The holiday spirit is upon us, but so is the pressure to spend. Fret not, there are several cost-conscious, merry-making activities and events throughout the city. This week includes two seasonal symphonic evenings, opportunities for hands-on artistic expressions, and a winter workout that hits the pavement — while on two wheels. Here are some no-cost events and ways to save across Greater Boston and beyond for the week of Dec. 8-14.
YULETIDE TUNES The New England Conservatory presents a family-friendly concert of Christmas classics, performed by the NEC’s Chamber Singers and Symphonic Winds groups, alongside the Rhode Island-based Navy Band Northeast. The program includes recognizable classics like “Christmas Time Is Here” and “Winter Wonderland.” Attendees are encouraged to test their caroling know-how during the concert’s sing-along segment, so it’s time to brush up on favorites like “Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Silent Night.” Dec. 8, 7:30 p.m. RSVP required. Jordan Hall, 30 Gainsborough St. necmusic.edu
DOODLES AT THE GALLERY The Institute of Contemporary Art’s Neighborhood Night offers free admission to all guests starting at 5 p.m. Throughout the evening, attendees can join two drop-in drawing workshops — one model, one portrait. At 7 p.m., join a guided gallery tour of Zimbabwean artist Portia Zvavahera’s exhibition, or visit the museum’s on-display exhibitions at any time. Dec. 11, 5-9 p.m. Institute of Contemporary Art, 25 Harbor Shore Drive. icaboston.org
The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston offers free admission on Thursday starting at 5 p.m. for its Neighborhood Night event.Lauren Miller/ICA Boston
GAMES AND GINGERBREAD Get a little competitive — in a cheery, spirited way, of course — at BAMS Fest’s holiday game night, featuring a wide variety of board and tabletop games available throughout the Roundhead Brewing taproom. In addition to Jenga, Uno, and checkers, attendees can find a gingerbread house-making station with building materials provided while supplies last. DJ Kitz will play tunes throughout the night. Dec. 12, 7-11 p.m. Roundhead Brewing Company, 1 Westinghouse Plaza. bamsfest.org
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YOUTH MUSIC The Boston Youth Symphony Orchestra will perform a free concert of holiday hits. The showcase features a string and wind ensemble made up of students from the BYSO’s Intensive Concert Program, which provides opportunities to young Bostonians from underrepresented backgrounds who are interested in classical music. Dec. 13, 5 p.m. Tsai Performance Center, 685 Commonwealth Ave. www.bysoweb.org/events
The Ciclismo Classico Jingle Ride.Ciclismo Classico
BIKE THE HALLS If you’ve ever wanted to fly through the skies on Santa’s sleigh, the annual Jingle Ride is maybe as close as you can get: The 18.5-mile bike ride, which traverses from Arlington to Boston and back, meets up at the Kickstand Café and takes off at 11 a.m. Riders are encouraged to dress up in Santa hats, antlers, or other festive fashion. Dec. 14, 11 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Starts at Kickstand Café, 594 Massachusetts Ave., Arlington. ciclismoclassico.com
SWEEP-STEAKS The Aeronaut Brewing Company will host a Holiday Meat Raffle for cuts of meat from Savenor’s, a Cambridge butcher shop. Attendees get one raffle ticket for walking in, and are given a ticket for each donation of an unexpired, nonperishable food item, for up to five extra tickets. There are five baskets to win, each with vacuum-sealed cuts of meat (or pantry items, for the meatless prize). Dec. 13, 5-7 p.m. Aeronaut Brewing Company, 14 Tyler St., Somerville. aeronautbrewing.com
Check individual event websites for the most up-to-date information.
Send info on free events and special offers at least 10 days in advance to ryan.yau@globe.com.
“Leave your car at home, and take the T,” said Deirdre Habershaw, MBTA’s deputy chief operating officer, at a press conference held at Seaport.
Six more tall ships are expected than the number that came during the last Tall Sail Boston event in June 2017. Boston is the tour’s last port after it stops at New Orleans, Norfolk, Baltimore, and New York City.
Organizers expect the visitors to gather along the waterfront throughout the week, but anticipate the highest number on July 11 for the Parade of Sail, the event’s centerpiece.
During it, dozens of vessels enter Boston Harbor in a coordinated procession. The USS Constitution, the world’s oldest commissioned warship still afloat, and the U.S Coast Guard’s Eagle, the training vessel used to train future Coast Guard officers, will lead the fleet. They’ll be followed by ships representing countries like Argentina, Colombia, India, Italy, Portugal, and Uruguay, celebrating the country’s 250th anniversary by making it a global gathering.
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Along with increased subway service that day, there will also be shuttle connections linking major lines to waterfront access points, transit officials said. Dedicated shuttle services will be provided from the Red Line’s JFK/UMass station to the Castle Island parking lot and from the Orange Line’s Sullivan station to the Charlestown Navy Yard.
“On July 11, all ferries will be suspended to accommodate the security infrastructure within the harbor,” Habershaw said. “All ferry routes will operate on normal schedules from July 12 through the 16th.”
In 2022 several tall ships were docked at the Boston Fish Pier as pleasure boats cruised past. John Tlumacki
A key infrastructure addition this year is the deployment of temporary dock extensions at multiple waterfront points, including near the courthouse dock area and behind Leader Bank Pavilion.
“We’re putting a large system to extend it to accommodate more tall ships in the harbor,” said David Choate, director of operations of Sail Boston, adding that the construction of said docks starts next week.
Boston Police Superintendent Lanita Cullinane said that all laws will be enforced throughout the event, including bans on open containers, public alcohol consumption, marijuana use, drones, and oversized bags in viewing areas.
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Sail Boston will be on both land and at sea, so security personnel will include city and state officers, as well as the Boston Police Department’s harbor unit.
“There’s going to be some things that we have to do to cater it to the different areas where the events are taking place,” Cullinane said during an interview after the conference.
Nick Gove, chief of streets for the City of Boston, said during the event that there will be temporary road closures along the waterfront in the North End, South Boston, East Boston, and the Navy Yard in Charlestown. He recommended that residents who live near the waterfront review the closures on event days.
“Public works and transportation team will provide supplemental sanitation services, parking enforcement, and traffic management to help keep our streets clean, safe, and efficient,” Gove said.
This year, a major digital component will support crowd control: a dedicated mobile application that will provide real-time updates on ship locations, boarding schedules, transit conditions, and crowd density indicators. The app went live on Wednesday.
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“If we know, for example, Commonwealth Pier is very crowded, but Charlestown Navy Yard is not, we would put that sort of public-facing information up to direct people where they don’t have to wait,” Choate said during an interview.
Midshipmen stood along the rigging of the ARC Gloria of Colombia, as it entered Boston Harbor during the tall ships arrived for OpSail in 2012. The Boston Globe/Globe Freelance
Visitors will have the opportunity to tour many of the vessels for free during the week, although boarding procedures and availability will vary by ship. Many of the larger vessels will dock in and around the Seaport, including near Fan Pier and the Boston Fish Pier, making the neighborhood the center of activity during the celebration.
“We are prepared for all of the events that are taking place over the summer,” Cullinane said. “And we’ll continue to operate as we have been.”
Aayushi Datta can be reached at aayushi.datta@globe.com.
BOSTON (WHDH) – Boston middle schooler Teddy Demoze was selected to compete in the NBA Math Hoops championship.
The global competition uses NBA and WNBA statistics to help students learn math skills. Demoze will compete against 28 students from the U.S., France, Australia, Mexico, and South Korea.
It starts next week and coincides with the NBA Draft. The final round will be held at the NBA headquarters.
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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While the veracity of the rumors involving Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Boston Celtics continue to be debated, there are a couple of very important people are missing about all of this should this trade come to pass.
Boston’s style of play will not change, and simply swapping Jaylen Brown for Antetokounmpo doesn’t change the trajectory of the team so significantly that Brad Stevens’ work will be done.
For some reason, there is a school of thought that acquiring Antetokounmpo, a noted non-shooter, would materially change Boston’s offensive strategy. It won’t. It doesn’t mean things won’t be a little different, but this notion that Antetokounmpo will force Mazzulla to scrap his approach and try something new is false.
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The Bucks have routinely been in the top five in three-point attempts beginning in the 2018-19 season, Antetokounmpo’s first MVP run. Beginning in that season, they have ranked second, fourth, eighth, fifth, fourth, fifth, 18th, and 10th. The last two seasons when they dropped out of the top were coached by Doc Rivers.
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According to PBPStats.com, Antetokounmpo has assisted on more three-pointers than two-pointers in each of the past two seasons, with a low of 209 three created in in the 2023 season, and a high of 290 created the following year. Over his career, he has assisted on 2,325 three-pointers. That’s almost as many as Jaylen Brown and Derrick White have made combined (2,437) over their entire careers.
It should be no surprise that Antetokounmpo is a three-point generating machine. His drives are massively effective, and they generally require a lot of defensive help. That opens up passing lanes to shooters, which Antetokounmpo finds regularly.
If anything, we could see Boston’s three-point volume go up. Brown’s closest season generating that kind of three-point volume was this past season when he created 196 over 71 games. By contrast, Antetokounmpo created 135 over 36 games. So anyone pushing for the Antetokounmpo trade thinking it will force Mazzulla’s hand to change strategies is sorely mistaken. “Mazzulla-ball” will probably take off under these circumstances.
Which brings us to the work Stevens will have to do once they theoretically acquire Antetokounmpo.
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Giannis flirted with some volume three-point shooting a few years ago, averaging 4.7 attempts in 2020, his second MVP season, and 3.6 in each of the next two, but he’s a career 28.5% shooter from deep who peaked at 34.7% in his rookie season. Mazzulla is willing to go with one non-shooter on the floor, but generally not two.
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So where does that leave Neemias Queta?
How would the Celtics build an offense with Queta, a non-shooter, and Antetokounmpo on the floor at the same time? The drives that Antetokounmpo is known for would be clogged with defenders who already know to build a wall to prevent him from getting to the rim. What worked in Milwaukee was playing Brook Lopez at center and having him stretch the floor. Boston doesn’t have that element right now. The closest thing they had to that, Nikola Vucevic, never got his footing in his short stint in Boston and seems to be done here.
A straight swap of Antetokounmpo and Brown will obviously upgrade a top 15 player to a top five player, but Brown led the NBA in two-point attempts per game last season with 16. At his peak, Antetokounmpo averaged 17 or 18 two-point attempts per game, but Brown’s three-point shooting does add an element of floor spacing that Antetokounmpo doesn’t. A straight swap of those two players creates a bit of a fit issue with the current starting center that would have to be addressed.
This also doesn’t solve Boston’s need for a third scorer and some punch off the bench. Stevens will still have to use his mid-level exception to find that no matter which of the two stars is in Boston to start the season.
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We can debate whether Antetokounmpo or Brown make Boston more of a favorite next season, but that debate is leading people down some wrong paths. Giannis isn’t some cure for the three-point-heavy Celtics offense. In fact, it might be more appropriate to call him Gasoline Antetokounmpo for what he might do for the shooting volume. And any notion that everything is fixed with Antetokounmpo in the fold is wrong. Stevens will have to solve some fit issues and still address needs that exist today.