On Wednesday morning, Mayor Michelle Wu announced the city's 2025 schedule of Open Streets events, with five weekend street festivals in Dorchester, Roxbury, Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Jamaica Plain, plus 11 car-free Sundays for Newbury Street in the Back Bay this summer and fall.
"When we see streets shut down to car traffic, community gets to take over. Small businesses have tables out in the street, kids are running back and forth, without having any worries at all, music, dancing, food – it's really the best of what our public spaces look like," said Mayor Wu at a press conference on Wednesday at Mattahunt Community Center.
The dates and locations for this year's events are:
- Grove Hall in Roxbury: Saturday, July 12 – Blue Hill Ave. from Warren Street to Quincy Street (0.4 miles)
- Hyde Park: Sunday, August 10 – Hyde Park Ave. and River Street to Fairmount Street and Davison Street (0.2 miles)
- Lower Mills and Ashmont in Dorchester: Sunday, September 14 – Dorchester Ave. from Ashmont Street to Adams Street (0.9 miles)
- Mattapan Square: Saturday, October 18 – Blue Hill Ave. from River Street to Babson Street (0.1 miles)
- Jamaica Plain: Sunday, November 2 – Centre Street from Lamartine Street/Jackson Square to South Street (1.4 miles)
- Back Bay: every Sunday between July 13 and August 24, plus Sunday, Sept. 7, Sunday, Sept. 14, Sunday, Sept. 21, and Sunday, December 7 –on Newbury Street from the Berkeley St. to Mass. Ave. (0.8 miles)
Notably absent from this year's schedule are events for East Boston and Allston/Brighton, which had previously hosted Open Streets festivals in 2023 and 2024.
This year's events will also be held earlier in the day: streets will be closed to motor vehicles starting at 9:00 a.m., then reopen at 4:00 p.m., whereas last year's events ran from 10:30 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The Open Newbury events will last from 10:00 a.m. until 8:00 p.m.
The city is also seeking organizations, potential sponsors, and vendors to participate in this year's event. To register, fill out this form.
Additional details for this summer's schedule have been posted to the city's website, at boston.gov/openstreets.
