Student life

Art, music and dancing take over Charles River bank as the Cambridge River Festival unwinds along a mile-long stretch of Memorial Drive. Jazz, folk, and world music boom from multiple stages and all kinds of art is displayed.

Established in 1980, Boston's Dragon Boat Festival takes over the Charles River between JFK Street and Western Avenue Bridge for two days. Just follow the thundering sounds of the drums to the river for New England's biggest Asian American celebration.

Boston's small but central Chinatown stages its annual summer festival. Sponsored by the Chinatown Business Association, Chinatown Main Street Festival celebrates all kinds of Asian arts, from Japanese drumming to Burmese dancing and Peking Opera.

Over 5000 kids aged between three and ten take over the City Hall Plaza in Boston for a day of face-painting frolics, interactive history and marine education. The annual event also features live entertainment.

Chowder, a thick soup most commonly made with clams, is a New England delicacy. More than 2000 gallons are served up in City Hall Plaza during Boston Chowderfest, a cornerstone of the annual Harborfest celebrations.

The Fourth of July is not only the single most important date in the American calendar and the birthday of the nation, but is also timed to be the culmination of the Boston Harborfest celebrations, guaranteeing an awesome day and night of public rejoicing.

Boston's massive Harborfest attracts over two million people to the city's waterfront. Around 200 events, most of which are free, take place during this six-day, family-oriented festival, designed to celebrate Boston's rich maritime heritage as well as the nation's independence.

Join the crowds in Boston for a Fourth of July tradition. The Captain Commanding of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company reads America's Declaration of Independence from the balcony of the Old State House, where it was originally read in 1776.

Every July, Boston's French Library throws a party for Bastille Day, celebrating French language and culture with a street festival and concert and plenty of French food. Outdoor events take place on Marlborough Street between Berkeley & Clarendon.

Budding young poets come together to enjoy rhyme and verse each year at the National Poetry Slam. The event moves around the cities of the USA and is in a different city each year.

Boston's Chinatown stages one of its largest events, the August Moon Festival, held around the Chinatown Gateway arch on Harrison Avenue. The celebration is traditionally a time for people to gather for moon-watching parties, with children carrying brightly coloured lanterns.

Boston's annual Berklee Bean Town Jazz Festival draws tens of thousands of jazz fans and a world-class line-up of musicians to Columbus Avenue each year. It includes three stages of live music, food and craft stores and a family park area.

Known universally as America's pastime, watching a baseball game is the quintessential American experience. Fenway Park is home to the Boston Red Sox Major League Baseball team and stages regular games from April to September.

Cambridge's Annual Oktoberfest and Honk Festival, held in Harvard Square, has more to do with dancing, parading and picking pumpkins than beer. Billed as the ultimate "taste of" event, this street party also has live entertainment on six stages.

Boston's Fenway Cultural District celebrates Columbus Day by throwing open all its cultural doors and hosting a number of special celebrations. Opening Our Doors Day is rapidly becoming the city's largest free cultural event for families.

The BAA, organisers of the famous Boston Marathon, sponsor this new half-marathon, first held in 2001. The 21km (13.1 mile) out-and-back route takes runners through Boston's "Emerald Necklace" chain of parks.

The Head Of the Charles Regatta, the world's largest rowing event, was first held in 1965 in tribute to the Oxford-Cambridge university boat race in the UK. Races begin at the Boston University Bridge and end at the Elliot Bridge.

The annual Mayor's Cup Cross-Country Races at Franklin Park gives local runners, especially road racers, their single cross-country racing opportunity of the year. For colleges, the event offers an ideal preparatory race.

High on the calendar for Boston philanthropists and socialites, the annual Steppin' Out black-tie fundraising gala dazzles guests with a night of top-class entertainment to raise money for Dimock Community Center. Celebrations take place at the The Westin Copley Place Hotel

The annual Boston Vegetarian Food Festival arrives at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center for a day of meat-free celebration. It's also a great opportunity to do a bit of shopping - all the suppliers offer special discounts for the show.

The Harpoon Brewery hosts Boston's largest Octoberfest Festival celebration. Expect back-to-back oompah band music, plenty of German food and beer and lots of contests. Needless to say, a wide selection of Harpoon's Boston-brewed beers are available for tasting.

Featuring the work of 350 American master craftsmen, the Christmas Festival has been hosted by Boston's World Trade Center since 1982. Meet the creative minds who fashioned pieces on display, and view the winners of the annual Gingerbread House Competition.

Seasonal music reverberates around Faneuil Hall Marketplace as bell ringers, the Boston Symphony Orchestra and a capella choirs entertain the crowds at Boston's annual Tree Lighting Ceremony. Be there when the switch is flipped and over 300,000 lights brighten the square.

Out on the Edge, at the Boston Center for the Arts, is considered to be one of the world's best queer theatre festivals. Listen to satire sung a cappella, watch provocative performance art and enjoy a dance extravaganza!

Every Tuesday and Friday, locals enjoy the finest summertime fruits as New England farmers bring their wares to Copley Square's Farmers Market in the heart of Boston. The market is along Saint James Avenue in front of the Trinity Church.

Boston's Faneuil Hall Marketplace gets into the holiday spirit with this noisy annual concert. Over 200 tubas perform popular seasonal songs in a bizarre attempt to convince visitors to spend lots of money on gifts.

The lighting of Boston Common, a tradition dating back over 60 years, heralds in the Christmas season. A pretty sight, the Common takes on another dimension with the lights laced through the boughs of its trees.

Held in the Cyclorama of the Boston Center for the Arts, the annual Medicine Wheel exhibition, created by Michael Dowling, has become an important community occasion for mourning, sharing and celebrating World Aids Day. A 24-hour vigil begins at midnight.

The Swedish Women's Educational Association's Annual Christmas Fair comes early at the Boston Center for the Arts. Here's your chance to taste how Christmas is experienced in Scandinavia - hot mulled wine, music, dancing and St Lucia included.

Old South Meeting House is the place to be as Boston's spirited folk re-enact one of their most glorious historical moments - the 'Boston Tea Party' of 1773. Visitors can participate in the re-enactment, in which "protesters" rally against the tea tax.

Every year, come New Year's Eve, Bostonians fill up every square inch of downtown Boston. First Night Boston is a seriously long, seriously large party, full of noise and lots to see and do.

The Boston Celtic Music Festival brings music from Scotland, Brittany, Ireland and Quebec to venues across Boston, including Club Passim and Springstep. It's a celebration of the unique sound and culture of the Celtic nations.

The Boston Winter Jubilee at The Castle is the Beer Summit's annual extreme beer event. None of the brews is under 7% ABV. The event is only open to Beer Summit members, but membership is easily available from their website.

The US's largest consumer wine show, the Boston Wine Expo fills the cavernous World Trade Center. Connoisseurs can choose samples from among 1800 wines offered by 450 wineries and enjoy demonstrations by 15 different chefs on two stages.

Spend Valentine's Day reliving the glories of Casablanca at the Brattle Theatre in Cambridge, near Boston. Be shocked at gambling in Rick's Café Americain! Weep as Dooley Wilson plays As Time Goes By! Thrill as Rick Blaine dispatches Strasser!

Harvard's Hasty Pudding Theatricals Company presents its annual show at the theatre in Harvard Square, Cambridge. This student-written burlesque is usually hokey by all standards, but a true tradition bringing star power to the streets of Harvard Square.

The first ever St Patrick's Day celebration in America happened in 1737 in Boston, and it still boasts one of the USA's biggest St Patrick's Day parties. The large Celtic population, colourful floats and delicious foods make a day to remember.

The North East's largest seafood event takes place at the new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. Although largely catering for those in the culinary trades, the International Boston Seafood Show also offers conferences and other vital fishy information.

Enjoy a turn around the ice on Boston Common's Frog Pond. Set amidst the majestic trees of Boston's ancient park, with landmarks like Massachusetts' golden State House dome as a backdrop, the kidney-shaped pond offers skaters incomparable surroundings.

Over 50 wineries participate in the annual Boston Wine Festival. Held over three months at the Harbor Hotel, with its famous golden-domed pavilion and views over the waterfront, the festival is the longest running of its kind in the US.

Seattle's Penny Arcade Expo isn't the biggest gaming expo around but who says size matters? Held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, the event showcases new games and also lets visitors join in on gaming tournaments.

Boston Bruins play their NHL ice hockey games at TD Garden. Among the first American ice hockey franchises, and one of the most successful, the team has resided in Boston since 1925. The regular season runs from October to April.

The Patriots' Day celebrations in Boston commemorate the start of the American Revolution, which began in and around Boston, with a combination of parades and re-enactments. Unsurprisingly, the celebrations are the most spectacular in New England.

The Boston Marathon traditionally takes place on Patriots' Day, the April Monday which commemorates the opening salvo of the American Revolution. Around 20,000 athletes run from rural Hopkinton to Copley Square in the heart of the Back Bay neighbourhood.

One of the most recognisable sports teams in the world, the Boston Celtics play their NBA basketball games at the TD Banknorth Garden. The regular season runs from October until April. Please visit the NBA website for full details of fixtures.

Every spring Boston's Museum of Fine Arts decks its galleries with bouquets and arrangements of fresh flowers by 70 New England garden clubs and professional florists. The displays interpret selected artworks from the museum's outstanding collection.

Cambridge's annual Mayfair offers loads of street entertainment within a six-block circuit of Harvard Square. Three stages of live music, children's rides, face painters, balloon twisters, puppeteers, dance troupes and Harvard Square's famous street performers keep visitors happy.

Art, music and dancing take over Charles River bank as the Cambridge River Festival unwinds along a mile-long stretch of Memorial Drive. Jazz, folk, and world music boom from multiple stages and all kinds of art is displayed.

Boston's small but central Chinatown stages its annual summer festival. Sponsored by the Chinatown Business Association, Chinatown Main Street Festival celebrates all kinds of Asian arts, from Japanese drumming to Burmese dancing and Peking Opera.

Over 5000 kids aged between three and ten take over the City Hall Plaza in Boston for a day of face-painting frolics, interactive history and marine education. The annual event also features live entertainment.