Eastie Weeks 2026 begins! Read our event suggestions
By hola | Published | No Comments
“Eastie Weeks” is an annual summer celebration in East Boston that everyone can participate in. This two-week community festival allows neighborhood nonprofits and organizations like Hola Cultura and Eastie Farms, Veronica Robles Cultural Center, Zumix, Neighborhood of Affordable Housing (NOAH), local civic organizations and businesses to bring everybody together for fun activities such as concerts, arts and crafts, waterfront fun and more. In fact, Eastie Week has expanded so much since the first festival over a decade ago that Boston Harbor Now, the organization behind it, changed the name from “Eastie Week” to “Eastie Weeks.”
This year, the extravaganza kicks off July 12 with events including Zumix’s annual Walk for Music, among other activities such as bocce and kayaking. The events will continue through July 29. Below is your guide to our top picks from the dozens of community events taking place this year, including Hola Cultura’s first-ever Eastie Weeks events!
– Camila Bonilla and Elysse González
Arts and Crafts led by Galeria De Chuwi
Tuesday, July 14, 6:30 p.m.
East Boston Social Centers
68 Central Square
Local artist Sury Chavez will be leading a craft circle and invites those to bring a project they are working on or to start something new. Chavez also works at the Neighborhood of Affordable Housing and has a lively social media presence at Galeria De Chuwi. She has exhibited her paintings and authored murals in Eastie, Chelsea and other places in the area. Chavez is also the founder of La Cueva, an art space described as empowering women by advocating for healing through art. Join Chavez during Eastie Weeks and learn more about her and her story while making your own craft creation.
– Camila Bonilla
Salsa Night on the Greenway
Wednesday, July 15, at 6 p.m.
Bremen Street Park Amphitheater
Founded in 1994, Boston-based Grupo Chevere has spent more than three decades performing salsa, merengue, bachata, cumbia and bolero at festivals, concerts and community events throughout the Northeast. Led by the late founder Willie Colon, the band brings together musicians from Puerto Rico, Colombia, El Salvador and the Dominican Republic, showcasing a variety of Latine musical traditions. The band’s free Salsa Night on the Greenway is an opportunity to enjoy an evening of live Latine music in one of East Boston’s neighborhood parks.
– Alejandra Conte-Contreras
Abundance and Sustainers Fair
Saturday, July 18, 2 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.
East Boston Neighborhood Library
365 Bremen Street
There will be an abundance of food, crafting, workshops and music at Mutual Aid Eastie’s Abundance and Sustainers Fair dedicated to celebrating community, multicultural engagement and neighborhood life. Mutual Aid Eastie, a network of East Boston residents dedicated to creating community spaces and building trust and solidarity, invites residents to come out, meet their neighbors and expand the networks within their neighborhood. The fair also offers MAE a chance to showcase its programs, including its community garden and language exchange initiatives, as well as its other work supporting residents’ needs.
– Elysse González
Gathering in the Greenhouse: Stories of East Boston With Veronica Robles
*A Hola Cultura co-sponsored event
Wednesday, July 22, 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Eastie Farms’ Geothermal Greenhouse
6 Chelsea Terrace
During Eastie Weeks this year, Hola Cultura, Eastie Farms and Veronica Robles Cultural Center are teaming up for a community conversation. Based on Hola Cultura’s upcoming interview with Robles, Hola Cultura’s interns will interview Robles and discuss the new culinary incubator, La Cocina VROCC. Then, the audience will be invited to join in the conversation. Join us to learn more about Robles’s story and her center’s contribution to the Latine community. Enjoy Latin American culinary treats created specially for this event by the chefs at La Cocina VROCC.
– Camila Bonilla
Veronica Robles and the VROCC Musica Float bring their sounds and art to the streets
Friday, July 24, around the Neighborhood between 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
With East Boston being a neighborhood with a large Latine population, VROCC’s Musical Float’s surreal passage through East Boston streets is always one of the highlights of Eastie Weeks each year. Parading through the neighborhood bringing live music and joy as they go, this year the float will circulate between La Cocina de VROCC, 389 Maverick Street, and the organization’s headquarters at 282 Meridian Street. It’s a chance to enjoy the music and connect with Robles and her organization to learn more about their mission.
– Camila Bonilla
Zine Launch Party. “East Boston: In Our Own Words”
*A Hola Cultura co-sponsored event
Saturday, July 25, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
East Boston Neighborhood Library
365 Bremen Street
Stories of migration, belonging, neighborhood change, waterfront life and community activism come together in “East Boston: In Our Own Words,” a new bilingual community zine created by Hola Cultura. The publication shares the experiences of East Boston residents across generations and cultures through personal storytelling. In partnership with the Boston Public Library, Hola Cultura will unveil the zine inspired by the oral interviews over the past year. Meet neighbors, take part in a community conversation inspired by the project and pick up a free copy of the zine in English, Spanish or both. Refreshments will be served.
– Alejandra Conte-Contreras
– Story copy edited by Valerie Izquierdo
Recent Stories
Leave a Reply