Need weekend plans?
The best things to do around the city, delivered to your inbox.
Boston, MA
Everything you need to know about Boston Calling 2024
Music
Your guide to Boston Calling 2024, including a full schedule, must-see artists, set times, and helpful tips to get the most out of the annual music festival.
Believe it or not, Memorial Day weekend is already upon us, which means the 2024 Boston Calling Music Festival will soon bring more than 50 artists to the Harvard Athletic Complex in Allston this Friday through Sunday.
A fixture in the Boston cultural scene since its debut in 2013, Boston Calling has consistently attracted top-level talent to its festival. The 2024 Boston Calling lineup is no different, with English singer-songwriter Ed Sheeran, folk-country artist Tyler Childers, and arena rock stars The Killers headlining Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, respectively.
To help you get the most out of your Boston Calling 2024 experience, we’ve put together a guide to what you should know before attending the festival this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
Below, you’ll find more info on some of the best artists to see, the best food at Boston Calling, rules on what not to bring to the festival, transportation logistics, and more.
Click the links below to jump directly to the following information:
Friday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds open to audiences at 1 p.m. on Friday, with Divine Sweater kicking off the music at 1:45 on the Red Stage.
Before Ed Sheeran closes the night out from the Green Stage at 8:40 p.m., other top artists in Friday’s lineup include Young the Giant (7:40 p.m., Blue Stage), Leon Bridges (7:05 p.m. Red Stage), and “I Hate Boston” singer Reneé Rapp (5:55 p.m., Green Stage).
Saturday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds once again open at 1 p.m., 45 minutes before Senseless Optimism gets the music started on the Red Stage.
Tyler Childers closes out the day from the Green Stage at 9 p.m., with other notable performances including Jessie Murph (7:35 p.m., Blue Stage), Trey Anastasio & Classic Tab (7:15 p.m., Red Stage), and Khruangbin (6:05 p.m., Green Stage).
Sunday at Boston Calling 2024
The festival grounds open for a final time at 1 p.m. on Sunday, with Stefan Thev first on the bill at 1:40 p.m. on the Red Stage.
The Killers will close out the festival from the Green Stage at 9:10 p.m., with festival grounds closing at 11 p.m.
Sunday is the only day that has sold out of both GA and Platinum tickets, an indicator of the strong lineup on hand for the final day. Top artists performing on Sunday include Hozier (7:35 p.m., Red Stage), Megan Thee Stallion (6:25 p.m., Green Stage), Chappell Roan (4:05 p.m., Green Stage) and Alvvays (7:50 p.m., Blue Stage).
What local bands and artists should I see at Boston Calling 2024?
Boston Calling has always featured local artists as part of its festival lineup. In fact, R&B/soul group Bad Rabbits were the very first act to take the stage at the first Boston Calling back in 2013.
But in recent years, the festival has pushed to make local artists a larger part of the lineup, with 21 of the 51 acts in this year’s lineup boasting local ties.
Boston Calling co-founder Brian Appel noted the shift during the announcement of the 2022 festival lineup, saying that after everything “Boston musicians endured during the pandemic,” the festival would “shine a spotlight on local and regional artists more than ever before.”
On Friday, swing by the Blue Stage at 2:15 to catch Berklee College of Music student Kieran Rhodes. Rhodes appeared on the seventeenth season of America’s Got Talent in 2022, and was one of the artists at Connecticut’s Sound on Sound Music Festival alongside the Red Hot Chili Peppers and John Mayer.
On Saturday, Bad Rabbits will be on the Red Stage at 3 p.m. Founded in Boston in 2007, the group performs an eclectic blend of neo-soul, funk rock, post-hardcore, and about 15 other genres, none of which can fully encapsulate the band’s sound.
As for Sunday, try to show up early for The Thing, who will bring an old-school rock sensibility to the Blue Stage at 2:10 p.m.
To see a full list of hometown performers, check out our Boston Calling 2024 local music guide, which features info on all 21 local artists playing this weekend.
What should I eat and drink at Boston Calling 2024?
Boston Calling is making sure that concertgoers will be well-fed for the performances.
For veterans of the festival, many of the restaurants will be familiar. The Smoke Shop BBQ, which has experimented with its portable, festival-friendly take on barbecue since 2017, is bringing back its Ultimate BBQ Cone, stuffed with burnt ends, pimento mac ‘n cheese, pit beans, coleslaw, and pickled jalapeños. You won’t find the BBQ cone on the regular menu at any of Andy Husbands’ restaurants, so if you’re a fan of novelty, this is one to try.
For those seeking something new, Boston Calling first-timers include The MacBar (offering mac ‘n cheese), Ricen (thai food), and the popular local seafood chain Shaking Crab.
You’ll find something for pretty much any taste, whether it’s gyros from Greco, grilled cheese from Roxy’s, or wood-fired Neapolitan pies from PieSons Pizza.
The beer will come courtesy Miller, Heineken, and Sam Adams, while Truly, White Claw, and Twisted Tea will handle the canned cocktails. Josh Cellars will be uncorking the wine, and there will also be drink choices from Jack Daniel’s.
To see a full list of participating vendors and some of the options available to VIP and Platinum ticket-holders, check out our full Boston Calling 2024 food and drink guide.
How do I get to and from Boston Calling 2024?
The long and short of how you should travel to and from Boston Calling can be summed up in two words: public transportation.
The easiest way to get to the festival is to take the MBTA Red Line to Harvard Station. From there, it’s a straight shot to the festival: Take John F. Kennedy Street, cross the Anderson Memorial Bridge, and you’ll see the festival entrance on the right side of the street. In total, the walk takes ten minutes.
If you’re not near the Red Line, you can also take the Commuter Rail to the Boston Landing station, which is 1.1 miles from the festival. The 66 and 86 bus routes also stop at Harvard Stadium. For transportation directions from your specific location, use the MBTA Trip Planner.
There is no parking at the festival, and no street parking in nearby neighborhoods. Boston police will be ticketing and towing any vehicles illegally parked near the festival.
If you want to use a ride-share service like Uber or Lyft, organizers recommend setting the destination as Harvard Stadium. At the end of the night, there will be signage directing concertgoers to dedicated rideshare spots.
You should note that Boston and Cambridge PD will close JFK and North Harvard St. to traffic from 9 p.m. to midnight each night to ensure pedestrian safety, so public transportation really is the best option.
How can I avoid long lines at Boston Calling?
Boston Calling is a large music festival, so you’re inevitably going to run into crowds at some point during the day. But as someone who has attended every single edition, I’ve learned a few helpful tips along the way.
1. Pre-register your wristband
In an effort to speed up lines for concessions and merch, Boston Calling 2024 is an entirely cashless festival.
Festivalgoers can register their wristband either before or during the festival to connect it to a credit or debit card through the Boston Calling website. Vendors will also accept credit cards.
2. Buy artist merch early
The biggest lines at previous editions of Boston Calling have been for the official artist and festival merchandise, which can be purchased just inside the entrance.
Boston Calling 2024 has added a second merch kiosk to help minimize the issue, but if you’re set on getting a Reneé Rapp tank or a Killers tee, you might want to consider setting aside the first 30 minutes of your time at the festival to make your purchase.
3. Learn the festival map, and take the road less traveled
Another way to avoid any bottlenecks is to familiarize yourself with the festival map (see below) before heading to Allston on Friday.
The layout remains basically the same from previous festivals, with a few small tweaks. You enter from the corner of Soldiers Field Rd. and N. Harvard St., then proceed to the entrance.
If you’re headed to the Red or Green stages, proceed straight, where you will pass a number of food options and brand activations. If you want the Blue or Orange stages, make a left toward the merch stations.
There is always less traffic on the path from the Blue Stage to the Red Stage (located on the far left of the map below). It’s not only a more direct path, you’ll also pass local artists on the Orange Stage you may not have known about.
What items are banned at Boston Calling 2024?
Before getting into the banned items, here are a few things you can bring to the Boston Calling 2024:
— Small clutch purses and fanny packs that are 6″ x 9″ or smaller with no more than one pocket
— Hydration packs and reusable water bottles that are empty
— Cameras without detachable lenses or other accessories like tripods
— Sunscreen in non-aerosol cans, provided they are 3.4 ounces or less
Now for the list of stuff you can’t bring:
— Aerosol containers, glass containers, coolers, hammocks, chairs, blankets, towels, inflatables, umbrellas, strollers, carts, frisbees, binoculars, professional recording equipment, drones, selfie sticks, fireworks, illegal substances, and weapons.
Additionally, Boston Calling remains a smoke-free festival. The festival’s rules no longer explicitly ban items like cigarettes or vapes by name, but its guidelines say that “medicines needing to be inhaled or smoked” can only be done via “a prescribed inhaler,” which effectively means the same thing.
Can I still buy tickets to Boston Calling 2024?
You can still purchase tickets of almost every type on the Boston Calling website. The only day with limited availability is Sunday, which has sold out of GA and Platinum tickets.
Single-day tickets cost $196 for GA, $320 for GA+, $499 for VIP, and $1399 for Platinum. All of the listed prices already include fees, so you won’t have the usual unpleasant surprise of prices jumping when you get ready to pay.
Three-day tickets, meanwhile, cost $392 for GA, $639 for GA+, $1199 for VIP, and $2899 for Platinum.
There are also a number of tickets available below those price points on secondary ticket resale websites like StubHub. Though StubHub offers a money-back guarantee for fraudulent tickets, Boston Calling says that it cannot guarantee the authenticity of any tickets not purchased directly through its website.
Boston, MA
Boston Pops gearing up for major July 4th celebration: ‘You only turn 250 once’ – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News
BOSTON (WHDH) – The Boston Pops are preparing for their Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular this weekend with half a million people expected to celebrate the United States’ 250th birthday on the Charles River Esplanade.
The President and CEO of Boston Symphony Orchestra said an even bigger celebration is being prepared at the hatch-shell this year.
“Everything is bigger. You only turn 250 once!” said Chad Smith, President and CEO of Boston Symphony. “We recognize that Massachusetts has been a center of revolution, not just in the Revolutionary War, but through the last 250 years. That spirit, sense of innovation, the sense of pushing our country forward is going to be on display as well.”
Organizers are bringing in lighting, sound equipment, extra stages, and of course – the fireworks.
“Planning to bring in new details and amplify the experience on the Fourth of July with a bigger firework show. They’re going to have drones for the first time, amazing talent,” said Kate Fox, Executive Director at the Massachusetts Office of Travel & Tourism.
This year’s spectacular is being hosted by actress Jane Lynch, and will feature performances by country star Lainey Wilson, Chance the Rapper, Trombone Shorty, and Broadway star Megan Hilty.
“We’re going to have remarkable artists that represent the vast diversity and breadth of American music,” Smith said.
The Boston Pops have been performing on the Esplanade for the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular for 52 years, and organizers said this year’s show will highlight the history of Massachusetts.
“The history of the Pops is so closely tied to the Massachusetts story on the Fourth of July,” Fox said.
The fireworks show will begin at 9:15 p.m., and will be set to live music from the Pops.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
When Americans think of the beverage that fueled the American Revolution, they usually picture black tea — but it turns out that green tea was just as popular.
The Founding Fathers and their contemporaries drank both types of tea, Bruce Richardson, the Kentucky-based founder of Elmwood Inn Fine Teas, told Fox News Digital.
British subjects “were as likely to be drinking green tea as black tea, whether you were in Jane Austen [era] England … or you were in colonial Boston,” he added.
“There were five teas, all from China, because that was the only country that was exporting tea,” Richardson said. “And of those five different teas, two of them were green and three of them were black.”
Richardson, a tea historian who works as the tea master at the Boston Tea Party Ships & Museum, said the five types of tea dumped into Boston Harbor in protest of the Tea Act of 1773 included three black varieties — Bohea, Souchong and Congou — as well as the green teas Hyson and Singlo.
Bohea, the most common and least expensive black tea of the era, was often made from older tea leaves harvested after the highest-quality leaves of the season had already been picked.
Most of the tea dumped into Boston Harbor was Bohea, Richardson said — and it was so ubiquitous that he compared it to the way Kleenex has become synonymous with tissues today.
“It was so common that often teapots at the time, or some that I’ve seen, would say Bohea on the side of the teapot,” he said. “If they wanted tea, they’d say, ‘I’ll have a cup of Bohea.’ It was that common.”
Not only did colonial Americans distinguish between green and black tea, they even stored them differently.
“They still wanted their tea time, but they didn’t want to support the British government.”
“The well-to-do people would have a tea caddy – a wooden, beautifully made tea caddy to store their tea in,” he said.
“It was kept under lock and key. And in that tea caddy, [there] would be two compartments, one for green tea and one for black tea.”
Merchants often favored black tea because it held up better during the long voyage from China to Europe and onward to the American colonies, Richardson said.
“The green tea was what China had always drunk,” he said.
“And so they were exporting that as well, but they found that the black tea actually made the voyage better than the green teas.”
Even after many colonists swore off British tea, they kept the ritual of drinking it — or at least a close substitute.
Many patriots brewed so-called “Liberty Teas” made from ingredients such as dried apples, blueberries, chamomile and herbs grown in their gardens.
“They still wanted their tea time, but they didn’t want to support the British government,” Richardson said.
Watch CBS News
-
Michigan3 minutes agoWhitmer says she will pull Michigan National Guard from D.C. if troops used in Trump’s Safe and Beautiful Mission
-
Massachusetts6 minutes agoMassachusetts dad on ‘adventure of a lifetime’ left fighting for his life in Fiji after noticing bug bite
-
Minnesota11 minutes agoInvasive ‘bloody red shrimp’ reach Lake Superior
-
Mississippi18 minutes agoMississippi Lottery Mississippi Match 5, Cash 3 results for June 30, 2026
-
Missouri21 minutes agoMissouri Sports Betting May 2026: $256.4M Handle, Record $21.3M Revenue
-
Montana26 minutes ago
Montana Lottery Mega Millions, Big Sky Bonus results for June 30, 2026
-
Nebraska33 minutes agoErstad joins Nebraska golf program
-
Nevada36 minutes ago‘Arrive Alive’ initiative with Nevada Department of Public Safety, FOX5
