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20 Boston holiday markets, including one with 175 artists under one roof
Last updated: Saturday, November 7, 2026. We refresh this guide every season, so check back before you head out. Boston’s holiday craft season kicked off Fri, Nov 6, when the Snowport Holiday Market opened at 100 Seaport Blvd, and it doesn’t let up until Christmas Eve. More than 125 makers set up there every day through Sun, Dec 27, with food, cocktail bars and live music, and the general admission line is free. In the South End, the free SoWa Open Market has two Sundays left, Nov 8 and Nov 15, and the SoWa Christmas Market moves indoors on Fri, Nov 20, with more than 100 makers under one roof. Below is every Boston craft fair, makers market and holiday market we could confirm with the organizer, in date order, with the weekend each one falls on. Every listing links straight to the organizer, so you can double-check hours before you go. Open now through Sun, Dec 27 Snowport in the Seaport The Snowport Holiday Market opens Fri, Nov 6 at 100 Seaport Blvd and stays open seven days a week through Sun, Dec 27, with 125+ makers, food, cocktail bars and live music. Getting in is free every day through the general admission line. On Saturdays and Sundays you can also buy a Fast Pass through the Seaport Insider app if you'd rather skip the wait. Through Dec 6, hours are Monday to Thursday 3 to 8 PM, Friday 11 AM to 9 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 8 PM. From Dec 7, weekdays open earlier, at 11 AM. Snowport is closed Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day and closes at 6 PM on Christmas Eve. Sundays through Nov 15 The last SoWa Open Markets of the year The SoWa Open Market runs Sundays only, and its final day of 2026 is Sun, Nov 15. That leaves two Sundays, Nov 8 and Nov 15, both 11 AM to 4 PM and free. It's one of the biggest open-air farmer and artist markets in the city, set among the artist studios, galleries and shops on pedestrian-only Thayer Street in the South End. Weekend of Nov 13 to 15 Topsfield, the art book fair, the MFA and Cambridge This is the busiest craft weekend of the fall, with four good options. The New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair is in its 30th year at the Topsfield Fairgrounds Indoor Arena, 207 Boston St in Topsfield. Hours are Fri, Nov 13 and Sat, Nov 14 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sun, Nov 15 from 10 AM to 4 PM. A $12 adult ticket is good for all three days. Back in the South End, the Boston Art Book Fair brings more than 140 exhibitors, artists and publishers to the BCA Cyclorama at 539 Tremont St. Think artist books, zines, comics, prints and experimental publications, many of them handmade. It's free to the public on Sat, Nov 14 (noon to 6 PM) and Sun, Nov 15 (noon to 5 PM). If you want first look, the ticketed preview party on Fri, Nov 13 opens to exhibitors at 7 PM. On Sat, Nov 14 only, the MFA Artisan Market sets up in the museum's Shapiro Family Courtyard from 10 AM to 5 PM, with local jewelry, fashion, ceramics, stationery and other gifts. It's included with general admission, and MFA members get 10 percent off everything. Author Eric Jay Dolin and chef Joanne Chang are signing books from 11 AM to 1 PM. That same afternoon, the Unruly Maker's Market from Rebel Rebel Wine Bar fills Dear Annie at 1741 Massachusetts Ave in Cambridge from 2 to 6 PM with local artists and craftspeople. Entry is free, and the RSVP on Eventbrite is optional. Starting Fri, Nov 20 The SoWa Christmas Market The SoWa Christmas Market opens Fri, Nov 20 (4 to 9 PM) inside the SoWa Power Station, 550 Harrison Ave in the South End, and runs through Sun, Dec 27. Expect more than 100 makers, artists, designers and specialty food vendors under one roof. Admission is $10, kids 12 and under are free, and there's no re-entry, so finish your coffee first. In November, the market is open Tuesday to Thursday 4 to 8 PM, Friday 4 to 9 PM, Saturday 10 AM to 9 PM and Sunday 10 AM to 7 PM, plus Black Friday from 10 AM to 7 PM. Starting Dec 1, hours stretch to 9 PM on weeknights, 10 PM on Friday and 10 AM to 10 PM on Saturday, with Sunday still 10 AM to 7 PM. It's closed Mondays, Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, and open 10 AM to 4 PM on Christmas Eve. Weekend of Nov 20 to 22 Marlborough, Somerville and Union Square Paradise City Arts Festival brings 175 artists and makers to 181 Royal Plaza Dr West in Marlborough on Nov 20, 21 and 22, with live demonstrations and two cafes. Hours are Friday and Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM and Sunday 11 AM to 5 PM. General admission is $16 ($14 early bird), students pay $10 with ID, a three-day pass is $24, and kids 15 and under get in free. Parking is free. On Sun, Nov 22, Somerville has two. The Holiday Plant Market fills two floors of Arts at the Armory, 191 Highland Ave, from 10 AM to 4 PM with local artists, small businesses and handcrafted goods for the plant lovers on your list. A few blocks away in Union Square, the Boston Women's Holiday Market takes over Warehouse XI, 11 Sanborn Ct, from 11 AM to 4 PM with about 35 vendors. Thanksgiving weekend, Nov 27 to 29 Wilmington, Worcester and the Armory The day after Thanksgiving is a big one for craft shows. The Original Castleberry Faire, now in its 31st year, is back at the Shriners Auditorium, 99 Fordham Rd in Wilmington. Hours are Fri, Nov 27 from 9 AM to 5 PM, Sat from 10 AM to 5 PM and Sun from 10 AM to 4 PM, and a $12 adult ticket covers all three days. Out in Worcester, the 44th Holiday Festival of Crafts turns the Worcester Center for Crafts, 25 Sagamore Road, into a juried holiday market that usually has more than 50 fine craft artists. It runs Nov 27 and 28 from 10 AM to 5 PM and Nov 29 from 11 AM to 4 PM. Admission is $5, and parking is free. Closer to home, the Boston Women's Holiday Market at The Armory fills two floors at 191 Highland Ave in Somerville on Sun, Nov 29, from 11 AM to 4 PM, with about 35 vendors. Fri, Dec 4 SoWa First Fridays On the first Friday of every month, the studios, galleries and shops at 450 and 460 Harrison Ave open their doors from 5 to 9 PM for SoWa First Fridays. It's free and family friendly, and you're buying straight from the artists in their own workspaces. The next one is Fri, Dec 4, and the SoWa Christmas Market is open next door until 10 PM that night, so you can do both. Sat, Dec 5 A French market in Back Bay, a German one in Allston and Arlington Brewing's holiday market The French Library's Marché de Noël is in its 23rd year at 53 Marlborough St in Back Bay, from 10 AM to 4 PM. Shop French-inspired jewelry, housewares, books and gourmet treats, grab crêpes, and sample food, wine and spirits. Tickets are $5, or $3 if you buy early, and members and kids under 14 get in free. That afternoon, the German International School Boston hosts its Christkindlmarkt at 57 Holton St from 3 to 7 PM, with music, shopping, kids' activities, food and drinks. The school notes the event is pending license approval from the City of Boston, so check the page before you go. Arlington Brewing Company runs the Arlington Holiday Market on Sat, Dec 5 from noon to 6 PM, with more than 100 local vendors split between Arlington Town Hall and Mill Cafe. You'll find handmade gifts from local artists and crafters, neighborhood shops, food and Arlington Brewing beer, and admission costs nothing. Santa does story time at Town Hall at 1 PM and again at Mill Cafe at 4 PM, so plan to hit both. Weekends of Dec 11 to 13 and Dec 18 to 20 Harvard Square The Harvard Square Holiday Fair has been running since 1986, and admission is free. It's a juried fair with craftspeople from around the region alongside importers, on the lower level of the Galeria building at the corner of JFK and Winthrop Streets. It runs two weekends, Dec 11 to 13 and Dec 18 to 20, with hours of noon to 7 PM on Fridays, 11 AM to 7 PM on Saturdays and noon to 6 PM on Sundays. Sat, Dec 12 and Sun, Dec 13 Cultural Survival Bazaar The Cultural Survival Bazaar brings a winter solstice Indigenous art holiday market to the Cyclorama at the Boston Center for the Arts, 539 Tremont St, from 10 AM to 6 PM both days. You can meet the artists, make an Indigenous craft, catch music and dance, and swap a gently used Indigenous book. Suggested admission is $10, anyone under 18 is free, and if you bring a friend on day two with your day-one ticket, you both get in free. Sat, Dec 19 Holiday market at Night Shift Brewing The Boston Women's Holiday Market at Night Shift Brewing, 87 Santilli Hwy in Everett, runs from noon to 5 PM. The organizer describes it as a family-friendly holiday party with giveaways, ornament decorating and special cocktails, plus a food truck and parking on site. How to find craft fairs this weekend Start with our Boston events calendar. Tap "This weekend" and the Markets & Shopping category, and you'll see every market submitted to us, with the venue linked to its page. Our things to do in Boston this weekend guide rounds up the best of it, and the weekly calendar email goes to 45,000 subscribers every Thursday, just in time to plan. Then go to the organizer. Craft fair dates move, hours change for the holidays, and a market that ran in a church hall last year can move across town. The organizer's own page is always the final word, which is why every listing above links to it. A few organizers run several markets a season, so they're worth bookmarking. SoWa runs the Open Market, First Fridays and the Christmas Market in the South End. Castleberry Fairs runs juried craft festivals north of Boston, on the Cape and in New Hampshire. The Boston Women's Market pops up all over Greater Boston. Markets for Makers holds its Boston markets at the SoWa Power Station, and its Boston page is the place to watch for the next one. FAQ Are there craft fairs near me this weekend? Snowport in the Seaport is open every day through Sun, Dec 27 with free general admission, so there’s a market to hit any weekend before Christmas. For everything else, find this weekend’s date heading in this guide, or use the “This weekend” filter on our events calendar. What are the best craft fairs in Massachusetts this weekend and next? The weekend of Nov 13 to 15 is the busiest of the fall, with the New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair in Topsfield, the free Boston Art Book Fair in the South End, the MFA Artisan Market and the Unruly Maker’s Market in Cambridge. Paradise City Arts Festival in Marlborough follows on Nov 20 to 22, the Original Castleberry Faire in Wilmington and the Holiday Festival of Crafts in Worcester both run Thanksgiving weekend, and the Harvard Square Holiday Fair takes two December weekends. Where can I find craft shows next weekend near me? Find next weekend’s date heading in this guide, since every market is listed in date order through Christmas. Snowport is open every day through Dec 27, and the SoWa Christmas Market is open Tuesday through Sunday from Nov 20. Organizers keep adding markets through the season, so check our events calendar too. What is the biggest Boston craft fair? Of the markets in this guide, Paradise City Arts Festival lists 175 artists and makers, Snowport lists 125+ makers, and the Boston Art Book Fair lists more than 140 exhibitors. The SoWa Christmas Market has more than 100 makers and food vendors and runs the longest stretch indoors, from Nov 20 to Dec 27. Are there free craft fairs in Boston? Yes. Snowport (free general admission every day), the Harvard Square Holiday Fair, SoWa First Fridays, the SoWa Open Market and the Boston Art Book Fair (Saturday and Sunday) are all free to get into. The Arlington Holiday Market (Sat, Dec 5) has no admission charge either. The SoWa Christmas Market is $10, and kids 12 and under are free. What's happening in Boston in November 2026? Snowport opened in the Seaport on Fri, Nov 6, and the SoWa Christmas Market opens in the South End on Fri, Nov 20. In between, Nov 13 to 15 brings the Boston Art Book Fair, the MFA Artisan Market and the New England Craft & Specialty Food Fair in Topsfield. Somerville has two markets on Sun, Nov 22, and Thanksgiving weekend has craft shows in Wilmington, Worcester and Somerville. For concerts, shows and everything else on in November, browse our events calendar. What happened to the Boston Christmas Festival? The Boston Christmas Festival's old web address, bostonchristmasfestival.com, now goes to the New England Christmas Festival, held at the Mohegan Sun Earth Expo Center in Connecticut (Nov 6 to 8 in 2026) with 400+ artisans. If you want a big holiday craft show in Massachusetts, Paradise City in Marlborough and the Original Castleberry Faire in Wilmington are the closest matches.
Boston’s 200-year-old oyster house is being sold, plus 7 more old-timers
Union Oyster House turned 200 this year, and in August the Boston Globe reported that it was being sold to the family of Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta, who owns Landry’s. The sale still needs a liquor license transfer, and the buyers say the name, the staff and the traditions are staying put. Here are the oldest restaurants and bars in Boston that are still open, in order of age, from a 1780 tavern to a 1974 pizza counter, plus one famous pub that isn’t as old as it looks. Warren Tavern on Pleasant Street opened in 1780, five years after the British burned most of Charlestown during the Battle of Bunker Hill. It’s named for Dr. Joseph Warren, the Patriot leader who was killed in that battle. Paul Revere came here for Masonic lodge meetings in the 1780s. Fans of Robert B. Parker will also recognize it, since Spenser eats here in the 1982 novel Ceremony. The Freedom Trail ends nearby at the Bunker Hill Monument, so it’s an easy stop at the end of the walk. The Bell in Hand takes its name from Jimmy Wilson, Boston’s town crier, who carried a hand bell on the job and, by tradition, opened the bar in 1795. It calls itself America’s oldest continuously operating tavern. A 2025 Globe story found its current building dates to about 1844, and that the bar moved in much later. It’s still a fun, loud spot for oysters and a beer, a few doors down Union Street from the oyster house. Union Oyster House opened on October 7, 1826, as the Atwood & Bacon Oyster House, in a building that went up around 1716. It’s a National Historic Landmark and is widely called the oldest restaurant in America still serving. Daniel Webster was a regular at the raw bar. Upstairs, booth 18 was John F. Kennedy’s, and a plaque has marked it since 1977. Every November 22, the anniversary of his death, the staff put a single white rose on the table. Sit at the curved oyster bar downstairs and order a dozen and a cup of chowder. The Parker House hotel opened on School Street in 1855, and its kitchen gave the world two things Boston still eats. Parker House rolls came from here, and so did Boston cream pie, now the official state dessert. The hotel says JFK proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier at table 40, a plaque marks the spot, and Boston.com reports couples still book it for their own proposals. Get the pie. It would be rude not to. Amrheins on West Broadway has served Southie since 1890. The Boston Preservation Alliance counts it as the neighborhood’s oldest restaurant and bar. Go for brunch, served every day until 2, and enjoy the free parking, which is rare in Southie. J.J. Foley’s Cafe on East Berkeley Street opened in 1909, and the Foley family has run it ever since. Its biggest night came in 1919, when Boston police officers met in Fay Hall, the room upstairs, and voted to form a union. On September 8 they met there again and voted 1,134 to 2 to strike. That vote led to the Boston police strike and made Governor Calvin Coolidge a national name. The J.J. Foley’s downtown on Kingston Street is a separate bar run by another branch of the family. Make sure your friends go to the right Foley’s. Kelly’s opened on Revere Beach, just north of Boston, in 1951 as a hot dog stand. The roast beef sandwich came later, and the company story says it was born from beef left over after a cancelled wedding. New owners bought the business in 2025, but the stand on the beach is the original, so eat your sandwich on the seawall facing the water. Umberto Deuterio opened Galleria Umberto on Hanover Street in 1974, and it won a James Beard America’s Classics award in 2018. The menu is short: square slices of Sicilian pizza, arancini and calzones. It takes cash only, serves lunch only and closes when the food runs out, so get there early. One famous pub isn’t as old as its sign. The Green Dragon Tavern at 11 Marshall Street puts 1657, 1773 and 1776 on its sign. The real Green Dragon, where the Sons of Liberty met, stood on Union Street and was torn down in the 1800s. The Globe found the current pub opened in 1993 in a building from around 1850. So the Sons of Liberty never met in this building.
Get to know Boston
Boston was named after another Boston
Boston was named after Boston. The earlier one is in Lincolnshire, England, where a medieval church tower rises above a port and market town. English settlers carried the name across the Atlantic in 1630. Massachusetts made it rather more famous. The connection is well documented. Historic England describes both the borrowed name and the prominent residents who left the English town to help lead the new settlement. The longer story involves a saint, a minister who arrived after the naming, and a peninsula whose human history did not start when the English showed up. Boston was named after a port town Boston, Lincolnshire, was an important trading port long before the Massachusetts settlement existed. Its position connected the town with North Sea commerce, and its surviving warehouses, markets and church reflect that wealth. St Botolph’s Church is the building most likely to catch your eye. Its tower is known as the Boston Stump, a nickname that undersells a structure visible across the flat surrounding country. The church supplied a religious and civic focal point for the town that gave ours its name. The name Boston is generally traced to Botolph’s town. The Getty Research Institute’s place-name record includes “Botolph’s Town” among its historical names. By the time the name reached Massachusetts, the shorter form had already done the work. John Cotton came later John Cotton is an important part of the connection between the two Bostons. He served as vicar of St Botolph’s before settling in Massachusetts. But the dates matter: the American town was named in 1630, and Cotton arrived in 1633. Boston Borough Council’s account of the transatlantic connection explains how Cotton’s congregation and other local figures linked the English town to New England. It also separates that migration from the earlier story of the Pilgrims. The English Boston has a Pilgrim connection too. In 1607, separatists trying to leave for the Netherlands were betrayed and arrested there. That episode belongs to the history leading toward the Mayflower voyage, not to a single founding trip that created every English settlement in Massachusetts. Putting those events into one neat departure story loses the actual sequence. Plymouth’s 1620 settlement and Boston’s 1630 settlement were different undertakings. Cotton’s later arrival strengthened an existing connection rather than creating the name on his first day. Before Boston there was Shawmut The English name was new. The inhabited place was not. The City of Boston’s archaeological history of the Common describes thousands of years of Massachusett life in Shawmut and emphasizes that the Massachusett people are still here. Archaeologists have found stone tools, pottery and shell deposits near the Frog Pond and Parkman Bandstand. Those objects give a much longer account of life on the peninsula than a founding date printed on a city souvenir. William Blackstone, also spelled Blaxton, was already living on the peninsula when John Winthrop’s settlers arrived. In 1634, he sold land to the colonists that became the Common. The familiar park therefore holds several histories at once: Indigenous use, English settlement and the development of shared public land. A city name is only part of the map Boston’s name is comparatively straightforward once you find the English town. The names inside Boston can be less cooperative. Jamaica Plain’s name, for example, has competing explanations rather than one securely documented answer. For Boston itself, there is no need to invent a secret message or claim the Puritans were asking a saint to protect their new home. A familiar English place name traveled with a community of settlers. Understanding why that name felt familiar requires looking back across the Atlantic; understanding the place it was applied to requires looking much further back here. The next time you hear “the original Boston,” the speaker may mean a Lincolnshire market town with a very large church. Ours was the sequel.
5 Boston sports moments worth watching again
Boston sports history gives you plenty of reasons to watch the same few seconds again. A pass that should never have been thrown. A stolen base everyone knew was coming. A hockey player suspended above the ice after scoring the goal that ended a long wait. These five Boston sports moments include championships, a playoff escape and an Olympic win with a strong Boston University connection. They did not all happen in Boston, and they did not all end a championship game. The details make them better, especially when you remember just how close things came to going the other way. Bobby Orr wins the Stanley Cup in 1970On May 10, 1970, Bobby Orr scored in overtime against the St. Louis Blues and gave the Bruins their first Stanley Cup in 29 years. The photograph of him airborne became the image of the moment, but the puck had already done its work before the celebration was captured. Derek Sanderson supplied the pass. His account of playing with Orr is worth reading alongside the familiar picture, which can make a team play look like a solo act. Watch the exchange as well as the finish. The Bruins needed someone to deliver the puck, and Sanderson was in the right place to do it. The BU connection to the Miracle on IceThe United States beat the Soviet Union 4–3 at Lake Placid in 1980, with four former Boston University players on the American team: Mike Eruzione, Jim Craig, Jack O’Callahan and Dave Silk. For Boston fans, that gives an already remarkable Olympic game a very local cast. BU’s recollection of the game is a useful starting point. The Soviet victory was not itself the gold-medal clincher; the Americans still had to beat Finland. Craig’s BU Hall of Fame profile records both wins. That last game deserves to stay in the story. Beating the favored opponent would have meant something rather different without finishing the job. Larry Bird steals the pass and Dennis Johnson finishesIn the 1987 Eastern Conference finals, Bird intercepted an Isiah Thomas pass and fed Dennis Johnson for Boston’s winning layup. The NBA’s account of the play makes the division of labor clear. The replay with the Boston broadcast calls is a good way to revisit it. Watch Johnson as well as Bird: his movement gives the steal somewhere to go. Basketball highlights tend to put one player’s name on a moment, but freezing this one at the interception leaves out the basket. Dennis Johnson belongs in the sentence. The Red Sox come back from three games down in 2004Before the World Series celebration came an American League Championship Series that Boston was losing three games to none. In Game 4 at Fenway, Dave Roberts stole second in the ninth inning, Bill Mueller’s single brought him home to tie it, and David Ortiz later won the game with a home run. The Baseball Hall of Fame’s account follows the comeback through Boston’s Game 7 victory. The Sox became the first MLB team to win a postseason series after trailing 0–3, then swept the Cardinals in the World Series to end an 86-year championship drought. The parade was earned, but Roberts getting to second is the replay to start with. Malcolm Butler intercepts Seattle at the goal lineThe Patriots led Seattle 28–24 late in Super Bowl XLIX when the Seahawks reached the one-yard line. Russell Wilson threw toward Ricardo Lockette, and Malcolm Butler intercepted with 20 seconds remaining. A drive that looked capable of deciding the game did exactly that, just for the other team. The Patriots’ game record preserves the sequence, including Jermaine Kearse’s catch and Marshawn Lynch’s run before the interception. Watch those plays first. Butler’s finish is more startling with Seattle’s progress fresh in your mind. The February 2015 win gave New England its fourth Super Bowl title. For the baseball chapter, our Fenway Park guide gives the ballpark its own attention. For the rest, start the footage a little before the famous play. The score, the clock and the possession matter. Watching only the celebration skips the part where Boston looked as though it might lose.