Music -- The ubiquitous cellist Yo-Yo Ma will be lending his talents to the Boston Youth Symphony as they celebrate their 50th anniversary. Symphony Hall, 3:00 pm, $50 to $75. We gasped at the price, too, but 50th anniversaries don't happen every day. -- DeVotchKa and Basia Bulat may not make sense to you as words, but trust us when we say that their equally strange-but-wonderful folk-rock will transport you--maybe even to the point......

Art, Shopping -- The open studios of this year's SoWa Art Walk happily overlap with the open-air crafts, fashion, and produce of the SoWa Open Market on its opening weekend. The market is at 540 Harrison Ave. (10 am-4 pm), and the art is all walkable from there (11 am-6 pm). Beer, Cheese -- A craft beer tasting at Brookline's Wine Gallery will be enhanced by the presence of cheeses from Westfield Farm. Drinkcraftbeer.com has......

Panel Discussion on the Gas Tank Saturday, October 27, 7:00 pm Savin Hill Yacht Club Free Part of the Dorchester Open Studios More info about the studios If you have lived in Boston for a long time, you are aware of the area's most prominent landmark next to the Citgo sign--the gas tank on I-93. If you haven't lived in Boston for long, you're probably wondering what's going on with the gas tank with the......

The South End Open Studios will take place this weekend - Saturday, September 15, and Sunday, September 16, from 11 am to 6 pm. This year's South End Open Studios will be satisfying all your art cravings over the weekend. You can see a full list of participants at the United South End Artists, Inc. website. Some of the more eye-catching projects include Katie DiChiara's "fabulous funky artificial hair sculptures designed to enlighten." Beyond......

Whether you crave oil on canvas or innovative tissue box covers, all seven hills of Somerville are ready to meet your needs this weekend, when more than three hundred artists and craftspeople will throw open their doors to the public for the 9th annual Somerville Open Studios. The venues are as eclectic as the media, techniques, and ideas on display, ranging from humble apartments in tripledeckers to St. Ann's Parish Hall (#6 on the Open......

Many great cities across these lands of ours are excited and happy to boast when they have one arts festival ready to go for its citizens and visitors. But Boston? An arts festival? That's too easy. What we do is plan a whole slew of 'em and work them all into the same weekend. Take THAT, other so-called culture centers! Bostonist will be telling you over the next couple of days about some of the......

This Sunday Project Bread's Walk for Hunger takes over the streets of Boston, Newton, Watertown…oh, you get the picture. The walk starts in the morning and thousands of people will be walking to raise money to support food banks, soup kitchens, and other initiatives across the Commonwealth. There are lots of good shows going on this week – and it's capped off with a weekend extravaganza that includes both Arts First and Harvard Square's......

This summer it all started with the mystery bench that showed up at Jamaica Pond. The mystery was revealed by artist Matthew Hincman who had installed the bench. It was removed, reinstalled, and removed again following the JP Open Studios. It made mention again earlier this month when the Phoenix named it to their year in art list. Mentioned in the tenth "last but not least" catch-all category as the Best Unofficial Art Pretending To......

Utterances about the weather aside, it hasn't been very eventful in the eavesdropping department. Unless you're part of the NSA – they've got a whole lot of eavesdropping action and numbers to process. We again open the call, especially on these wonderful spring like days when you're not huddled in your cube but outside rubbing elbows with real live people. Listen up and listen in, you're bound to hear something great. For the fashion......

In anticipation of Somerville Open Studios and Harvard Square Mayfair, Bostonist had asked, "Who will win in a battle that pits aesthetes against…more aesthetes?" We observed both over the weekend, braving the narrow, creaking staircases of Somerville and the crowds and MassPIRGers of Cambridge, and we have tallied the results, based upon the most frilovous criteria we could muster. Cambridge: Mayfair Trompe l'oeil chalk drawing of the Incredible Hulk bursting through Church Street pavement: +1......

Harvard Square is hosting the Arts First/Mayfair Festival, while Somerville steps up with a massive collection of Open Studios. Who will win in a battle that pits aesthetes against…more aesthetes? Of course Bostonist will be in both places to observe the battle for best arts fair. Here’s a preview. On Sunday, May 7 Harvard Square’s Mayfair boasts 4 music stages: the Main Stage by Out of Town News, the Holyoke Center features jazz & world......

The Brickbottom artists' district in Somerville has become one of Bostonist’s favorite places to go for Open Studios. We don’t feel as pressured to be snooty as we do when checking out art at the SoWa guild. And a plate of cheap Brazilian fare is just around the corner so we won’t be spending the big bucks eating at the likes of the Butcher Shop. Mayor Joe Curtatone announced in November that the city would......

The weekend forecast is a bit troubling with the constant fear of rain being touted by every forecaster in Boston. Unfortunately, there are a lot of outdoor events going on this weekend. Bostonist has rounded up a list of them (with the big disclaimer: weather permitting) Head over to the Hatch Shell tomorrow where WBOS 92.9 is holding their annual Earthfest from noon until 6 p.m. For the price of free, you can see acts......