Tue, Nov 3
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8:00–11:00 PM
Berklee Performance Center · Boston
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Boston craft fairs: 22 markets before Christmas
Last updated: Sunday, October 25, 2026. We refresh this guide every season, so check back before you head out. Boston craft fairs start this weekend, and they don't let up until Christmas Eve. The Affordable Art Fair fills the SoWa Power Station in the South End through Sunday, Oct 25, with work from more than 55 galleries and a whole wall of art under $1,000. General admission is $20 for one day (Fri noon to 9 PM, Sat 10 AM to 7 PM, Sun 10 AM to 6 PM). If handmade is more your speed, the Castleberry Fall Craft Festival is indoors at the Shriners Auditorium in Wilmington on Sat, Oct 24 (10 AM to 5 PM) and Sun, Oct 25 (10 AM to 4 PM). One $10 adult ticket covers both days. Closer in and free, the SoWa Open Market takes over Thayer Street and 500 Harrison Ave every Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM, with local farmers, artists and food trucks. 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. 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 four Sundays: Oct 25, Nov 1, Nov 8 and Nov 15, all 11 AM to 5 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. Fri, Nov 6 and 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 two are Nov 6 and Dec 4. On Dec 4, the SoWa Christmas Market is open next door until 10 PM, so you can do both in one night. 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 130 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. RSVP on the Eventbrite page. Starting Fri, Nov 6 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. 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. Parking nearby is $10, cash only. 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. 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 held its Boston fall market at the SoWa Power Station on Oct 10 and 11, and its Boston page is the place to watch for the next one. FAQ Are there craft fairs near me this weekend? For the weekend of Oct 24 and 25, 2026, the Castleberry Fall Craft Festival is in Wilmington ($10, good for both days), the Affordable Art Fair is at the SoWa Power Station in the South End through Sunday ($20 general admission), and the free SoWa Open Market runs Sunday from 11 AM to 5 PM. For any other weekend, use the date headings in this guide or the "This weekend" filter on our events calendar. What are the best craft fairs in Massachusetts this weekend and next? This weekend, Castleberry's fall festival in Wilmington is the big handmade show. 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 (Nov 14) and the Unruly Maker's Market in Cambridge (Nov 14). Paradise City Arts Festival in Marlborough follows on Nov 20 to 22, and the Original Castleberry Faire in Wilmington and the Holiday Festival of Crafts in Worcester both run Thanksgiving weekend. Where can I find craft shows next weekend near me? Next weekend is Oct 31 and Nov 1. SoWa Open Market is open Sunday, Nov 1, from 11 AM to 5 PM, and it's free. After that, the next big handmade weekends are Nov 13 to 15 and Nov 20 to 22. Check our events calendar for new markets, since organizers keep adding them through the season. 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 130 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 opens 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, which is at the Mohegan Sun Earth Expo Center in Connecticut on Nov 6, 7 and 8, 2026, with 400+ artisans. Hours are 9 AM to 6 PM Friday and Saturday and 9 AM to 5 PM Sunday. 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.
5 Boston speakeasies worth finding
Finding the entrance is part of the evening at these Boston speakeasies. Carrie Nation has a lounge behind a red velvet curtain. Backbar asks you to find an orange door off a Somerville alley. Hecate sits beneath a restaurant you could walk past without realizing there is another room below. These are modern cocktail bars with a taste for concealed rooms and theatrical surroundings. Come for the drinks and the setting, rather than expecting an original Prohibition drinking den. Pick the room that fits the night: dinner with a reservation, a few drinks with a friend, or a small bar where you may have to wait. Carrie Nation’s speakeasy sits beyond the main bar, down a corridor and behind a red velvet curtain. Keep going and you’ll find a windowless lounge with leather seating, polished wood, billiards and its own bar. The back room gives you somewhere to settle in beyond the restaurant’s dining spaces, with a pool table providing an alternative to another hour of talking about work. The name is a deliberate provocation: the real Carrie Nation campaigned against alcohol. A cocktail club in her honor probably wasn’t the tribute she had in mind. Reservations cover the dining room only; the speakeasy and bar operate first come, first served. Book dinner if that’s part of your evening, but don’t mistake the confirmation for a guaranteed seat behind the curtain. They’re different rooms with different seating policies. Wink & Nod pairs its downstairs South End cocktail lounge with a kitchen that regularly changes hands. Its culinary residency program gives chefs room to develop their own menus, so check what’s cooking before treating this as a drinks-only stop. The current resident is Dorchester native Valentine Howell of Black Cat Eatery, whose cooking draws on Afro-Caribbean influences. The drinks list gives whiskey drinkers plenty to consider, alongside gin, rum, tequila and mezcal cocktails. My Favorite Things combines browned-butter-washed bourbon with maple, orange liqueur, bitters and cinnamon smoke; Scorched Rose takes chili-infused rum in a coconut-and-rose direction. There are spirit flights and nonalcoholic choices, too. Reservations are available through OpenTable. Wink & Nod opens daily at 5 p.m., making it a useful option on nights when several other bars in this guide are closed. Backbar’s orange door off Sanborn Court is easy to overlook. Once you’re inside this Union Square cocktail bar, the more pressing issue is finding a seat: there are only 39. The bar warns that groups larger than four have fewer places to sit and can face longer waits. Bring a couple of friends rather than recruiting everyone you know. Regular service is walk-in only, with changing cocktail menus and a separate nonalcoholic selection. For a more structured evening, cocktail classes and Closet Bar tastings can be booked separately through Tock. Those experiences are distinct from reserving a table in the main room. Backbar currently opens Wednesday through Sunday at 5 p.m., with last seating and last call at 11:15 p.m. It closes at midnight, so put this earlier in your plans rather than arriving for a final drink just before the doors shut. Saloon sits below Davis Square, with a substantial spirits selection and enough food to make dinner part of the plan. Whiskey is well represented, but the current drinks menu also has room for mezcal, absinthe and martinis that take some liberties with the format. One uses bread-and-butter pickle brine; another brings cacio e pepe to the glass. You can order three house martini variations as a flight in miniature glasses. The food goes beyond something salty to accompany a drink. Fried halloumi with chili oil and smoked honey, Portuguese mussels with chouriço, a burger and steak frites give you several ways to avoid leaving hungry. Reservations are available through Resy. Saloon makes sense when you want a downstairs cocktail bar but would also appreciate a proper meal and a table arranged in advance. Hecate’s entrance is in Public Alley 443, below Krasi in Back Bay. The dimly lit room takes its name from a Greek goddess, and the drinks give you plenty to discuss before the first sip. The cocktail menu brings together ingredients such as cedar smoke, sea moss and wormwood. Snake Oil pairs vodka and gin with eucalyptus; Nightmarch takes rum toward coconut, oolong and pineapple. Read the ingredient lists before ordering, particularly if you have allergies or avoid egg, dairy or animal products. Hecate’s zero-proof selection gets similar attention, including a drink with chicory, beetroot and fig. Choose this stop for an evening spent considering what is in the glass. For more on Hecate and The Wig Shop, read about the two Boston speakeasies that cracked North America’s top 100.
Get to know Boston
Fenway Park is the oldest active MLB ballpark
Fenway Park has been the Red Sox’s home since 1912. It remains the oldest active ballpark in Major League Baseball, ahead of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, which opened in 1914. The age shows in the brickwork, the narrow seats and the steel column that can insert itself into your view of the pitcher. It also shows in how the park fits into Boston. Streets run tight against its walls. Apartments, restaurants and bars surround it. On game days, the crowd starts well outside the gates, spilling through Kenmore Square and along Lansdowne Street. You are visiting a ballpark built for another era. Fenway makes very little effort to hide that. Fenway Park’s first game went into extra innings The first regular-season game took place on April 20, 1912. Boston beat the New York Highlanders, the team now called the Yankees, 7–6 in 11 innings. Tris Speaker drove in the winning run. The crowd presented its own complications. According to SABR’s account of opening day, spectators stood behind ropes in the outfield, and balls hit into that overflow crowd counted as doubles. Fenway was finding unusual ways to affect a baseball game from the start. The opening came five days after the Titanic sank, with coverage of the disaster overshadowing the ballpark’s debut. Boston’s season ended on a happier note: 105 regular-season wins and a World Series victory over the New York Giants. The Red Sox had moved from the Huntington Avenue Grounds, their home since 1901. The new park took its name from the Fenway neighborhood. The Green Monster wasn’t always green The left-field wall stands roughly 37 feet high, with the foul line marked at 310 feet from home plate. Its height can turn a potential home run into a ball rattling back toward an outfielder. Its proximity can reward a fly ball that would stay in the park elsewhere. The wall was once covered in advertising. It received its green paint in 1947, the same year Fenway introduced night baseball. Seats arrived on top in 2003. Below them, the manually operated scoreboard remains part of the game. Someone still has to change those numbers. The rest of the outfield refuses to settle into a predictable shape. Right field reaches just 302 feet at Pesky’s Pole, named for longtime Red Sox player and coach Johnny Pesky. The deepest center-field corner stretches to 420 feet. A ball’s destination matters as much as how hard it was hit. Boston nearly replaced it Fenway’s survival was a choice. In 1999, Red Sox management announced plans for a replacement ballpark across the street. Preservation advocates organized, and financing the proposal proved difficult. The ownership group that bought the team in 2002 chose renovation. As SABR’s ballpark history documents, a structural study found the existing park viable, and substantial investment followed. Fenway had already undergone a major rebuild in 1934. The surviving wooden grandstand seats date to that renovation, rather than opening day. Later improvements expanded concourses and added seating without erasing the park’s recognizable shape. The result is a working stadium with more than a century of alterations. Some brought better facilities. None made every seat comfortable. More than a baseball field Fenway has accommodated football, soccer, hockey, concerts and political speeches. The Boston Patriots played home games here from 1963 through 1968, decades before their Foxborough years became the default association. Baseball supplies the moments most fans remember, including Carlton Fisk waving his home run fair in Game 6 of the 1975 World Series. Fenway also hosted the first two games of the 2004 World Series, when Boston finally ended its 86-year championship drought. The clinching win happened in St. Louis. Going to a game or taking a tour For the full experience, go when the Red Sox are playing. Arrive with time to walk around the neighborhood rather than heading straight from the train to your seat. Official tours offer another way inside, with access subject to availability. Check the particular tour before booking. The address is 4 Jersey Street. The MBTA’s Fenway directions identify Kenmore on the Green Line’s B, C and D branches as a nearby stop. Fenway station on the D branch is also within walking distance. Commuter rail passengers can use Lansdowne on the Worcester Line. Before buying game tickets, check the view from the actual section, row and seat. Grandstand support columns are part of the architecture, but you don’t have to spend nine innings admiring one.
Boston’s weather beacon has a special signal for the Red Sox
Boston’s weather beacon has a baseball setting. The red and blue lights on the old John Hancock building were designed to announce a forecast, but a flashing red signal during baseball season has also meant a Red Sox home game was postponed. Apparently rain is not specific enough until it affects Fenway. The beacon sits on the Berkeley Building at 200 Berkeley Street in Back Bay. It is the older Hancock building, not the much taller glass tower at 200 Clarendon Street. If you are looking for the lights on the glass one, you have the wrong Hancock. How to read Boston’s weather beacon The basic weather-beacon code uses two colors and two behaviors. Steady blue means clear weather. Flashing blue means clouds. Steady red means rain, while flashing red is the snow signal. Notice both parts before trying to read it. Blue alone does not supply the whole message, and neither does red. Whether the light holds steady or flashes makes the difference between two forecasts. The familiar rhyme pairs a clear view with steady blue, clouds due with flashing blue, rain ahead with steady red and snow instead with flashing red. You do not need to recite it on the sidewalk. Remembering the colors and the flashing pattern will do. The system gives you a broad category rather than a detailed forecast. It cannot tell you how many inches of snow to expect, what time the rain will start or whether your particular walk home will be dry. That was never information two colors could comfortably carry. The lights arrived after the building The Berkeley Building opened in 1947. Its weather beacon first lit on March 15, 1950, according to Atlas Obscura’s history of the structure. The beacon rises above the office tower, making the signal visible beyond the immediate block. A building that communicated by colored light was a useful idea before everyone carried a screen. Someone who knew the code could glance up and get the message without buying a paper or waiting for a broadcast. The weather service has not been continuous. The beacon went dark during the 1973 energy crisis and returned in 1983. In 2020, steady blue was used as a tribute to hospital workers during the pandemic, temporarily giving a familiar color a different meaning. Those interruptions are a reason to understand the lights as a piece of Boston history, rather than treat every photograph of them as an exact record of the weather. A blue beacon in an old image may be carrying a message other than clear skies. The Red Sox got their own signal The baseball connection extends beyond a rainout. After the Red Sox won the 2004 World Series, the beacon flashed red and blue together. The usual forecast could wait. The combination was repeated for the championships in 2007 and 2013. It is a pleasingly Boston use of an office-building fixture: two colors responsible for clouds and precipitation recruited to announce that the Red Sox had done something worth looking up for. The Curse of the Bambino story explains why 2004 carried so much weight. The championship ended a wait that had lasted since 1918, long before the Berkeley Building or its lights existed. Look for the older Hancock The two Hancock buildings can make directions confusing. The Berkeley Building is the one with the stepped top and beacon. The reflective glass skyscraper is 200 Clarendon, the later tower associated with the same company. The beacon belongs in a wider collection of Boston signs and signals that people recognize without necessarily knowing their original job. A corporate building can become a reference point for people who have never worked inside it. View the lights from a public sidewalk or another open vantage point, and give yourself a few seconds to distinguish steady from flashing. For a game-day decision, check the Red Sox’s announcement directly. The skyline is good at shorthand, but it cannot explain what happens to your ticket.