Cambridge: The what

August-November
Farmer’s Market
As the end of summer nears, savor the fresh produce and baked goods the local farmer’s markets have to offer.

Charles Square, August 31-November 18, Fridays, noon-6 p.m. and Sundays, 10 a.m.-3 p.m.
Cambridgeport, September 1-October 27, Saturdays, 10 a.m.-2 p.m.
Central Square, September 3-November 19, Mondays 11:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
Harvard University, September 4-October 30, Tuesdays, 12:30-6 p.m.
Kendall Square, September 6-November 1, Thursdays, 11 a.m.-2 p.m.
Free
www.mass.gov/agr/massgrown/farmers_markets.htm

August 30-September 14
What is Public ART to us?
Cambridge Arts Council
344 Broadway St., 2nd Floor
The CAC Gallery presents this exhibition by Cambridge’s Public Art Youth Council (PAYC) as it explores the relationship between youth and public art in urban environments. The PAYC, comprised of 11 Cambridge high school students hired by the CAC as ambassadors for public art, shows how public art is meaningful to the younger set. Step into their shoes and see how they look at their public landscape and how it translates into art.
Free
www.ci.cambridge.ma.us/CAC/index

August 31 & September 28
Walk/Ride Days
6 a.m.-6 p.m.
It’s not just trendy to go green; it’s making an impact on our environment. The Cambridge Green Streets Initiative encourages you to leave your car at home and utilize “green” modes of transportation: the T or bus, walking or biking. Wear something green and take advantage of specials offered by local businesses such as Herrell’s Ice Cream and Zipcar.
Free
www.greenstreets.blogspot.com

September 8 & 9
Cambridgeport Artists Open Studios
Various locations
Noon-6 p.m.
CAOS showcases artists from the Cambridgeport neighborhood of Cambridge, the area encompassing Central Square down to Memorial Drive. Take this opportunity to meet the artists, ranging from beginners to gallery exhibitors, and visit them in their natural habitat.
Free
www.caosonline.org

September 23
RiverSing 2007: Bridging the Charles with Voice and Light
Weeks Footbridge near DeWolfe Street
6-7:30 p.m.
Usher in fall at this spirited musical event featuring members of the Mystic Chorale, saxophonists Stan Strickland and Ken Fields, plus many more. Join Revels and the Charles River Conservancy for a picnic by the Charles before the singing commences.
Free
www.revels.org


EVENTS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE.

Cambridge: The where

Harvard Square
“The Square,” as it’s known, hosts more than 8 million visitors every year. They come from far and wide to experience all it has to offer: quaint boutiques, a variety of international cuisines and fine dining, coffee houses, street performers, art and the largest collection of bookstores in the world. The Square dates back to 1630, originally Newtowne, a Colonial village that was chosen to be the capital of the Proprietors of Massachusetts Bay’s new colony. The village was the first planned town in English North America and its streets, which are still in use today, were laid out in squares. The present Harvard Square lay on the outskirts of the village until Harvard College was established in 1636, and the center of the settlement gradually shifted. The Square, named for historic Harvard University, is also home to the Harvard Coop bookstore (1400 Mass Ave.), which was established in 1882, the world-famous Out of Town News, where you can find almost any foreign or domestic newspaper or magazine, and Lizzy’s Homemade Ice Cream (29 Church St.), known for its Sundae Parties and award-winning flavors such as Chocolate Orgy and Peach.
www.harvardsquare.com

Longfellow National Historic Site
This site preserves the home of renowned American poet, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The house, originally built in 1759 by a wealthy royalist named John Vassall served as George Washington’s headquarters during the Siege of Boston from 1775 to 1776 and occupied by others, including Andrew Craigie, the Apothecary General during the Revolutionary War, until Longfellow settled there in 1837. After renting rooms in the house, Longfellow’s father-in-law bought the house for him and his new bride, Fanny, as a wedding present. The house was a favorite gathering place for such prominent philosophers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nathaniel Hawthorne and Charles Dickens, and much of its downstairs is preserved as Longfellow left it. The gardens and grounds are open to the public every day from dawn to dusk, year-round. Tours of the house are offered from June through October, Wednesdays through Sundays.
105 Brattle St.
www.nps.gov/long

Fogg Art Museum
Opened to the public in 1895, this is Harvard University’s oldest art museum and arguably its most beautiful. Galleries illustrating Western art’s history from the Middle Ages to the present surround the Fogg’s Italian Renaissance courtyard which is modeled after a 16th century Italian façade. Of particular prominence is the Maurice Wertheim Collection, one of America’s finest collections of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist work. Vincent Van Gogh’s “Self Portrait,” Edgar Degas “The Rehearsal” and “Mother and Child” by Pablo Picasso are all part of the impressive Wertheim Collection. The museum is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
32 Quincy St.
www.artmuseums.harvard.edu/fogg

Cambridge: The skinny

• Famous Cambridge residents include actors and childhood buddies Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, author Alice Hoffman and “The Office” actress Mindy Kaling.
• Scenes from Boston-based movie “Good Will Hunting” were filmed in and around Harvard Square, most notably at the former Tasty Sandwich Shop and Au Bon Pain’s patio, and at renowned university, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
• When Cambridge became a city in 1846, three rival villages, Old Cambridge, Cambridgeport and East Cambridge, were united as one.
• Shortly after midnight on May 17, 2004, the first legal applications in the United States for marriage licenses for same-sex couples were issued at Cambridge City Hall.
• Inman Square, a historically immigrant-populated neighborhood, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places for its many architecturally significant buildings.