Boston, MA

Mass Appeal: Boston Lights – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

Published

2 years ago

September 5, 2024

Mass Appeal: Boston Lights – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

BOSTON (WHDH) – If you’re looking for something to brighten up your night – you might want to head over to the Franklin Park Zoo for Boston Lights.

A new, immersive display is taking the classic light show to a whole new level.

“We find a lot of jaw marks on the ground because everybody’s jaws are just dropping when they go through this,” said John Lenahan, president and CEO of Zoo New England. “These are really works of art. It really is one photo op after another.”

The shining sculptures focus on four different themes. Dive in to an underwater world, marvel at bright flower blooms, and then journey through China and India.

“The reaction is really of pure joy. You look at some of these lanterns and you say, ‘How do they make that happen?’ There’s really a lot of technology behind it,” Lenahan said.

Lenahan invited 7News to wander through a mile and a half of dazzling displays.

“It takes a solid month, seven days a week, for installation,” he said. “I think we had 42 tractor trailers that came to the zoo and dropped off materials.”

There are so many lanterns to look at. It might be hard to pick a favorite.

“For me it was the shark mouth and entering the shark mouth,” one visitor said.

“Probably the bars with the fish on top,” said another.

“I really like the peacocks and how they’re constantly changing colors,” a third said.

As for the animals — they’re trading in the bright lights for a good night’s sleep.

“Our animals, for the most part, are behind the scenes at these hours, having their dinner, getting ready for bed. So you don’t see that many animals,” said Lenahan.

But you will see a lot of smiles.

“It brings together all kinds of people into an experience that is interactive and is fun for everybody,” Lenahan said.

Sweet memories… coming to light.

Boston Lights is open every night now through Nov. 3, from 5 to 10:30 p.m. You can buy tickets online or at the door.

You can find more information here.

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Boston, MA

Investigation underway after daylight shooting in Dorchester leaves person hospitalized – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

Published

4 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Investigation underway after daylight shooting in Dorchester leaves person hospitalized – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

BOSTON (WHDH) – Police are investigating a shooting in Dorchester on Saturday afternoon that left a person hospitalized, officials said.

Officers responding to a reported shooting in the area of 480 Quincy St. around 3 p.m. found a person suffering from a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, according to Boston police. The person was taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their injuries.

Ballistic evidence was recovered nearby in the area of Coleman Street.

No arrests have been made.

No additional information was immediately available.

This is a developing news story; stay with 7NEWS on-air and online for the latest details.

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Boston, MA

Boston hosts one of the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

Published

16 hours ago

March 7, 2026

Press Room

Boston hosts one of the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations

With St. Patrick’s Day only two weeks away, the city of Boston is preparing to host the biggest celebration of the holiday in all of Massachusetts – the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day parade.

However, the Southie parade is not only one of the biggest St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the country, but also one of the oldest. In fact, Boston first hosted a parade for St. Patrick’s Day in 1737, 39 years before the country itself was even formed. While the celebration has not happened every year since then, according to the date of establishment, Boston’s parade is the second-oldest St. Patrick’s Day parade in the world.

Here’s a brief history of South Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

History of Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade

According to the parade website, the city of Boston first hosted a St. Patrick’s Day parade on March 17, 1737. The celebration was “a gesture of solidarity among the city’s new Irish immigrants,” as “Boston’s Irish community joined together in festivities of their homeland to honor the memory of the Patron Saint of Ireland.”

In 1901, the parade moved to South Boston, a neighborhood with a large Irish population. Southie is also home to Dorchester Heights, where British troops evacuated Boston on March 17, 1776. Given the significance of both occasions to the city, Boston’s annual parade came to celebrate both St. Patrick’s Day and Irish heritage, as well as Evacuation Day and military service.

The parade happens each year on the Sunday closest to St. Patrick’s Day, taking a break in 1994 and again in 2020-21.

What is the oldest St. Patrick’s Day celebration?

The oldest recorded celebration of St. Patrick’s Day took place in St. Augustine, Florida in 1600, with the city’s first parade following in 1601.

According to University of South Florida history professor J. Michael Francis, “The first recorded St. Patrick’s Day celebrations in the United States did not occur in Boston or New York. Rather, those who first gathered to venerate St. Patrick and process through city streets included a blend of Spaniards, Africans, Native Americans, Portuguese, a French surgeon, a German fifer, and at least two Irishmen, who marched together in honor of the Irish saint.”

While St. Augustine still hosts a parade for the Irish holiday today, the oldest continuous St. Patrick’s Day Parade is in New York City, where there has been a parade every year since 1762.

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Boston, MA

Andris Nelsons out as music director of Boston Symphony at end of 2026-27 season

Published

1 day ago

March 6, 2026

Press Room

Andris Nelsons out as music director of Boston Symphony at end of 2026-27 season

Entertainment

Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras.

Latvian conductor Andris Nelsons conducts the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra during a rehearsal for the traditional New Year’s concert at the golden hall of Vienna’s Musikverein, in Vienna, Austria, Monday, Dec. 30, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, File) AP

By RONALD BLUM, Associated Press

March 6, 2026 | 6:00 PM

2 minutes to read

Andris Nelsons is being forced out as music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra in the summer of 2027 after 13 seasons.

The orchestra made an unusually blunt announcement Friday.

“The decision to not renew his contract was made by the BSO’s board of trustees because, beyond our shared desire to ensure our orchestra continues to perform at the highest levels, the BSO and Andris Nelsons were not aligned on future vision,” the BSO said in a statement from its trustees and CEO Chad Smith.

A five-time Grammy award winner, the 47-year-old Nelsons is currently leading the Vienna Philharmonic on a U.S. tour and was to conduct the orchestra in Naples, Florida, on Friday night.

“While this is not the decision I anticipated or wanted, I am unwaveringly committed to you and to our work together,” Nelson wrote in a letter to BSO musicians and staff that was released by his management agency. “I understand the decision was not related to artistic standards, performances, or achievements during my tenure, and, therefore, my focus is straightforward: to protect the music, support the orchestra’s stability, and continue to perform with the musicians of the BSO at the highest artistic level.”

Nelsons made his BSO debut in March 2011 at New York’s Carnegie Hall as a replacement for James Levine, who announced 10 days earlier he was stepping down as BSO music director at the end of the 2010-11 season because of poor health.

Nelson was announced as music director in May 2013 and given a five-year contract starting with the 2014-15 season. The orchestra announced contract extensions in 2015 and 2020, then in January 2024 said he was given an evergreen rolling contract. He was bestowed an added title of head of conducting at Tanglewood, the music and educational center that is the orchestra’s summer home.

The last extension was announced a few months after Smith, who had been with the Los Angeles Philharmonic, started as the BSO’s chief executive.

Nelsons was music director of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra in Britain from 2008-09 and has been chief conductor of Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra in Germany since the 2017-18 season. He married soprano Kristine Opolais in 2011, and in 2018 they announced their divorce.

Boston will have the third vacancy among major U.S. orchestras. Gustavo Dudamel is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer after 17 seasons to become music director of the New York Philharmonic and Franz Welser-Möst will depart the Cleveland Orchestra at the end of 2026-27 after 25 seasons.

In addition, Klaus Mäkelä takes over the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in 2027-28, when he also starts as chief conductor the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in the Netherlands.

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