🏖️🙌 Your weekend plans have arrived

Happy Friday, Boston!

🍀 Think you’re a big Celtics fan? Well, if you haven’t been bringing THIS energy to every Finals game, we’re sorry, you could be going harder. We expect everyone to be in full decorum for Game 4 tonight.

👀 What’s on tap today:

• Another weekend, another shutdown

• Revenge porn is on its way O-U-T

• Is it time for a change?

Up first…

SUMMER FRIDAYS

Father’s Day, fitness, and flea markets

It’s summer, it’s Friday, you know the drill. 

Here’s a sampling of what’s going down this weekend, from Father’s Day celebrations, to free live music, and more:

🧑‍🦱 Say “thanks” to Dad. And what better way to do it than with Castle Island Brewing’s Father’s Day metal yoga class? Or the Father’s Day block party and 50% off court booking deal at Harpoon’s Pickleball Social Club? Or taking him to the Franklin Park Zoo for free? Actually, you might want to say “you’re welcome.”

🏳️‍🌈 Keep the Pride party going. Last weekend might’ve been the main event, but you can keep that energy going at Night Shift’s Pride party with the Boston Women’s Market on Saturday. There will be plenty of brews and an LGBTQ+ vendor market.

✊🏾 Kick off your Juneteenth celebrations early. It might not be until Wednesday, but the NAACP Boston Branch is kicking off celebrations on Saturday, with a barbeque, picnic, music, and dancing at Franklin Park. 

🧘 Do a downward dog on a rooftop. The Rooftop at Revere and Equinox are partnering for a FREE summer fitness series (just make a reservation!) on, you guessed it, the rooftop of the Revere Hotel. Kicking off this weekend, you can stop in at 10 a.m. every Saturday for a yoga class.

🎸 Take a musical stroll through Fenway. Fenway Porchfest is this Saturday, where anyone strolling through the neighborhood will be able to catch a handful of local performers. Hot tip: Head to the Greenway for the best vibes.

🚌 Day-trip to Newport on the cheap. Thanks to a new direct bus service between Boston and Newport on the weekends this summer, it’s never been easier to take a cliff walk or go mansion-peeping. Tickets are $30 each way.

💃 Salsa the night away. WBUR is putting on an event tonight with Salsa y Control’s Johnny Giraldo that’ll teach you how to salsa, then set you free on the dance floor to practice with live music. 

🎶 Set your inner art-lover free. The best of the city’s theater, dance, poetry, food, and craft scenes will be on display at the Cambridge Arts River Fest on Saturday. Watch the parade, try some food, or hit up one of the six performance stages.

🛍️ Shop (vintage!) till you drop. The Gilman Park Marketplace in Somerville and The Fenway Flea are in town every weekend this summer (Saturday and Sunday, respectively) with vintage clothes, local vendors, and in Gilman’s case, brews. 

🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Make some new friends (as an adult). The Make Friends After College social group is putting on not one, but two, events this weekend: a social at Downeast on Friday evening and a Charles River social walk on Saturday. 

TOGETHER WITH THE MASSACHUSETTS STATE TREASURY

The summer I turned pretty (rich)

💸 ☀️Your summer could get a serious upgrade with forgotten funds waiting to be rediscovered.  Dive into the Massachusetts State Treasury and unlock extra cash for Cape weekends, music festival tickets, and nights cheering on the Sox at Fenway. Don’t let high prices stop you from living your best life this summer — search your records online today (it’s free and takes less than 30 seconds) to find out if you have unclaimed property with your name on it. 

CITY

Quick & dirty headlines

🚇 Another weekend, another shutdown (or two). If you haven’t already noticed the past few weekends, look alive for another Sumner Tunnel shutdown from 11 p.m. on Friday through 5 a.m. Monday. It’s yet another amuse-bouche for July’s full shutdown du mois. MassDOT predicts increased traffic, so if possible, just stick to public transit (here are some good options!) Plus, Red Liners: This weekend, service is going to be suspended between Broadway and Braintree stations and will be replaced by the shuttles (on the plus side, that includes express shuttles between Braintree and South Station).

🙅 Revenge porn is finally on its way O-U-T. Mass. is soon to become the 49th state to outlaw “revenge porn” (a.k.a. when an ex-partner nonconsensually posts — or threatens to post — sexual content of their ex on the internet). If you can believe it, the practice has carried no specific legal penalty in Mass. until this point, but after years of advocacy (and a few bureaucratic setbacks), the State House and Senate have finally hammered out an agreeable piece of legislation. We can expect that it’ll reach Gov. Healey’s desk and be signed into law very soon. 

😁 Apparently, Bostonians are … happy? At least, that’s according to a new ranking by the Institute for Quality of Life. The institute creates an annual “Happy City Index,” and this year, Boston came out with high marks, ranked as the second happiest U.S. city (coming up behind only Minneapolis), and no. 38 on the list overall. Unsurprisingly, that ranking wasn’t earned for our cheery demeanor, but for our scores in factors like citizens, governance, environment, economy, and mobility, which the institute say contribute to a happy, healthy city. Go us!

B-SIDE FOODIE’S CHOICE AWARDS SPONSORED BY TOAST

🍹 Shaken or stirred — we want to know where you go for mixology magic. What’s your favorite local craft cocktail bar?

Poll nominees have been selected by Toast and B-Side’s branded content team

SUMMER LOVIN’

Ever been roomies with a couple?

Heard their annoying fights? Seen too much of their blissful reconciliations? Or perhaps you’ve been IN a couple while living with a roommate. It can be stressful! In the Love Letters advice column, Meredith heard from a letter writer who moved in with a couple – and it didn’t go well! "If we’re to continue being friends ... I need to finally be heard." Read the letter and see how bad it was — and what Meredith advised. If you have your own relationship question about roomies/crushes/breakups/etc., write to Love Letters at [email protected] or through this anonymous form.

GIVEAWAY

Together with Levitate

Enter to win a Levitate Your Summer Prize Pack worth $2,500+. We’ve partnered with our friends at Levitate to give you a chance to win a pair of 3-day VIP Tickets to Levitate Music Festival (7/5-7/7) featuring Sublime, Lake Street Dive, Mt. Joy and more. Additionally, the prize package includes a $800 shopping spree for two across Levitate Brand apparel, and tickets to sold-out Levitate Backyard shows this summer! To enter, just refer a friend and have them accept your invite by the end of the day on June 14, 2024. If you’ve already referred a friend to B-Side (and they’ve accepted), you're eligible! Full details below*

18+. NO PURCHASE NECESSARY.

ONE LAST THING

Time for a change?

Sometimes, it’s easy to imagine leaving the city. 

When your fourth floor apartment’s AC unit breaks on a 95-degree day, or when you miss the bus and the next one is 27 minutes away (definitely not speaking from personal experience here), dreaming about relocating to a remote island can sound amazing.

And lucky for us dreamers, Isle au Haut, a teeny island off the coast of Maine, is officially looking for residents to join its 54-person, year-round population. 

The pros include a tight-knit community, plenty of nature to explore, and a slower (not to mention MBTA-free) way of life. The cons? There’s not a ton going on. Like, if you want to go out to eat, to the doctor, or pretty much anywhere else, you’ll have to take a boat. 

But still, on the right day, with the wrong AC … we could be convinced. 

— Written by Gia Orsino and Emily Schario

🏙️ Thanks for reading! JK, we love you, Boston! Although a vacation does sound nice.

💜 Special shoutout to today’s sponsor, the Massachusetts State Treasury, for supporting local journalism and helping residents reclaim what’s rightfully theirs.

🚰 The results are in: 54% of B-Siders prefer to head out to driving-distance beaches to cool down in the summertime. One (very lucky) reader said, “It helps to have friends in Hull (humblebrag).”

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