Magazine Beach

Devin Ferreira and friends and Knucklebones delighted over 200 at the park last night with our last of four Sunday evening events. 

Young musicians and bands, including Ava Sophia, Troubadour Soul, Anders Olson Band and many others performed mostly original work. And Knucklebones, brought balls, hoots, bouncy rubber ponies,  tetherball, an obstacle course and more to play with.

Many thanks to Devin and friends, MC Amanda Shea, to Knucklebones, the City of Cambridge (who provided the stage), and to Program Coordinator Doug Feinberg who made it happen. Summer sponsors:  MIT, Kimco, BioMed Realty, Brookfield Properties, and the Charles River Conservancy—thank goodness for you!

Still, this week at the park:

Tuesday, August 6 @ 10am: Children’s Theater, A Time Traveling Adventure, co-sponsored by Cambridge Arts

Thursday, August 8 @ 10am: Tanglewood Marionettes brings their Fairy Circus, co-sponsored by Cambridge Community Schools

Note: In case of rain, programs will move indoors to the Morse School (40 Granite Street).

This morning well loved African drumming teacher Jafar Manselle and friends got kids dancing, singing, and drumming at the park.

Sunday at 5:30pm, come for more fun. Emmy-award winning composer Devin Ferreira and his band will play family friendly “jazz hop” and Knucklebones will bring games and activities, including a ball pit, climbing structures, fitness machines, giant tubes, Rodys (& Rody Max), Gaga, Double-Sided Basketball, Cornhold, Ladderball and much more.

The pool is open daily from 11:15am-6:45pm. Come cool down at the park!

The pool is open until August 22.

160 joined us Sunday at Magazine Beach for the Boston Lyric Opera’s family- friendly The Barber of Seville and opera favorites. After introducing us to some of opera’s greatest arias, members of the BLO performed scenes from The Barber of Seville, inviting young audience members to help in telling the story. Last Thursday, Behind the Mask Theatre and Cambridge Community Schools brought Cat Mountain, a Japanese folk story about Sho, a young servant girl, who journeyed to a strange and far-off mountain, where she hoped to find her freedom and her lost cat. 

It was wonderful to see families and children enjoying the arts under the trees, cool with the river breeze. Many thanks to the BLO for presenting last night, to the City of Cambridge for providing the stage, and to our summer sponsors who make all of our programs possible: MIT, Kimco, BioMed Realty, Brookfield Properties, and the Charles River Conservancy

This Thursday at 10am, Jafar Manselle will bring African Drumming to Magazine Beach. And on Sunday, August 4 at 5:30pm, join us for Devin Ferreira and Band and Knucklebones (games for children), too.

Take note: Our Ribbon Cutting for Boat Launch & Outlook has been postponed again, this time because of a cyanobacteria outbreak on the Charles River. Please keep your dogs out of the river! It’s not good for them just now.

Work is moving along at the park. Over the next two weeks R. Bates & Sons will begin putting in the patio and rebuilding the granite wall beside the Powder Magazine.

Waypoint Adventure launching from the site July 18. Photo by Lily Robinson.

DCR’s official ribbon cutting for canoe/kayak launch & outlook has been rescheduled for Thursday, August 1, at 9:30am. Please join us to celebrate its opening. Waypoint Adventure, which organizes outdoor adventures for disabled youth and adults, will have a group launch from the park at 10am. (Postponed due to cyanobacteria in the river.)

And this week at Magazine Beach: Thursday at 10am: Cat Mountain, a Japanese play with masks and Sunday at 5:30pm: The Barber of Seville, courtesy of the Boston Lyric Opera. Both FREE! (Click here for further info.) See you there!

Update: Tuesday’s Nature Detectives is cancelled due to rain.

Hi All, we’ve just made the hard call to cancel our 3rd Traditional Irish Session at Magazine Beach. We believe that even though it’s truly cooler at the park, the highly publicized 95 degree F. temperatures, high humidity, and possible rain and thunderstorms will discourage attendance. Sorry to cancel this AMAZING event. Our 3rd Traditional Irish Session will now happen in 2020. Come swim and splash in the spray deck today at the park to cool off. 

Come beat the heat on Magazine Beach! On Sunday, July 21 at 5:30pm, we’ll host our third annual Traditional Irish Session featuring musicians Sean Clohessy, Tina Lech, Ted Davis, John Coyne and the Rebecca McGowan Irish Dance Company. Bring the family and cool off in the pool. Then join us in shade for music and dance!

The Busted Jug  Band delighted over 130 picnickers last night with music from the 1920s and pure silliness. This was the first of our Sunday evening series. (See our full event listing here.) Coming this Sunday: our third Traditional Irish Session featuring Sean Clohessy, other Irish musicians and Rebecca McGowan of Rebecca McGowan Irish Dance. Thank you, the Druid our inspiration for the event, Brian O’Donovan!

Update: POSTPONED DUE TO PREDICTED RAIN! Stay tuned for new date.This Thursday, July 18 at 5:30pm, join us at the new ADA-accessible boat launch, near the BU Bridge, for an official ribbon cutting. Waypoint Adventure, who provide outdoor experiences for disabled adults and youth, will launch from the site at 6pm.

The Busted Jug Band will perform in a free concert at Magazine Beach Park on Sunday, July 14^th at 5:30pm. The show is designed to provide fun and entertainment for all ages. A five-piece, all acoustic group, the Busted Jug Band is a throw-back to the African-American street bands of the early 20th Century, with their own theatrical flair.

The show will be a festive romp through early 20^th century music featuring early blues, proto-country, traditional New Orleans Jazz and Harlem swing. All played on kazoos, washboard and washtub bass; alongside harmonica, mandolin, banjo-ukulele, squeeze box and a trunk full of musical oddities and noise makers. Strong group vocals and swinging rhythms; Vaudevillian sight gags, jokes and colorful stage attire (top hats and derbies) round out the show. To find out more about the band and hear their music, go to www.thebustedjugband.com

Bring the family, a picnic and join in the fun!

What a perfect day at the park, with hundreds of picnickers enjoying a lazy day spraying, splashing, barbecuing and just hanging out. The new canoe/kayak launch was also an attraction, getting folks out on the river. (Photos courtesy of Doug Feinburg.)

Thank you to DCR and BBN campers for cleaning up this morning. The park is looking splendid. Head to the beach–Magazine Beach. Just ahead this week at the park:  Stories & Songs, Yoga, Nature Detectives & the Busted Jug Band. For details, click here.

The Greene Family of Cambridge, who LOVE Magazine Beach Park and July 4th.

Correction: There is parking at Magazine Beach Park today & the boat launch is open. Sorry for the misinformation!

I was just at the park and both spoke w/ the State Trooper Dave and scoped things out. Things are different from what I was told and shared:

1. There is parking at the park—beside Riverside Boat Club and the BU Bridge, just not at the parking crescent across Memorial Drive from Magazine Beach Shell station. Folks can drop off stuff at the crescent and then park elsewhere.

2. I just got a parking consideration from the Cambridge Police for folks to park in residential permit places in the neighborhood near the park for today. You can also park in the Morse School lot (on Magazine Street), but the school is not liable for your vehicle. So those are options, too.

3. The boat launch is open.

It’s a gorgeous day at Magazine Beach and the park is already filling with happy families picnicking, swimming and splashing!

Enjoy and happy July 4th!

IF YOUR KIDS ARE PLAYING AT THE SPRAYDECK, please encourage them to water the petunias we just planted in the planters there. These young girls just helped water them (with water from the spray deck) and they, the plants, are oh, so much happier. Thanks, girls!

Mondays and Tuesdays @ 10am we’ll launch some of our longtime favorite programs: Stories & Songs and Nature Detectives. Children ages 3-6, supervised by an adult, please join us. Amanda and Jamie of the Central Square Library are back and we’ll have new teachers–Amy Greene (of Tinkergarten) and Loni Lehnhardt–leading nature classes. Amy writes:

Discover the amazing wildlife at Magazine Beach using your ears, eyes, hands, and minds. We’ll search for birds, bugs, and blooms, as well as other activities and stories.

Special one-time events—Cat Mountain (storytelling with Japanese Masks, July 25), African Drumming (with Jafar Manselle, August 1), Who Came Up With That? (by the Little Red Wagon children’s theater, August 6) and a Fairy Circus (by the Tanglewood Marionettes, August 8) will soon follow. Click here, for more info.

Also, many thanks to Philip, Sue and lots of little ones for their help planting annuals in the spray deck planters on Friday. We’ll put a bucket there this week. Please encourage your kids to water the petunias! And thanks are due to the Media Lab and the Charles River Conservancy for their help weeding the new “meadow” beside the eastern swale and pulling out a lot of invasive bittersweet. THANKS, all!