 tickets on Tuesdays, and AMC Stubs Insiders get half-priced tickets on Tuesdays and Wednesdays (it’s free to join). 

🧶 Lean into a granny hobby. The New England Farm & Fiber Fest on Feb. 8 is worth hitting up for the adorable merch alone (see: this MBaaTA hat and BAA-ston magnet). But the gorgeous local yarn and conversation doesn’t hurt either.

🏮 Celebrate the year of the horse. Chinatown is throwing DOWN for Lunar New Year on March 1 with a giant parade, lion dance, and cultural village. Then hit the Pao Arts Center for a day of crafts and cultural programming.

🎭 Feed your inner theater kid. Though you don’t have to be one to enjoy this wacky MBTA-themed musical, it’s “for anyone who’s been personally victimized by public transit.” But theatre lovers and Scholastic Book Fair lovers alike will love Wonder at ART, based on the iconic YA Book. Emily’s take: It’s one of the best shows she’s seen around Boston in YEARS.

🔥 Hot tip: Anyone under 40 can catch literally any show at The Huntington for $40 thanks to its HYPE program. 

🖼️🍺 January doesn’t have to be all errands and early nights. On Saturday, Jan. 17, the MFA is keeping “Winslow Homer in Watercolor” open until 8 p.m., offering a last-chance window to see this once-in-a-generation exhibition before it closes Jan. 19. The night also includes a cozy bonus: a soft pretzel and beer cheese appetizer paired with Maine Beer Company’s Lunch IPA at the New American Café, plus late hours at the exhibition shop. Art, snacks, and zero rushing — exactly how winter evenings should feel. Plan your visit now. 

🍔 Time’s up for Time Out Market. It’s official: Boston’s biggest food hall is closing its doors for good on Jan. 23. The closure comes seven years after its 2019 opening, which marked the beginning of Boston’s fancy food court trend, and helped cement Fenway as a foodie destination. But high operating costs + inconsistent foot traffic post-pandemic = trouble staying profitable, said CEO Michael Marlay. As for what’s next for the 27,000-square-foot retail space? TBD, but we’re not saying goodbye without one last doughnut.

🧊 Boston is bracing for an ICE surge. As ICE operations become increasingly violent across the county, Mayor Wu said she’s “preparing for the unthinkable” in Boston. Translation: She’s been meeting with police leadership to discuss enforcement scenarios and preventing ICE from co-opting local resources. Though there’s no confirmed activity in the city, some rumblings about ICE SUVs in Burlington have some activists concerned that Boston is in for a crackdown, stoking anxiety among immigrant communities. 

⚾ Mentally, we’re eating a Fenway Frank. Tickets for the Red Sox’s home games through May drop TODAY, which means we officially have a date for Opening Day! The team will start the season on the road in Cincinnati on March 26 before their first home game April 3 against the Padres. Tickets drop at 10 a.m., so grab yours here. Note: Apparently, there have been changes to MLB.com since last season, so for the speediest purchase, officials recommend logging in beforehand. 

🫰 BTS ARMY, ready the troops! The iconic K-pop group is making their local debut next summer with a pair of shows at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 5 and 6. The shows will be a stop on BTS’s massive world tour (their first since taking a hiatus in 2022) and will be the Boston area’s first-ever K-pop concerts. Who knew! Tickets will be available to the public at 3 p.m. on Jan. 24, but BTS ARMY members can nab them as soon as next week. Here are the deets.

If you thought the Karen Read hype train was over … we regret to inform you that you’re very, very wrong. Read is back in the news thanks to her trial’s first movie adaptation (“Accused: The Karen Read Story”) and her first major interview post-acquittal. And true to form, both are WILD.

ICYMI (which if you’ve been reading this newsletter, you def haven’t): Read was infamously the subject of a messy local murder trial-turned-media sensation. That said, she’s been pretty MIA since her acquittal in June.

Read’s podcast spot was a 2.5-hour chat on the “Rotten Mango” show, where she covered everything from her life post-trial (spoiler: it’s been rough) to a rumored swingers scene in Canton(!). You can listen to the interview here.

As for the movie, it somehow manages to be both shockingly accurate and totally bonkers all in under 90 minutes …  which feels about right for a Lifetime flick. Here’s the trailer.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🔍 Thanks for reading! Sooooo … four-hour Karen Read marathon tonight, anyone?

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, for supporting local journalism and bringing culturally rich experiences to our city.

💉 The results are in: OK, B-Siders! A whopping 80% of you say you’ve already gotten the flu shot, which, BTW, is over twice the statewide rate. One reader said: “It isn't spooky season without vaccine-side-effect fever dreams!” 

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