Free Fun Fridays 2017 Schedule

A whopping 85 museums and other cultural institutions will offer free admission on select Fridays as part of the Highland Street Foundation’s popular summer series.

Keep your weekends full of the coolest things to do around Boston with our weekly Weekender newsletter.

No summer events series in Boston is more popular than Free Fun Fridays, hosted by Highland Street Foundation. The program, which has grown every year since launching in 2009, offers free admission to dozens of art museums and other cultural institutions in Massachusetts throughout the summer on select Fridays. It’s a family- and budget-friendly way for people to check items off their bucket list while also learning a thing, or two, or ten.

In previous years, Free Fun Fridays have lured hundreds of thousands of people out of their summer hideaways to explore Massachusetts’ many cultural destinations. The program appeals to people of all ages—from families with children on school vacation, to senior, veteran, and student groups. It’s an opportunity for locals and tourists to experience smaller venues they’re less familiar with—Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, anyone?—or revisit one of the majors like the MFA and ICA, without spending a dime.

Free Fun Fridays expands this year to 85 spots, up from 80 in 2016. Some notable Boston additions this year are the return of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum (that courtyard!) and the Mary Baker Eddy Library (the Mapparium!). Beyond the city, new participants include the Gardens at Elm Bank in Dover, the Lynn Museum, Smith College Museum of Art in Northampton, and the JFK Hyannis Museum.

Ten weeks, 85 destinations…good luck planning, there is much to do.

Here’s the schedule:

June 23

Lyric Stage Company of Boston

Mary Baker Eddy Library

The Sports Museum

Clark Art Institute

The Mount: Edith Wharton’s Home

Worcester Art Museum

Peabody Essex Museum

The Discovery Museums

June 30

Boston Children’s Museum

MIT Museum

Norman Rockwell Museum

Springfield Museums

EcoTarium

Maritime Gloucester

New Bedford Whaling Museum

The Gardens at Elm Bank (Massachusetts Horticultural Society)

July 7

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

New England Historic Genealogical Society

Ventfort Hall Mansion and Gilded Age Museum

Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center

Amelia Park Children’s Museum

Falmouth Museums on the Green

Pilgrim Hall Museum

Children’s Museum in Easton

The Hall at Patriot Place

July 14

Edward M. Kennedy Institute

The Metropolitan Waterworks Museum

Harvard Museums of Science and Culture

Larz Anderson Auto Museum

Provincetown Art Association and Museum

Edward Gorey House

Museum of Russian Icons

Cape Ann Museum

July 21

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (MFA)

Tanglewood

Boston Athenaeum

The Museum of the NCAAA

Fruitlands Museum, The Trustees

Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History

Lynn Museum

Hancock Shaker Village

Sandwich Glass Museum

July 28

JFK Presidential Library and Museum

Commonwealth Museum

Arnold Arboretum

The Eric Carle Museum

Berkshire Theatre Group

Historic Deerfield

Cape Cod Museum of Art

Wenham Museum

Tower Hill Botanic Garden

August 4

Commonwealth Shakespeare Company

Old State House

The Greenway Carousel

Fort Devens Museum

Children’s Museum at Holyoke

International Volleyball Hall of Fame

The Old Manse, The Trustees

JFK Hyannis Museum

August 11

Franklin Park Zoo

Fuller Craft Museum

Cape Cod Maritime Museum

Worcester Historical Museum

Griffin Museum of Photography

Fitchburg Art Museum

Jacob’s Pillow Dance

Smith College Museum of Art

Naumkeag, The Trustees

August 18

The Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston (ICA)

Old Sturbridge Village

Freedom Trail® Foundation

Buttonwoods Park Zoo

Cape Cod Children’s Museum

Concord Museum

Berkshire Museum

Emily Dickinson Museum

August 25

Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park

USS Constitution Museum

Plimoth Plantation

MASS MoCA

Nantucket Whaling Museum

The Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River

Museum of African American History

Cape Cod Museum of Natural History

Heritage Museums and Gardens

For more about Highland Street Foundation, visit highlandstreet.org.

Plus, check out more summer event lineups.