🐀🤪 Rat City’s going full Coachella

🗳️ PSA: The voter registration deadline is tomorrow!!! Register here if you haven’t yet. Already set? Cast your ballot for early voting between Aug. 22-28 at locations around the city. 

🥳 And a big ol’ happy early b-day to B-Side Member Kate Z.! We already know you’re a 10 since you vote in the primary. <3

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

The answer to all our problems is probably not another overbooked weekend … But we’ll check just to be sure.

Here’s what’s going down:

🚣 Paddle on the water fo’ free. This is the LAST weekend you can go kayaking at Constitution Beach without spending a dime. No reservation needed!

🛍️ Heal your trauma … with ~retail therapy~. First up: Stop by 50+ local artists and vendors at Boston Open Market on Aug. 22. Then pop over to Seaport on Sunday to bop around the Black Owned Bos. Market, where the theme is art and soul.

🧘 Break a sweat all weekend long. Round 1: Join Boston Body Pilates at Tall Ship on Aug. 22 for a sesh with harbor views and goodies from Ceremonia Café, Beyond Yoga, and more. Round 2: Head to this yoga sculpt at Cisco in Fenway, where your ticket comes with a goodie bag and a bev (bring your bestie for a discount!). Note: Both classes are BYO mat.

🐶 Soak up allllll the puppy love. Everyone is bringing their pupperoos to Bow Market’s Dog Days of Summer on Aug. 22. Expect hot dog specials, em-paw-nadas from Buenas, pet portraits, and even a dog show! 

🍋‍🟩 Crown the best margarita in town. Wanna sample 10 (!) margs from the city’s top bars and restaurants? Just head to the Boston Margarita Festival at the Great American Beer Hall on Aug. 22. Snag tix here!

🤠 Dig through the racks … then do the grapevine. Junkyard is hosting a market at New Edgerly Plaza on Aug. 22, ft. *tons* of thrifts, line dancing, live tunes, and a grand-prize giveaway of a gigantic cowboy hat. 

🎶 Partaaayyy the day away at JP Porchfest. Join Sam Adams Brewery for a kickoff party on Aug. 21 with an official Porchfest beer, and then catch local bands and other shenanigans all over the neighborhood on Aug. 22.

🍹 Sip on a Sarti spritz. If you think an Aperol spritz is too bitter and a Hugo is too sweet, you might dig the Sarti spritz. She’s THE it-girl drink of the summer: fruity and refreshing, with notes of blood orange, mango, and passionfruit, and you can find her at select Boston restaurants like Roza Lyons and Prezza.

👝 Hang outside a humongous fanny pack. Yup, an artist is literally debuting a 58-foot fanny pack at the Rat****** Music Fest in Union Square from Aug. 22-23 — formerly Ratchella, pre-cease and desist from Coachella (lol). 

🎶 Have a Very Laufey Day. The “Lover Girl” artist has curated a whoooole list of things to do on Aug. 23, like getting a special BPL library card and an iced matcha latte at Mizu Matcha. Plus, see the pop-up at Beacon Hill Booksellers and a candlelight concert.

🎄 We know it’s early, but … mark your cals for Snowport! The folks behind Boston’s iconic outdoor winter market fully skipped pumpkin spice season to tell us that the Snowport is coming back to the Seaport on Nov. 6! In case you’re new here, Snowport is basically Boston’s version of a winter wonderland: think a holiday market, ft. 130 bizzes, cozy food and bevs — remember this outrageous hot cocoa? — and just good old-fashioned holly-jolly vibes. Bonus: The market will extend its weekend hours this year for all our shopping needs. Woo!

⚽ Case closed: Boston can keep building White Stadium. The state’s highest court ruled that the new White Stadium project does NOT violate state protections law for public parks — a FAT win for Mayor Michelle Wu. Now, the $325 million (!) rebuild is set to continue construction for the new home of the Boston Legacy FC and BPS athletics. It was *technically* projected to be completed by summer 2027 … we’ll see if that holds true. Otherwise, the Legacy will just keep playing in Pawtucket and Foxborough.

🚆 Now arriving: Amtrak’s Falling Fares sale! We *need* the best foliage seat in the house, so here’s the deal: You can get nearly all trains nationwide up to 25% off for trips between Sept. 9 and Nov. 13. And we’re seeing some sweeeeet steals, like one-way rides from Boston to NYC for ~$25. The cherry on top? There’s only one blackout date: Oct. 12. All you have to do is book by Aug. 26. Go, go, GO!

Call your coven together for “It’s Midnight Somewhere,” the free margarita event celebrating Practical Magic 2 (in theaters Sept. 10!) at Tall Ship Boston TONIGHT at 7:30 p.m. Stay for the shenanigans and spellbinding fun, including Midnight Margaritas by Astral Tequila, witchy activities, photo ops, and ~mesmerizing~ merch.

Can’t make it tonight? Head to Rockafellas Salem on Saturday at 6:30 p.m. for more margs and an early start to spooky season.

We’re pouring one out tonight for a break-up … Jill Roberts and Tommy Morrison — a.k.a. the Marlborough woman and Scottish man who met at Fenway Park and went viral for their relationship — just called it quits. 

The backstory: Jill met Tommy at a Red Sox game during the World Cup, posted a short TikTok video of them, got his number through his ex who commented (wild), and the rest is was history.

To make things more complicated, Jill was supposed to head to Scotland real soon … A week ago, she asked followers whether she should still go, and most of the commenters seemed to be Team Go Anyway (‘cause Scotland is still gorg). And by the looks of the three raincoats she just posted, she agrees.

— Written by Kelly Chan and Emily Schario

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Thanks for reading! If he wanted to walk 500 miles and 500 more just to fall down at your door … HE WOULD!

🍦 The results are in: 39% of B-Siders are loading up the cookies, Oreos, and brownie bits on top of their froyo. One of you even wrote: “Sprinkle that cheesecake bit on my froyo like the salt meme.” Cheesecake Bae > Salt Bae.

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