Cambridge Arts River Festival 2025
When:
Saturday, Jun 21, 2025 11:00a -
6:00p
Saturday, Jun 21, 2025 11:00a -
6:00p
Where:
The banks of the Charles River along Memorial Drive
JFK Street and Western Avenue
Cambridge, MA
Admission:
FREE
Categories:
Art, Festivals & Fairs, Food, Good for Groups, Social Good
Event website:
https://www.cambridgema.gov/arts/programs/riverfestival
The Cambridge Arts River Festival will be held along the banks of the Charles River in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, June 21, 2025, from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m. Free admission.
Six Stages of Music, Theater, Dance and Poetry along Memorial Drive, between JFK Street and Western Avenue, curated by Global Arts Live, Liars & Believers, Passim, Cambridge Jazz Foundation, José Mateo Ballet Theatre, The Dance Complex and the City Night Reading Series.
Plus a Parade featuring Mermaid Promenade and Celebration of 250 Years of Milestones, Innovations and Firsts. All are welcome to be in the Mermaid Promenade: Come in costume and/or with props to John F. Kennedy Memorial Park at JFK Street and Memorial Drive by 11:10 a.m. More info for participants.
Also Interactive Art-Making; Buskers; International Foods; Arts and Crafts Market; four themed Interactive Photo Booths from EventKore; and A Trike Called Funk offers a day-long, pop-up party on three wheels featuring DJ Nomadik.
SCHEDULE
(click on stage links for full details)
11:30 a.m. - Featuring Mermaid Promenade and Celebration of 250 Years of Milestones, Innovations and Firsts. Begins at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park at JFK Street and Memorial Drive, proceeds east along Memorial Drive, traveling through the River Festival, to end at Corporal Burns Park at Memorial Drive and Flagg Street.
All are welcome to walk in the Mermaid Promenade, just meet at John F. Kennedy Memorial Park at 11:10 a.m.
A Trike Called Funk & special guest DJ Nomadik host a five-hour, free-flowing and funkified dance party set to sounds ranging from Prince to P-Funk to James Brown.
Organized by Club Passim
12 p.m. - Cliff Notez
1 p.m. - Almira Ara
2 p.m. - Gabriella Simpkins
3 p.m. - Grace Givertz
4 p.m. - Naomi Westwater
5 p.m. Pamela Means
Organized by Global Arts Live
12 p.m. – Zafarán.
1:30 p.m. - Maison Électronique
3 p.m. - Balla Kouyaté.
4:30 p.m. - Veronica Robles Female Mariachi Band.
Hosted by The Dance Complex and José Mateo Ballet Theatre 12:30 p.m. - MetaMovements
1 p.m - Blues Union & Bluesy Tuesday
1:30 p.m. - Off Beat Tap
2 p.m. - Odissi Dance by Priya Bangal
2:30 p.m. - House Dance for All Levels with Sean Bjerke
3 p.m. - Sinha Capoeira
3:30 p.m. - BABYBABYBABY (excerpts), choreographed and directed by Laila J. Franklin
4 p.m. - Janelle Gilchrist Dance Troupe
4:30 p.m. - Afro-Brazilian Dance with Isaura Oliveira
5 p.m. - Drum and Dance Circle
Organized by Cambridge Jazz Foundation
12:30 p.m. - Damon DueWhite and FAZZ (Funky Jazz)
2:30 p.m. - Ron Savage Trio
4:45 pm - LoVeSeXy tribute 2 the music of Prince
Organized by City Night Reading Series. Hosted by Jean Dany Joachim
CD Collins, U-Meleni Mhlaba-Adebo, Bob Whelan, Christophe Charles, Ernst Joachim, Tom Laughlin, Michael Anderson, Dan Watt, Luke Salisbury, Elizabeth Lowney, Mary Shortsleeve, Poet Laureate, Salem, Natasha Labaze, Amy Grunder, Denize Lauture, Gale Batchelder, Denise Provost, Barbara Lewis, Lo Galluccio, Mary Buchinger Bodwell, Taty Hernández Durán, Molly Watt, Philip Nikolayev, Jessica Lucci, Peter Payack, Douglas Holder, Tom Daley, Mario Malivert, Chris Brandt, Fred Brown, Charles Settles, Lynne S Viti, Toni Bee, Heather Nelson.
Organized by Liars and Believers
11 a.m. - Tanya Nixon-Silberg, "I wish I was a Poet."
11:30 a.m. - Charlotte Dore, “ Rachel Skullcap Pirate Puppet Show.”
12:15 p.m. - Sam Webel and Lila Kay, "A Whole Lot of Nothing.”
1 p.m. – Glen Moore, “Clown Café.”
1:30 p.m. - Charlotte Dore, “Rachel Skullcap Pirate Puppet Show”
2 p.m. - Sam Webel and Lila Kay, "A Whole Lot of Nothing.”
2:45 p.m. – Ky, “Lollipop."
3 p.m. - Glen Moore, “Clown Café.”
3:30 p.m. - Valerie Stephens, “Storytelling.”
4:15 p.m. - Ky, “Lollipop.”
5 p.m. - Poornima Kirby, “Shakespeare's Queens.”
