Boston isn’t a city known for its urban entertainment. We’ve been know to be a title town or university city among other things. But when it comes to night life and the music scene, Boston is a place that rarely comes up in conversation. The tides appear to be changing around here though. Artists like BIA, FELIX! and MILLYZ are making industry moves, and the fact that Boston is a stop on almost every major tour are testaments to Boston’s impact in the entertainment sector outside of sports. The casino Encore, restaurants and various clubs throughout the city have proven to provide great entertainment as they are frequent by Celtics players and celebrities from different domains of entertainment. It really feels like there has been a collective push to focus on adult recreation and entertainment here in Boston.
Among all the new things to do in Boston are festivals. Since mayor Wu took office here in Boston in 2021, there has been a push to focus on Boston’s neighborhoods. Grants and allocation funds were given out to help facilitate some of the cities most anticipated festivals. BAMS Fest was one of those highly anticipated events. This is the second year the festival is being held and this year the event appeared to have grown in attendance and participation.
The event was headlined by BJ THE CHICAGO KID and underground legend RASPODY and had a catalog of local acts as performers.
One of those supporting acts was Boston rapper NAY SPEAKS. NAY boasts in one of the commercials for BAMS Fest describing her life as a “beautiful resistance” because she choses to “resist through art”. She goes on to explain that the community aspect of the festival is what she likes most about BAMS Fest. Speaking of community, NAY brought up two local Boston acts to perform with her during her set. Those two artists were South End representative AVENUE and “Boston’s Baby” Slicc Bae.
Less than two weeks later, another festival graced the streets of Boston. This too was at Franklin Field and it was a celebration of LBGQ Pride in the black community. The event was managed by local artist SAAFYR who performed and was also in charge of talent management. The event was hosted by Amanda Shay who is a spoken word artist, an educator and a self proclaimed “artivist”. The performance line up featured a list of local acts and was headlined by SAUCY SANTANA.
It’s awesome to have so much going on this summer here in Boston. Entertainment and recreation seems to be running abundantly in the city has given its residents a diverse array of things to do. It’s nice to see the push for activities within the neighborhoods of Boston. Keep an eye out for other upcoming festivals and tournaments going on at your local park there is more going on than you may think.
Photo cred: @bamsfest @deborahjkarsonphotography 📸📷
