With inflation causing price increases across Worcester and the country, there are still plenty of things residents and visitors to the city can do for free.
Worcester has several free events throughout the summer ranging from movie screenings to block parties. There are also year-round free events in the city like free admission days at local museums.
Here’s a list of things you can do in Worcester without opening your wallet:
Movies on the Common
Worcester Common (Kiernan Dunlop/MassLive)
The city’s “Movies on the Common” series is returning to Worcester Common for the first time in two years after pandemic restrictions forced the city to change things up and host “Movies on the Lot.”
The city will be screening “Spiderman: No Way Home” on Aug. 18. and “Encanto” on Sep. 1.
The movies will start at sundown, but organizers suggest movie-goers arrive closer to 6:30 p.m. for each screening.
Attendees can bring their own seating or use the seating available in the Common. Refreshments will be available for purchase during the screenings.
Out to Lunch Festival and Farmers Market
The Out to Lunch series in Worcester.
The city of Worcester announced that its Out to Lunch Festival and Farmers Market will return to Worcester Common for its 12th year later this summer.
The free festivals, which feature musical performances, local artists and crafters, restaurants, farmers, community organizations and nonprofits, are scheduled for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 4, Aug. 18 and Sept. 1 with a rain date scheduled for Sept. 8.
This year’s Out to Lunch had a record number of vendor applicants, according to Yaffa Fain, program director for the city’s cultural development division.
With the record number of applicants, the events this year will feature close to 60 vendors, compared to 30 to 45 at previous Out to Lunch events, according to Fain.
The Alchemystics are scheduled to perform on Aug. 4, followed by East Coast Soul on Aug. 18 and Whitey Doucet and the Moonshine Band on Sept. 1.
Worcester Summer Fitness Series
There’s still time to take part in the city’s free summer fitness series which runs through Sep. 18.
Classes include everything from Latin Salsa to self-defense to basketball skills and drills.
The self-defense class goes over striking techniques and teaches participants how to escape from an attacker’s grab.
All of the classes are family-friendly and open to all ages except a boot camp scheduled for Mondays from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. on the Worcester Common, which is for adults 18 and older.
The classes take place in 12 of the city’s parks, including a flag football skills and drills class on Tuesdays from 4 to 5 p.m. at Beaver Brook Park and a Zumba craze class from 10 to 11 a.m. on Sundays at Mulcahy Field.
A full schedule of the series is available here.
Worcester Public Library Community Block Party
See inside the newly updated Worcester Public Library, which has new amenities as part of a roughly $12.5 million renovation.
The Worcester Public Library is celebrating its renovations with a community block party at its Main Branch on Salem Square on Aug. 14 from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
The all ages event will include, “fun free activities, entertainment, music, giveaways, tours, a photo booth, henna, glitter tattoos, a baby animals petting zoo, HERO Kids Sports, face painting, balloon animals, team mascots, and games!,” according to the library’s website.
Worcester’s department of Health and Human Services will also be there hosting a vaccine clinic.
Vendors at the event will include: Shabby Gourmet, The Dogfather, Jerry’s Ice Cream Truck, Minuteman Kettle Corn, Moe’s Street Eats, Edward M. Kennedy Community Health Center, Crate & Howl, Centro Las Americas, Worcester Family Partnership, Everyday Miracles Peer Recovery Center, Worcester Caribbean American Carnival Association, author and artist Linh Nguyen-Ng, Peaceful Pleasures and The Golden Foxxe.
The American Antiquarian Society
The American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Mass.
Anyone interested in learning more about our country’s history can stop by the American Antiquarian Society on Salisbury Street in the city for a free tour given every Wednesday at 3 p.m.
The tour takes visitors to the society’s Antiquarian Hall to see the introductory gallery which “showcases the breadth and diversity within the collections,” according to the society’s website, and could include a view of its eighteenth century printing press, conservation lab and learning lab spaces.
You don’t need to reserve a spot for the tour that lasts about an hour, but you need to give the society advance notice if you’re part of a group of ten or more or if you use mobility aids.
The society’s library houses “the largest and most accessible collection of books pamphlets, broadsides, newspapers, periodicals, children’s music and graphic arts material printed through 1876 in what is now the United States,” the society’s website says.
Worcester Historical Museum
The Worcester Historical Museum
If your tour of the American Antiquarian Society leaves you craving more history, the Worcester Historical Museum is offering free admission for the months of July and August. Children 18 and under are always admitted for free.
The museum’s newest exhibit, “‘We Got History’...Worcester at 300″ celebrates the city’s Tercentennial with “a small sampling from the museum’s collection” of people places and things “that make Worcester the “Heart of the Commonwealth,” according to a statement from the museum.
Another exhibit, “In Their Shirtsleeves,” highlights the stories of the “innovators, workers and investors who made industry the story of Worcester,” according to its website.
The museum, located at 30 Elm St., is open Tuesday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Worcester Art Museum
Fork It Over at the Worcester Art Museum, 2019Erica Chick
All visitors to the Worcester Art Museum can access its collections of over 38,000 objects for free on the first Sunday of every month.
The museum’s current exhibits include “Jewels of the Nile: Ancient Egyptian Treasures from the Worcester Art Museum,” which features early Egyptian jewels, and “Fathom: The Art of Kat O’Connor,” which features paintings from local Worcester artist O’Connor who has shown her work nationwide for nearly 30 years, according to its website.
The museum features permanent displays of European, Renaissance, Ancient American, Asian, Medieval, Roman and Mid-20th Century Art.
Some of its most famous works include The Brooding Woman by Paul Gaugin, A Miracle of Saint Donatus of Arezzo attributed to Leonardo da Vinci and Lorenzo di Credi, a Paine Service by Paul Revere and The Gale by Winslow Homer.
The museum, located at 55 Salisbury St., is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Wednesday to Sunday.
Green Hill Park Farm
Green Hill Parks Farm (Google)
This free activity will bring you outdoors. Green Hill Park and its collection of alpacas, chickens, ducks, goats, llamas, peafowl, pigs and more is free of charge and open to the public.
The farm is open from 10 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. Tuesday to Sunday, according to the city’s website.
The city describes that farm, located on the Green Hill Parkway as a “great place for families with children looking for a leisurely activity on a nice day.”
If you’re part of a large group the city asks you to contact the farm’s zookeeper at 508-799-1323 to arrange a visit.
Visitors are not allowed to feed the animals due to health and safety issues.
Worcester Beaches, Pools and Spray Parks
The water at Bell Pond in Worcester.
If you’re looking for a free activity where you can cool down, most of the city’s beaches, pools and spray parks opened on July 1.
Bell Pond Beach on Belmont Street, Crompton Park Pool on Canton St., Greenwood Spray Park on Forsberg St. and Shore Park Beach on Shore Dr. are open through from 12 to 7 p.m., according to the city’s website. The beaches and pool will be open through Aug. 21 and the spray park will be open through Sep. 5.
Coes Reservoir and Binienda Beach are closed until further notice due to the presence of a cyanobacteria-containing surface scum. East Spray Park is also temporarily closed due to “the facility having slippery surface conditions when operational.”
Indian Lake Beach never opened due to lifeguard shortages.
WRTA
If you’re looking for a free way to get to and from all of these activities, you can take the WRTA.
The transit authority is offering free fares at least through the end of 2022.
Bus schedules can be found here.
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Free things to do in Worcester this summer - MassLive.com
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