🔥🌴 Boston ... the tribe has spoken.

Happy Friday, Boston!

🏖️ Heading to the beach this weekend? Hot tip: L.L. Bean just dropped a “beach box” at Revere Beach filled with FREE chairs, umbrellas, toys, and even books! Just make sure to return them when you’re done. 

💜 Also: If you have a minute, take this super-quick survey about B-Side that’ll help us make our newsletter and membership better for YOU. <3

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Stay off the Mass Pike!

• Logan’s baggage claim concerts

• Karen Read’s *fan* club

Up first…

SUMMER FRIDAYS

The summer solstice, “Survivor,” and Sweatapalooza

Sun? In Boston? On a summer weekend? No, you’re not dreaming! For once, this weekend’s forecast is looking GORG. 

Here’s how to get out there and enjoy it:

☀️ Celebrate the summer solstice. The Harvard Museums of Science & Culture will be partying tonight with free entry, lawn games, ice cream, and food trucks. Meanwhile, Mount Auburn Cemetery is going all out on June 21 with a day of flower crown making, poetry readings, awe walks, and more. 

🌴 Outwit. Outplay. Outlast at Aeronaut. The brewery’s iconic "Survivor" event is back at its Allston Beer Garden on June 21. Join your tribe and solve puzzles, play games, find hidden immunity idols, and mingle with a real Survivor. 

📚 Build (and bling!) your summer reading list. Five Harvard Square bookstores will be dolling out free treats and promotions on June 21 for the Bookish Ball. Then bring your new reads to Trident for a book BEDAZZLING event that evening. $30 gets you crafting supplies and a $15 voucher for books … or cocktails.

🏃 Sweat it out at a free workout class. On June 21, head to Seaport Common for Sweatapalooza: Three free fitness classes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. (think: Vinyasa yoga, kickboxing, and HIIT). Or, go to Post Office Square for a morning of free yoga.

👠 Cheer the house down BOOTS. Iconic local drag queen Kori King is hosting a drag showdown where eight performers will face off in a head-to-head lip sync battle June 21. Use code PRIDE for up to 25% off!

🏅 Throw it back to middle school field day. But for *adults*. Grab some friends to make a team and compete in classic field day events at the Lawn on D on June 21. Win or lose, there will be alcohol. 

🍕 Have a slice (or five). The Boston Pizza Festival is coming to town June 21 and 22, and $10 gets you entry and two slices. Pro tip: Don’t miss the slices at Florina Pizzeria and Peppino’s. B-Side members get 20% off ;)

🚶 Take a walk! You have two options: On June 21, head to the Boston Nature Center for a queer nature walk. Or, grab your headphones and press play at Side Quest Books and Games’ new weekly audiobook walking club on June 22.

🏳️‍🌈 Dance the night away … but make it gay. Somerville’s big gay dance party is coming to Union Square Plaza on June 21, and the theme is Halloween in June. Other Pride events this weekend: Lamplighter’s Pride patio party June 21, or the Sam Adams Pride Market on June 22.

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚧 A word of advice: Don’t hit the Mass Pike this weekend. Once again, it’ll see huge delays while crews replace the Mass Pike-Route 128 interchange. Here’s the deal: From 9 p.m. tonight to 5 a.m. Monday, it’ll be reduced to a single lane in each direction between exits 123 and 125 in Weston and Newton. So unless you want to sit in three hours of delays (we’re not exaggerating), STAY AWAY. And if the Framingham/Worcester commuter rail is your plan B … brace yourself for shuttle buses. 

🛋️ Tired: Allston Christmas. Wired: Attleboro Christmas? Calling all bargain hunting baddies! Wayfair, the Amazon of home goods, just opened its only New England outlet about 45 minutes south of Boston in Attleboro. The store is massive, and full of open box, overstock, and discounted pieces that are permanently “at least 50% off,” a spokesperson said. The only catch: Everything is final sale. Here’s a peek inside (don’t look now … but we think we can spot a few cutie corduroy couches.) 

✈️ Boston’s newest live music series … is at baggage claim. Seriously. This July and August, professional musicians and college students will perform at Logan's baggage claims in terminals B and C. Why? Waiting at baggage claim is one of the biggest complaints about the airport, so Massport is hoping the performances will “improve customer satisfaction,” a.k.a. distract folks from the wait. This summer will be a test run, so if it works, the tunes may stick around. Most details are still TBD. Keep your eyes peeled. 

QUICK QUESTION!

🥵 It’s getting hot in here … have you installed your AC yet?

ONE LAST THING

Karen Read’s … fan club

Now that the Karen Read trial is in the books, it’s time to declare a breakout star. And we think the winner is pretty clear: The overhead fan in Norfolk Superior Court’s Courtroom 25. IYKYK.

If you have no idea what we’re talking about (probably a good thing), allow us to explain. Trial livestreams aren’t allowed to show the full courtroom all the time (think: recesses or certain private proceedings) so they usually pick a “neutral location” to show instead, like the state seal or a clock.

But in the Karen Read trial’s courtroom, neither exists, so a zoom in on the courtroom’s fan became the default, and dedicated watchers were mesmerized. One called it “David Lynch-coded.” By the end of the trial, the fan had two separate fan accounts (lol), and even dedicated Etsy merch.

— Written by Gia Orsino

🪭 Thanks for reading! Warning: The world of Karen Read merch is absolutely UNHINGED. Explore at your own risk.

⚖️ The results are in: Speaking of Karen Read, 57% of B-Siders think the jury made the right call. One reader said: “Waiting on her next move... I think she should pop out with Pete Davidson.” Honestly? Genius PR move. 

🎉 🫢 Don't forget to grab your tickets to Best Day Ever, our Aug. 2 food, music, and shopping bash at Artists for Humanity!

💃 Keep up with us @BostonBSide on IG, TikTok, and Twitter. Send comments and suggestions to [email protected] or [email protected].