🍺 Grab your lederhosen!

Happy Friday, Boston!

🎬 Calling all students: The MFA has a sweet back-to-school deal for you: $5 movie screenings for students at schools participating in the university membership program. First up? A Sept. 19 screening of “Donnie Darko.”

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Local census findings

• The Big E is BACK

• Dancing with the (TikTok) Stars

Up first…

OKTOBERFEST

Something to prost for

The latest sign of fall is finally near: Oktoberfest. While originating in Munich, this German beer festival is happily celebrated around the world. It’s the perfect excuse to throw a party, have a pint, and wear lederhosen. 

Celebrations are kicking off around Boston this weekend, so here’s where to toast and prost: 

🍻 If you’re looking for a big party … Head to a big brewery! These spots are all throwing down for Oktoberfest with day(s)-long parties packed with stein-holding competitions, themed brews, bites, and live music:

• Remnant Brewing, Sept. 14, 15. Expect a special fest brew, giant pretzels, and a “German sparkle” afterparty.

• Trillium, Sept. 21, 22. All four locations will have parties with merch and German food. There’s a late-night afterparty at Headroom Hi-Fi Lounge in the Seaport, too.

• Sam Adams Taproom, Sept. 20, 21, 22. It’ll be a classic downtown throwdown with nonstop live music. Grab early tickets for free Oktoberfest swag!

• Mighty Squirrel, Sept. 20, 21, 22. This bash includes an Oktoberfest 5k with TWO complimentary beers for entrants, plus a special prize.

• Night Shift, Sept. 28, 29. This beer-stravaganza takes place in Everett and Boston. Head to Everett for the chance to win $50 in the stein-holding contest.

• Harpoon Brewery, Oct. 4, 5. Arguably one of the biggest brewery Oktoberfest celebrations around Boston, Harpoon is coming to play with live oompah music, stein hoisting, food trucks, and … chicken dancing?

• Harvard Square and HONK! Parade, Oct 6. OK, this one isn’t a brewery. But it’s perhaps the most iconic celebration, with a huge parade, art, HONK! music, food, and beer.

🇩🇪 If you want low-key lederhosen vibes … Boston’s smaller breweries and spaces are where it’s at:

• Notch Brewing, Sept. 14. Show up in your German best for a dirndl and lederhosen contest. 

• Dorchester Brewing, Sept. 14, 21. Come for the beer and music, stay for the brat-eating contest.

• Long Live Roxbury, Sept 21. This bash includes a local craft vendor market and all-day live entertainment.

• Aeronaut, Sept. 28. Multiple German beers and an Oktoberfest brew? Say no more. Grab tickets now for early-bird prices.

• Lamplighter, Oct. 4, 5. Sit in the massive beer garden and show up dressed on-theme for a chance to win free beer.

• Craft Food Hall, Oct. 11. Craft Food Hall is hosting four distinguished breweries — including the oldest German brewery in the world — for its celebration.

• The LOT, Oct. 12. Yes, there’s going to be beer, games, and food. But what sold us on this party? The axe-throwing.

🐶 If you want to bring your pooch … Boston also has not one, but two DOGtoberfests:

• Dorchester Brewing, Sept. 15. Hit up the stein-holding contest (for humans) and dress up your pup for custom pet portraits.

• Harpoon Brewery, Oct. 6. This Dogtoberfest includes a fun run/walk event with your pooch to support the MSPCA. And yes, there will be beer after. 

TOGETHER WITH THE AMERICAN REPERTORY THEATER

“O Romeo, Romeo! Wherefore art thou Romeo?”

🎭 🌹Spoiler alert: He’s not chasing treasure in OBX anymore. That’s right, Rudy Pankow (a.k.a. JJ from Netflix’s “Outer Banks”) is taking to the stage as Romeo alongside Emilia Suárez (from Hulu’s “Up Here”) as Juliet in the American Repertory Theater’s production of “Romeo and Juliet.” Experience the iconic love story at the Loeb Drama Center in Cambridge now through Oct. 6. Tickets are always $30 for students and anyone under 25. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

📊 This year’s local census data was juicy. New data from the U.S. Census Bureau dropped on Thursday, and two local nuggets stood out: At $99,858, Mass.’ median household income was the highest of any state (minus D.C.), buuut that might say more about a growing top 1% and a higher concentration of high-paying industries here than anything else. Plus, data showed that metro Boston has become less white and more diverse since 2013. The white population dropped from 73% to 65%, while Latino and Asian populations increased.

💊 There are 400 new spots to get birth control prescribed in Mass. A.k.a. any CVS Pharmacy. On Thursday, CVS announced that its Mass. pharmacies are now offering on-site hormonal birth control consultations for patients over 18 years old. This means patients can walk in, chat with a pharmacist (for $39), and, barring any health screening issues, walk out with a prescription on the same day. This includes patients from out-of-state. Mass. is now the 11th state where CVS offers this service.

😬 Things aren’t looking too hot at BU this week. First, the university joined the growing group of Mass. colleges that saw shrinking numbers of incoming Black freshmen in their first class post-affirmative action. But BU’s drop was particularly stark: Just 3% of the incoming class identifies as Black, down from 9% last year. Meanwhile, an RA strike at the school, which started Aug. 31, reportedly came to an end on Friday, days after the school revoked striking RAs’ free room and board. Yikes!

🎪 The Big E is SO back. New England’s favorite fair, The Big E, is back for its 2024 season today through Sept. 29. If you’ve never been, imagine if an amusement park, a music festival, and a county fair had a baby, with rides, greasy food, agricultural shows, and concerts. As Emily said it last year, The Big E is the id of New England. Boston.com put together a handy guide to this year’s festivities with everything you need to know, but highlights include food offerings like three buck bites day on Monday and performers from Big Time Rush (iykyk) to Ludacris (omg). 

GIVEAWAY

Together with Olfactory NYC

Enter to win two Custom Scent Experiences at Olfactory NYC on Newbury! To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on Sept. 13, 2024. If you have already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Limit one entry per person. See Official Rules & an additional entry option here.

MEDIA SPONSORSHIP

Your dream vintage thrift market? It’s popping up in Roxbury.

B-Side is a proud sponsor of Select Markets, the local vintage clothing pop-up team who’s bringing us their biggest event yet, MASSive Thrift Market, on Saturday, Sept. 14 from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. at 1350 Tremont Street in Roxbury Crossing with @thrift2death. Expect a MASSive amount of fun: $10 piles, food trucks, temporary tattoos, tooth gems, free drinks, and live DJs. Grab your tickets fast!

THINGS TO DO

Weekend plans

💀 Spook yourself in the North End. Did you know about the crypts below the Old North Church? Well, you can explore all the Bay State skeletons in the church’s after-hours crypt tours starting today. 

🪢 Watch the ultimate “Tug of Oar” over the Charles. No, not war. In this Red Bull event on Saturday, two teams in boats connected by ropes have 15 minutes to pull each other across the center line. Spectating is free!

🛶 Yak it out with the B-Side squad. Dropping in again to remind you we’re teaming up with Keolis massAdventures on Sunday for a guided kayaking trip hosted by Boston influencer @instaiona.

🚶‍♀️ Hit the Eastie streets (sans car). East Boston is up next for the city of Boston’s Open Streets program, where chunks of Meridian and Bennington Street will only be open for pedestrians, cyclists, and pups on Sunday. 

💃 Fiesta all month long at City Hall Plaza. This Sunday kicks off a month-long Fiesta en la Plaza celebration for Latinx Heritage month. The Fiesta welcome is Sunday, with music and dance performances.

👗 Sip while you thrift. The Attic is hosting a thrift and sip in Southie on Saturday, where you can shop over 20 vintage vendors while sipping on cocktails provided by Poppi. 

☀️ Soak up the sun at a Somerville block party. Saturday is Assembly Row’s annual riverfest, an all-day block party with free club volo games, face painting, food, live music, and to cap it all off, fireworks over the river.

⭐ Transition from “Cruel Summer” to “Folklore” fall. The LOT is hosting a Taylor Swift night tonight (if you didn’t remember, it’s the 13th!). Stay for with a live performance of Swift’s greatest hits, an “Eras Tour” movie screening, and friendship-bracelet making.

🔧 Finally fix your broken … whatever! At the Dorchester BPL’s “fix it clinic” on Saturday, you can bring your broken stuff — electronics, bikes, appliances, and more — to be fixed and troubleshooted by fix-it pros. And you might learn a thing or two yourself.

QUICK QUESTION

🤸 Is it just us, or is the “pommel horse guy” your Roman empire, too?

ONE LAST THING

(TikTok) Dancing with the Stars

We’ll stop talking about the “pommel horse guy” when we stop finding things to talk about. And thankfully, that day is not today. 

By now you may know that Stephen Nedoroscik is currently on a short break from the big screen in between his breakout Olympic games and “Dancing with the Stars.” But if your FYP is anything like ours, you’ve been seeing a lot of him on TikTok anyway, particularly content with his DTWS partner Rylee Arnold.

Highlights include: Nedoroscik teaching Arnold how to pommel horse (WAY harder than it looks, apparently), and a video that we can honestly only describe as a pommel horse thirst trap (sorry!).

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🤸 Thanks for reading! He seems great, but no one should have to think about pommel horse guy as much as we do. 

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the American Repertory Theater, for supporting local journalism and bringing unforgettable performances to our city.

🚲 The results are in: 42% of polled B-Siders say that they wouldn’t ditch their cars for a cargo bike, but the thought behind it is nice. One reader said: “It’s my granny cart and I against the city!”

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