🐀😳 This festival is a little ... ratty

🚇 Quick weekend vibe check: We’re channeling the energy of this diva doing whimsical dance improv on the Orange Line. May you feel as serene as she looks. 

👀 What’s on tap today:

Up first…

Let’s cut to the chase. It’s summer. It’s Friday. The weather looks amazing. You know the drill. 

Here’s what’s going on this weekend:

🐀 Celebrate the best of Rat City. The aptly named Rat City Arts Festival is bringing the best of Allston’s music and arts scene to the Charles River Speedway on Aug. 16. Think: 15 local musicians, dozens of vendors to peruse, and more artsy goodness (including beautified rat traps).

🥳 Take a boat to this block party. The ICA Watershed is SO back with another free block party Aug. 16. Expect music, dancing, açai bowls, art, and games. It’s all just one ICA water shuttle ride away! Grab tickets here.

🌴 Enter the villa like the hot bombshell you are! Time Out is hosting a “Love Island”-themed drag brunch and bingo Aug. 16 with queen Big Atlas at the helm. Win prizes, and enjoy themed cocktails and bites.

🎶 Jam out in JP. On Aug. 16, you can porch-hop for free concerts at JP’s Porchfest (here’s a map), OR tuck in for a night of live music and brews with the first installment of Roundhead Brewing Co.’s summer music series at Jamaica Pond. You pick!

👠 Put a *literary twist* on your GNO. The dress code is girl’s night out and the book is … whatever you’re already reading at Paper Trails & Tales’ Aug. 16 book club meeting! Just show up dressed to impress and ready to spill. DM them to RSVP.

🌍 Travel the globe … in Boston. If you squint and turn your head just right, you’ll feel like you’re in Italy at the Fisherman’s Feast in the North End (pro tip: hit the annual meatball contest). But don’t sleep on the Boston African Festival that’s on the Common Aug. 16 and 17, with food, music, fashion, and shopping.

🍹 Sip on (free!) piña coladas. Tired of $17 cocktails? You can drink for FREE at Time Out’s best rum cocktail contest Aug. 17. It’s the easiest job you’ll ever have: Sample some of Boston’s best rum-based cocktails and vote on your fave.

📚 Find your next *spicy* read. Romance lovers, RISE. Trident is having a romance book fair Aug. 17. Comb through hand-picked romances, sip on (free) hard cider samples, craft a tote bag or friendship bracelet, and chat up your fellow romance girlies!

🛍️ Vintage shop ‘til you drop. Our pals at Select Market are back with another massive summer thrift market on Aug. 17 with over 80 vendors, a DJ, food trucks, tooth gems, and more. Entry is free!

💅 Give yourself a little *love*. Self-care is the name of the game at The Pause Festival on Aug. 17. Think: Movement classes with B/Spoke, complimentary hairstyling by DryBar, and community of rockstar baddies. 10 B-Side Members get to go to the festival for FREE with their membership. That said, ALL B-Siders can get 10% off any ticket with code BSIDE10. Grab tickets here.

👀 Want to score free tickets to the next event? Sign up to become a member here.

🚇 The Orange Line is going TURBO MODE. Thought the weekend service extension announcement was the best MBTA news this week? Psych! On Aug. 24, the Orange Line will see its speed limit increase to 55 mph (!) between Oak Grove and Assembly, which should save commuters five minutes. And the good news train (boat?) keeps on chugging with the unveiling of the MBTA’s biggest ferry yet: Millennium. She’s a big, beautiful boat with a 400-person capacity, not to mention … a snack bar. After inspections, she’ll slot into this season’s rotation.

💉 Gov. Healey wants to split with CDC vaccine recs. Inside Healey’s new $2.45 billion proposed supplemental spending bill is a measure that would “decouple” Mass. from federal vaccine standards. With vaccine skeptic RFK Jr. at the helm of U.S. Health and Human Services, it’s unclear if and when the CDC will recommend certain vaccines (like for COVID), creating confusion and making the vaccines more difficult to get. Healey’s idea? Allow Mass.’ state Department of Public Health to collab with other local states to set their own standard.

🏀 Boston’s WBNA plot has thickened. ICYMI: For a brief, glorious moment, we thought Boston might get a WNBA team when a Celtics minority owner reached a deal to buy and relocate the Connecticut Sun. But the league *quickly* made it clear they weren’t on board (they’d rather wait until 2033). Since then, Hartford and Houston have been floated as options … and apparently, the league wants Houston. That said, Houston’s offer is at least $75 million short of Boston’s, and if we’ve learned anything about the WNBA: They want that $$$. Stay tuned.

Does anything look … out of the ordinary by the Zakim Bridge to you? Anything … inappropriate? Maybe even … phallic?

We didn’t see it at first, either. But this week, someone put up a very legit-looking sign near the that gave us a *new perspective*. It reads: “This bridge looks like a ***** that’s being held up by wire. — Conan O’Brien,” referring to male genitalia. And yes, that’s a real quote. Conan said it on this COVID-era livestream while wearing a shirt with the bridge’s silhouette. 

The best part? The sign actually looks pretty legit — like something MassDOT could’ve made, and it was up for at least a few days. But according to MassDOT, it was definitely NOT posted with approval, and it’s going to come down soon. It was fun while it lasted.

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🌉 Thanks for reading! Take it from your English and philosophy major B-Side writers: We clocked that symbolism a LONG time ago.

🤔 The results are in: No results today, but here’s a hot tip: Trident has an adorable new picnic basket special! We’d recommend taking it to an esplanade dock. Enjoy <3

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