Locals Step Up For Popular MA Festival Plus 12 MA Events This Weekend

MASSACHUSETTS — It isn't so much a question of what there is to do in the Boston area and beyond, but rather, what should locals do?

Welcome to Patch's latest weekly roundup of highlight-worthy events across the city and surrounding areas. We've compiled them into one, easy-to-follow list, for your weekend planning.

To start this week's column, we'll head to Lowell, where the community has rallied around the beloved Lowell Folk Festival when a sudden funding change made the 2025 festival's future a little fuzzy.

When the National Endowment for the Arts rescinded grants to not-for-profit arts organizations around the country earlier this year, the 2025 Lowell Folk Festival was among those affected, organizers said.

The community of Lowell has responded, with long-time festival supporters coming through with naming sponsorships for three performance stages.

Festival goers will now be entertained at the Rockland Trust Bank Dance Pavilion, the Richard K and Nancy L Donahue Foundation Stage at St. Anne’s and the Saab Family Foundation Market Street Stage.

“We are grateful for the outpouring of support from the entire community,” said Festival Director Lee Viliesis. “In addition to the new stage sponsorships, we were overwhelmed by the number of individual contributions we received from festival fans both near and far when they heard about the funding set-back.”

The diverse line-up of musicians scheduled to play the 2025 Lowell Folk Festival include Cajun legend BeauSoleil, Irish favorites Solas, blues rockers Lil’ Ed & the Blues Imperials, Gospel ensemble The Bullock Brothers, flamenco dancer and singer LOS RICOS featuring Sonia & Ismael, West Africa’s Bamba Wassoulou Groove, fado guitarist Ricard Parreira and bluegrass group Crooked Road Revival.

The festival is slated to begin Friday, July 25 and run through Sunday, July 27. You can find the full event schedule here.

For this weekend, here's what is on the calendar in Massachusetts:

Friday

• Jack's Abby 14th Anniversary Fair — Framingham
• Lamb of God with Hatebreed and Shadows Fall at Mass Mutual Center — Springfield
• Russ at Xfinity Center — Mansfield
• Dinosaur Jr. and Snail Mail at Roadrunner — Boston
• Pixies at MGM Music Hall (Friday with Momma, Saturday with Kurt Vile) — Boston

Saturday

• Cape Cod Baseball League All-Star Game — Yarmouth
• Trombone Shorty with JJ Grey and Mofro at Cape Cod Melody Tent — Hyannis
• Styx at Xfinity Center — Mansfield
• LouGotCash, Bay Swag and Cash Cobain at The Palladium — Worcester
• Shinedown with Dance, Kid, Dance at TD Garden — Boston
• White Denim at The Sinclair — Cambridge
• Men I Trust at Roadrunner — Boston