Fall-O-Ween Children’s Festival Returns to Boston Common October 20
Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Parks and Recreation Department host the third annual Fall-o-Ween Children’s Festival on the Boston Common Parade Ground at the corner of Beacon and Charles Streets on Friday, October 20, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
The Fall-o-Ween Children’s Festival is presented by the Boston Parks and Recreation Department in partnership with the Skating Club of Boston. Key sponsors are College H.U.N.K.S. Hauling Junk & Moving, HP Hood LLC, and Xfinity. Additional support is provided by LEGO® Discovery Center Boston, One Boston Church, Celebrity Series of Boston, WBUR – Boston’s NPR, and PLAY-Boston.
Adults and children are encouraged to wear Halloween costumes and participate in a wide range of free, fun, and spooky family-friendly activities. Test your courage in our Funhouse Maze and on the Spooky Mansion Slide, try the Jumpin’ Pumpkin, test your skills at the bean bag toss, and enjoy nighttime fun in our Glow in the Dark Park with LED swings, LED seesaw, and LED cornhole.
A “monster mash” of activities will include music, arts and crafts, treats, rides on the trackless train, field games, individual, and group play facilitated by Knucklebones, and LEGO® Discovery Center Boston will host giveaways and fun Halloween-themed LEGO building activities.
For more information please go to boston.gov/falloween. To stay up to date with news, events, and design and construction work in Boston parks, sign up for our email list at bit.ly/Get-Parks-Emails and follow our social channels @bostonparksdept on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
Dan Hofstadter to Hold Solo Art Show
This month, Dan Hofstadter offers a solo show of his freehand drawings at the Atlantic Works Gallery / A Collaborative Space For Art And Ideas on 80 Border Street, First Floor, East Boston.
The artist has always kept his sketchbook by his side, a constant companion to his work as an abstract painter and art-writer. His drawings are direct, perceptual, unmediated by tools (the straight-edge, the camera etc.), and tend to be rapidly executed. Shown at the gallery are landscapes – responses to wherever he was living at the time – along with portraits and figure studies.
Join Dan at the Gallery on November 5, 16, 24, and 25 when he will answer questions and possibly lead an open discussion on art making.
The Atlantic Works Gallery is situated in a marvelous 1893 brick building, built and originally owned by a major steamship boiler-and-engine company. Renovated in 2010, it has largely housed artist studios. Note that there is free street parking, as well as a small lot directly in front of the gallery’s ground-floor entrance.
To arrange a private viewing, contact the artist directly at [email protected]. For other inquiries or information, please visit Atlantic Works Gallery at www.atlanticworks.org, on Facebook, and on Instagram. The gallery’s email address remains [email protected].
Truck or Treat at The Track
The weather wasn’t cooperating for our third annual Touch-a-Truck this September so we decided to add a Halloween spin on things! Join us for Truck or Treat on Sunday, October 29, from 10am – 2pm at Suffolk Downs in East Boston. Wear your costumes and come trick-or-treat at all your favorite trucks!
Grab a hart hat and head into the kids construction zone, or hang out in the Paddock with face painting, games, giveaways, activities, food trucks and more!
This event is free to the public and all are welcome to attend. Registration is recommended so we can alert you of any event updates or weather cancellations.
TSA Stopped Over 1,800 Firearms at Airport Checkpoints
During the first three quarters of 2023, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) intercepted 5,072 firearms at airport security checkpoints, and at the current rate, the agency will surpass last year’s record 6,542 firearms prevented from getting onboard aircraft.
In the third quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Transportation Security Officers (TSOs) stopped 1,820 firearms at checkpoints. The total represents an average 19.8 firearms per day at TSA checkpoints of which more than 94% were loaded.
“Passengers may travel with a firearm, but it must be in their checked baggage,” said TSA Administrator David Pekoske. “Firearms are only permitted in checked baggage, unloaded in a locked hard-sided case and must be declared to the airline when checking the bag at the ticket counter. Firearms are prohibited at security checkpoints, in the secure area of an airport or in the passenger cabin of an aircraft even if a passenger has a concealed carry permit or is in a constitutional carry jurisdiction.”
If a passenger brings a firearm to the TSA checkpoint, the TSO will contact local law enforcement to safely unload and take possession of the firearm. The law enforcement officer may also arrest or cite the passenger, depending on local law. TSA may impose a civil penalty up to almost $15,000, and passengers who present with a firearm at a security checkpoint will lose TSA PreCheck® eligibility for five years.
TSA recommends that passengers pack a carry-on bag that is empty to ensure no firearms are unintentionally left in their travel bag.