Events

10 things to do in Boston this holiday weekend

BosTen is your weekly guide to the best events and coolest happenings in and around Boston.

The entrance to the "Magic of Lights" display at Gillette Stadium. Jim Davis/Globe Staff

5 minutes to read

With more and more Massachusetts businesses and cultural institutions reinstating COVID-19 restrictions in the face of a resurgent coronavirus pandemic, residents may be torn on whether to venture out of their homes this weekend. With that in mind, this week’s BosTen offers a mix of in-person and virtual things to do in Boston this weekend. Have an idea about what we should cover? Leave us a comment on this article or in the BosTen Facebook group, or email us at [email protected].

Take a stroll (or drive) through the Somerville Illuminations Tour

While there are plenty of great holiday lights displays in the Boston area, many of the ticketed attractions are already sold out for the holiday season. The Illuminations Tour doesn’t have that problem, as the tour is free and self-guided this year. Due to the pandemic, The Somerville Arts Council trolleys won’t be running, but the city will share an interactive map of all the Somerville houses that have gone all out with their decorations.

Prepare to be dazzled at “Imagine Van Gogh “

Christmas lights aren’t the only dazzling visual displays to check out in Boston this holiday season. Starting this week, the traveling “Imagine Van Gogh: The Immersive Exhibition” begins a three-month run at the SoWa Power Station, providing visitors a chance to experience the late Dutch painter’s works on gigantic screens. If you’re struggling to decide between the SoWa experience and the similar “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” at the Strand Theatre in Dorchester, check out our comparison review.

Chow down for Feast of the Seven Fishes

Taking place on Christmas Eve, the Italian-American celebration Feast of the Seven Fishes is exactly what it sounds like — a smorgasbord of seafood meant to share with friends and family. If you’re not exactly up for cooking the feast yourself, you can leave that task to a handful of restaurants around Boston. At Ristorante Lucia in the North End, the à la carte menu is available for dine-in, and includes dishes like baked stuffed clams with pancetta, paccheri served with lobster tail and shrimp, and slow-cooked cod with potatoes. Tuscan Kitchen in the Seaport will offer a Feast of the Seven Fishes prix-fixe menu ($75), while the South End’s MIDA is putting its own spin on things, offering a Feast of the Seven Pastas on Christmas Eve ($110 for two to four people); get your fix of gnocchi cacio e pepe, bucatini all’amatriciana, and chicken alfredo. Have plans on Christmas Eve but still want to partake in the fish fest? Juliet in Somerville will host its own Feast of the Seven Fishes on Dec. 27, offering socca with tuna conserva, saffron butter soup with lobster roe, and halibut with black trumpet mushrooms. Make your reservation here.

Catch the Magic of Lights before it disappears for the season

With the end of the holiday season fast approaching, now is your final chance to head to Gillette Stadium for the Magic of Lights display. The drive-through attraction features one million lights, as well as glowing displays that utilize LED technology and digital animations to depict the “Twelve Days of Christmas” and dozens of other festive scenes, all accompanied by a holiday soundtrack. Tickets to the attraction, which runs daily through January 1, are only available online and will not be sold at the venue.

Sip on hot chocolate and apple cider at Time Out Market’s Après Skate Bar

Looking for something to do with your out-of-town guests? Time Out Market recently launched an Après Skate Bar at The Rink at 401 Park, and while it may not replicate an aprés ski experience in, say, Switzerland, it’ll certainly work for the Fenway. After practicing your double axels at the rink, head over to the bar for hot cocktails like whiskey-spiked coffee, hot chocolate with tequila, and hot buttered rum, plus Taza hot chocolate and hot apple cider. Craft beer will also be available, along with pretzel bites and liège Belgian waffles from Eastern Standard Provisions. Stop by on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

Check out Boston on the big screen in “The Tender Bar”

If you’re looking for a conventional but perfectly pleasant family drama to watch this holiday season, “The Tender Bar” delivers the goods, especially when Ben Affleck is on screen. Filmed in the Boston area earlier this year (mostly on the North Shore), the George Clooney-directed film is a coming-of-age story about J.R., an aspiring writer whose lack of a father figure is filled by the rest of his extended family, who all live together under one roof. Most central to J.R.’s upbringing is Uncle Charlie (Affleck), who dispenses endless wisdom from behind the bar at The Dickens, a Long Island watering hole (played on-screen by Jacob’s Corner in Beverly). If you don’t want to see it in theaters (as of now, it’s showing in Cambridge, Dedham, and Beverly) you can also wait until January 7 when “The Tender Bar” is released on Amazon Prime Video.

Celebrate Jewish Christmas with Mamaleh’s

The American Jewish tradition of ordering Chinese food on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day is alive and well at Mamaleh’s, where you can order from a special Jewish Christmas menu on both days (pre-orders are being accepted now, so act fast — dishes will run out!). Choose from pierogi-style dumplings filled with potatoes and cheddar cheese from Mei Mei, vegetarian dan dan noodles made by Sumiao Hunan Kitchen, and Mamaleh’s General Tso’s chicken. There’s also egg nog from sister restaurant Vincent’s, made with Four Roses bourbon, single barrel Privateer Rum, and Pineau des Charantes.

Get down and dance at MatzoBall 2021

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and on Tremont Street / All the young Jewish singles were moving their feet. Since its founding, more than 50,000 people have attended the MatzoBall, an annual singles mixer that has resulted in countless relationships, marriages, and plenty of guilt-free fun. Tickets are still available at the GA ($40) and VIP ($750) level for the event, which kicks off at 9 p.m. on Friday at Royale.

Enjoy Christmas brunch with a live jazz quartet

Inside the Atlantic Room at the Boston Harbor Hotel, a holiday-themed brunch will be available from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, celebrating the holiday with a live jazz quartet, Santa Claus, and festive decor. The “grand brunch” is, in fact, incredibly grand, offering dishes like Wagyu prime rib, lobster risotto, Peking-style duck, and omelets to order. A seafood bar will serve ahi tuna poke, uni toast, and seafood charcuterie, while seasonal signatures feature baked stuffed lobster tail, magical mushroom lasagna, and Faroe Islands salmon. And for dessert? There’s plenty to choose from, including candy cane macarons, milk chocolate layer cake, and “hot cocoa” pot de crème. Make your reservation here.

Start a new holiday viewing tradition with ‘8-Bit Christmas’

As the results of a recent Boston.com poll showed, readers are happy to make room in their Christmas viewing schedule for more modern holiday movies alongside classics like “Miracle on 34th Street” and “It’s A Wonderful Life.” If you’re looking for a new one to try, we would recommend “8-Bit Christmas,” a riff on “A Christmas Story” that takes place in the 1980s. The story, as told in present-day by a father named Jake (Neil Patrick Harris), concerns his younger self (Winslow Fegley), who dreams up elaborate ways to secure the 1980s version of the Red Ryder BB gun: A Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). There’s plenty of nostalgia to be found, and a great performance from Steve Zahn (“Sahara”) as Jake’s exasperated but loving dad. “8 Bit Christmas” is currently streaming on HBO Max.

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