Things to do

BosTen is your weekly guide to the best events and coolest things to do in Boston.

Welcome to BosTen, your weekly guide to the coolest events and best Things to do in Boston this weekend. Sign up for our Weekly email newsletter here. Do you have any idea what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook Groupor send us an email to (email protected).

Enjoy free admission to the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

As students return to campus for the new semester, the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum will once again welcome visitors with free admission on Thursday afternoons and evenings. Not only can you visit the museum for free after opening hours, but you can also view two exhibitions before closing for good on Sunday: On Christopher Street: Transgender Portraits by Mark Seliger; And Portraits from Boston, with love. (Thursday, September 5, 3-9 p.m.; 25 Evans Way, Boston; free) — Kevin Slane

Bear is “digital witness” of St. Vincent

Before changing her name, singer, composer, guitarist and producer St. Vincent was Annie Clark. She grew up in Dallas, started playing guitar at age 12, became road manager for folk duo Tuck & Patti (Tuck is her uncle), studied for a time at Berklee, joined Polyphonic Spree and was in Sufjan Stevens’ backing band. Along the way, she developed her own style and sound – a mix of rock, pop and jazz – which led to her debut album “Marry Me” in 2007. Several albums, Grammy Awards (Best Alternative Album for “St. Vincent”, Best Rock Song for “Masseducation”) and the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Performing Arts followed. She is currently touring with her 2024 album “All Born Screaming”, which will be seen this Thursday at MGM Music Hall. (Thursday, September 5, 8 p.m.; 2 Lansdowne St., Boston; $50-$80) – Ed Symkus

Enjoy the best ice cream in the Greater Boston area

Summer is almost over, and while there’s no minimum age to enjoy a refreshing cone (or cup) of ice cream, the sweet treat undoubtedly tastes different in the warmer months. If you’re looking to branch out from your favorite shop, ice cream aficionado James Douthit recently spent a year carefully testing 250 different flavors from every ice cream shop in the Greater Boston area that makes its own ice cream, putting each business through a rigorous test. Douthit’s definitive list of the best ice cream shops in the Greater Boston area includes shops from Cambridge (Honeycomb Creamery) to Reading (Cal’s Creamery) to the North Shore (Holy Cow Ice Cream Cafe), and unique flavors like candy corn, cannoli, and banana fudge. Read more about Douthit’s journey if you want to make your own ice cream shop before the leaves start to change. (Various locations) – Kevin Slane

Enjoy cinema in 70 mm at the Coolidge

Current box office trends suggest that fans who are hesitant to return to the cinema are more likely to do so large Must-see movies in theaters. Starting this weekend, the Coolidge Corner Theater will be showing movies in 70mm, a projection format twice the size of 35mm and four times larger than 2k digital projection, in its 440-seat main theater. The fun starts Friday with Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master” and continues all weekend with Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” and the 1970 thriller “Airport,” which kicked off a series of ’70s disaster movies while also serving as the inspiration for the greatest movie parody of all time, 1980’s “Airplane.” (Beginning Friday, September 6, various times; 290 Harvard St., Brookline; $20-23) – Kevin Slane

Remember Everything with Kacey Musgraves

Kacey Musgrove’s early musical days went in all sorts of directions. At age 8, she was playing mandolin. Just a year ago, she wrote her first song. At 12, she learned guitar. Around the same time, she was building a reputation as a gifted yodeler. In between all that, she was a member of the all-female band Texas Two Bits. Today, she’s known as an artist equally comfortable with classic country as she is with mainstream pop. She released a number of independent albums as a teenager, but Musgraves made her name as a staff writer at Warner Chappell Music, producing songs for other artists until it was time to get in the studio herself, for Mercury Records. That was in 2012. In 2019, she won a Grammy for Album of the Year for Golden Hour. Her most recent release, Deeper Well, while still country, has more of a folk twist. Another step in a different direction and another reason why she’s now filling arenas like TD Garden, where she’ll be this Friday and Saturday. (Friday and Saturday, September 6-7, 7:30 p.m.; 100 Legends Way, Boston; $79-$229) – Ed Symkus

Insight into the world of an artist

Explore the four floors of the Artist Studios Building in the South End during open studio hours on Friday from 5-8pm and meet the artists currently working in the Boston Center for the Arts’ Studio Residency. See the space they work in and hear about their artistic practice from the artists themselves. That same evening, you can also stop by the opening celebration of J. Rowen O’Dwyer’s “DEVOTIONS, to a dirty queer home” at Mills Gallery.” and Kate Wildman’s “Prayers from the Earth” from 6 to 9 p.m. (Friday, September 6, 5-8 p.m.; 551 Tremont St., Boston; free) —Cheryl Fenton

Reaching a peak with Arturo Sandoval at Scullers

Like Dizzy Gillespie and Maynard Ferguson before him, trumpeter Arturo Sandoval — who will play four shows at Scullers Jazz Club this weekend — loves the high notes. He’s been playing the horn since he was 12 (he turns 74 in a few months), and initially studied with classical teachers but soon discovered jazz, eventually adding a Latin American flavor to his mix of jazz and classical while growing up in Cuba. Before forming his own band, Sandoval was a founding member of the Afro-Cuban fusion group Irakere. In 2001, HBO presented For Love or Country: The Arturo Sandoval Story, which focused on his music and his personal struggles with the Cuban government and starred Andy Garcia in the title role. Sandoval has worked with Tony Bennet, Josh Groban and his mentor Dizzy Gillespie, among others, and has taken home ten Grammys, the most recent in the category of Best Album by a Large Jazz Ensemble for his 2012 release Dear Diz (Every Day I Think of You). (Friday and Saturday, September 6 and 7, 7 and 9 p.m.; 400 Soldiers Field Rd., Boston; $50-$160) – Ed Symkus

Relax at JP Music Fest

Jamaica Plain has a well-deserved reputation as an artistic and cultural hub in Boston. The neighborhood traditionally hosts hundreds of artists who make their presence known at events like Open Studios and Porchfest. Another JP cultural highlight returns this Saturday: The 12th edition of JP Music Fest brings 20 artists to multiple stages at Pinebank Field, along with food trucks and family-friendly activities. Don’t miss the headlining performance by Mamadou, a band that plays West African-inspired guitar and drum music and is led by Senegalese singer Mamadou Diop. (Saturday, September 7th from 12pm to 7pm; 345 Jamaicaway, Boston; free) — Kevin Slane

Stroll through the Boston Arts Festival

Head to Christopher Columbus Park this Saturday and Sunday for the Boston Arts Festival—affectionately pronounced “uhhh” in honor of the event’s founder, the late Boston Mayor Tom Menino. The free festival celebrates its 21st anniversary from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day with dozens of visual and performing artists from every neighborhood in Boston. (Saturday and Sunday, September 7-8, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; Christopher Columbus Park, Boston; free) – Kevin Slane

Enjoy the music of Harry Potter with the Pops

Boston Pops conductor John Williams is widely considered the greatest film music composer of all time. He has composed so many iconic film scores, from Jaws to Jurassic Park, that he has the second-most Oscar nominations of all time after Walt Disney. This Saturday and Sunday, the Pops will perform pieces from Williams’ music for the Harry Potter film series, accompanied by excerpts from the eight films released between 2001 and 2011. The first half of the show will trace Williams’ entire Hollywood career, while the second half will be devoted exclusively to Harry Potter, with live narration by Broadway actress Scarlett Strallen. (Saturday, September 7, 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 8, 2 p.m.; 301 Massachusetts Ave., Boston; from $68) – Kevin Slane