This summer, 80+ museums and other cultural institutions in Boston and Massachusetts will offer free admission for Free Fun Fridays hosted by the Highland Street Foundation. And these trips don’t have to break the budget! Many of the locations on the list have on-site or nearby grassy areas to host a fun family picnic or rest under the summer sun.

Here’s the 2019 Free Fridays lineup!

Click here for more info on the daily lineup!

June 28, 2019

Lyric Stage Company of Boston
Cape Ann Museum
Clark Art Institute
MIT Museum
Nichols House Museum
Norman Rockwell Museum
Plimoth Plantation
The Mount: Edith Wharton’s Home
Wenham Museum
Worcester Art Museum

July 5, 2019

Amelia Park Children’s Museum
Cape Cod Maritime Museum
Children’s Museum in Easton
Edward Gorey House
Falmouth Museums on the Green
Jacob’s Pillow
Museum of Printing
Pilgrim Hall Museum
The Old Manse, The Trustees
The Telephone Museum

July 12, 2019

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Charles River Watershed Association
Chesterwood
Children’s Museum of Greater Fall River
Gloucester Stage Company
Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center
New England Quilt Museum
The Patriots Hall of Fame
Smith College Museum of Art
Springfield Museums

July 19, 2019

Boston Children’s Museum
The Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University
Battleship Cove
Cape Cod Children’s Museum
Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association
New England Historic Genealogical Society
Peabody Essex Museum
Sandwich Glass Museum
Spellman Museum of Stamps & Postal History
The Eric Carle Museum of Picture Book Art

July 26, 2019

Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum
Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate
Cape Cod Museum of Art
Commonwealth Museum
Commonwealth Shakespeare Company
Fitchburg Art Museum
Historic Deerfield
Larz Anderson Auto Museum
The Gardens at Elm Bank (Mass Hort)
Ventfort Hall Mansion & Gilded Age Museum

August 2, 2019
Franklin Park Zoo
Boston Symphony Orchestra at Tanglewood
Chatham Shark Center
Children’s Museum at Holyoke
Concord Museum
International Volleyball Hall of Fame
Lynn Museum
Museum of Russian Icons
Naumkeag, The Trustees
Old State House
August 9, 2019
Boston Harbor Islands National and State Park
Davis Museum at Wellesley College
Gore Place
Hancock Shaker Village
JFK Hyannis Museum
Museum of the National Center of Afro-American Artists
New Bedford Whaling Museum
Old Colony History Museum
Worcester Historical Museum
The Greenway Carousel
August 16, 2019

John F. Kennedy Presidential Library & Museum
Berkshire Theatre Group
Cahoon Museum of American Art
Discovery Museum
Fruitlands Museum, The Trustees
Fuller Craft Museum
Harvard Museums of Science & Culture
Paragon Carousel
Provincetown Art Association and Museum
USS Constitution Museum

August 23, 2019

The Institute of Contemporary Art/Boston
Berkshire Museum
Boston Athenæum
Buttonwood Park Zoo
Emily Dickinson Museum
Fort Devens Museum
Freedom Trail® Foundation
Heritage Museums & Gardens
Museum of African American History
The Mary Baker Eddy Library & Mapparium

August 30, 2019

Old Sturbridge Village
Cape Cod Museum of Natural History
Griffin Museum of Photography
Hull Lifesaving Museum
Mass Audubon’s Ipswich River Wildlife Sanctuary
MASS MoCA
Museum of the First Corps of Cadets
Osterville Historical Museum
Capron Park Zoo
EcoTarium

14 Responses

  1. Jennifer

    It would be great if admission was free to all these places every Friday throughout the summer so families don’t have to pick and choose between places that are free the same day but opposite ends of the spectrum or state for that matter.

    1. Julia

      Agreed! So glad it’s free but it’s hard to choose when three good ones are offered. Hmm do I drive to Worcester, cape cod or cape Ann? Or Springfield?

  2. Ginny Allan

    A friend and I arrived in Salem early today. We managed to go to the Peabody Essex Museum first. It always amazes me how many wonderful exhibits they have. Lots of folks enjoying our free visits. The staff was fabulous and very available. We had a number of questions during our visit. A staff person or volunteer would get the information. In some cases they found just the person who was an expert.

    Such a fabulous idea!! We later walked to the House of Seven Gables. Not a long walk and a perfectly gorgeous day to enjoy the waterfront along the way. We should have been there earlier as there was a wait for the guided tour. The grounds were beautiful and it was delightful sitting on the patio for a while. We walked back to see the 3 houses associated with The Peabody. Great knowledgeable volunteers were great at helping us imagine the lives of those who lived there!!

    Thank you to all who worked so hard to arrange these events!! Looking forward to next Friday!!

  3. William Woodward

    Terrific opportunity for those who cannot afford cultural sites. Other countries offer it for free. Hope folks can get some Fridays off.

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