Watertown will celebrate its Pride this weekend, with the annual Pride Parade and Festival. History buffs have a couple of options, including taking a look inside a house built in the 1600, and a narrated slide show focusing on the Charles River. Mount Auburn Cemetery has a pair of events: a walking tour and a writing workshop. Also, enjoy Armenian music from the comfort of your home, or wherever, with an online concert.
WATERTOWN PRIDE 2024
Sunday, June 2
Various Locations
A parade and festival for Watertown Pride is planned for Sunday, June 2, 2024. All are invited to meet at the Moxley parking lot beginning at 11:45 a.m. or join in along the parade route! The parade will start at noon and lead to a festival at Saltonstall Field until 5 p.m.
Watertown Pride 2024: Loud, Proud, Island-Bound is an inclusive, all-ages event that celebrates our LGBTQIA+ communities. It is free and open to everyone on Sunday, June 2, 2024 from 12 to 5 p.m.
Watertown Pride 2024 festival entertainment includes:
- Tyler Tuccio/Tee Sparks, Watertown native AND Mr. Trans Massachusetts USA 2022
- Danny B. Goode, Reigning Mr. Gay New England 2023
- DJ Zeneida Ramos
Also Sunday, Black Queer Voices: Pioneers of Civil Rights and Advocates for LGBTQ+ Equality, an educational program offered by World In Watertown, will take place in the front of the Watertown Free Public Library on Sunday, June 2, from noon to 5 p.m.
VISIT WATERTOWN’S OLDEST HOUSE – Browne House
Saturday, June 1, 11 a.m. – 3 p.m.
562 Main St., Watertown
The Browne House is a 1698 home built for a farming family and contains rare surviving architectural features from the late 1600s. In a near ruinous state when it was acquired by Historic New England founder William Sumner Appleton in 1919, the house was painstakingly restored in what is acknowledged to be the first fully documented restoration in America. Visitors can explore the modest “one-over-one” dwelling.
Parking for the museum is limited but additional parking is available on Main Street and in the upper parking area of the adjacent Watertown Police Station.
MICHAEL TOUGIAS: THE HIDDEN CHARLES – Presented by the Historical Society of Watertown
Sunday, June 2, 2-3:30 p.m.
Watertown Savings Bank Room, Watertown Free Public Library, 123 Main St.
Join the Historical Society of Watertown for “Exploring the Hidden Charles River,” a slide show and talk by Michael Tougias. The presentation follows the Charles River on its 80-mile journey from Hopkinton to Boston, and along the way Tougias will share anecdotes, history, wildlife encounters and conservation issues.
Michael J. Tougias is an American writer who writes about maritime, travel, and adventure topics. Tougias is a NY Times Bestselling author and co-author of 30 books. Free event.
SENSE & SENSIBILITY: WRITING WITH THE FIVE SENSES – Mount Auburn Cemetery
Saturday, June 1, 10-11:30 a.m.
Bigelow Chapel glass wing, 580 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge
In this workshop, led by award-winning author and memoirist Nina MacLaughlin, in the charged space of the cemetery and through a series of exercises focusing on the senses, we’ll practice engaging the whole body in our writing. Letting our brains step out of the way, we’ll explore how bringing taste, touch, smell, sight, sound to the work — and how they mingle with the mind — can richen and deepen not only your writing, but how you move through the world. Participants will learn how to use the body to create rich and sensual writing in any genre.
Cost: $15-20. See more info here.
DISCOVER MOUNT AUBURN INTRODUCTORY WALKING TOUR
Saturday, June 1, 1-2:30 p.m.
Mount Auburn Cemetery, 580 Mt. Auburn St., Cambridge
Mount Auburn, designated a National Historic Landmark, is one of the country’s most significant designed landscapes. Here the arts of horticulture, architecture and sculpture combine with the beauty of nature to create a place of comfort and inspiration. This 1.5-mile walking tour will focus on stories of history, monuments, and the lives of those buried here. Registration required.
Cost: Free to $10. Click here to register.
THE DUDKNER ENSEMBLE & ARAHET CHOIR – Live Online
Sunday, June 2, 5 p.m.
Online event hosted by the Armenian Museum of America
The Dudukner Ensemble was founded in 1998 by prominent duduk player Georgy Minasov (Minasyan). Minasov has masterfully created a full array of duduks including soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, and bass with a vision to develop the duduk beyond its traditional range and sound.
The Arahet Choir was founded in 2003 under the auspices of the Youth Center of Art and Education of the Ministry of Science and Education. The founder and artistic director, Tatyana Minasyan, is a graduate of the Choir Department of the Komitas State Conservatory.