Four-Month-Long Party To Celebrate Boston’s 375th Birthday

Last week, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino visited the North End’s Paul Revere statue to unveil plans for Boston 375, which will be, in Menino’s words, a “magnificent celebration” of Boston’s 375th birthday.

Four months of celebrations will kick off the weekend of May 20, starting with a symbolic “Walk to the Sea” led by Menino from the Old State House to Long Wharf.

According to Tony Nunziante, a spokesman for the mayor, the walk “will highlight the first time in 50 years that people can actually walk from downtown Boston to the sea, now that the former elevated I-93 highway, previously referred to as ‘the other Green Monster’ because it was painted green, has been replaced by the Big Dig.”

The Boston 375 events, which will last from May through September and take place throughout all of Boston’s neighborhoods, should inspire both Bostonians and visitors to “look back on where we’ve been, where we are and where we’re going as a city,” said Nunziante.

Also during the opening weekend festivities, residents will enjoy hot air balloon displays in Dorchester, Roxbury, South Boston, West Roxbury, Brighton, and downtown on Boston Common on Saturday, May 21.

The same weekend, the USS John F. Kennedy will be making a stop in Boston and welcoming visitors aboard.

“The last time the USS John F. Kennedy was in Boston, in 1997, she attracted hundreds of thousands of visitors who waited for up to seven hours in lines a mile long,” Nunziante noted.

Supporters of the arts will also not be disappointed, as the City is planning a slew of art-related events, including “375 Views of Boston,” an art exhibit in City Hall. It will feature 375 works by Boston artists and open on Monday, May 23.

On Mondays in July and August, local writers such as Dennis Lehane (of “Mystic River” fame) will hold readings of their latest works at City Hall Plaza.

A program called “Boston Teens on Stage” will organize performances of theatricals by Boston youths at City Hall Plaza and in different Boston neighborhoods regularly during the summer.

Other planned events include neighborhood festivals and street fairs, as well as numerous live performances throughout the city, such as Boston 375 Gospelfest on July 17 and Boston 375 Hip Hop on August 6.

There will also be an international conference on September 27-29 featuring representatives from each of Boston’s eight international “sister cities” and which will involve participation by college students.

Finally, the celebrations will culminate in late September with a Grand Parade and a gala honoring Bostonians who have made significant contributions to the city.

Boston 375 is being organized through the City of Boston’s Office of Arts Tourism and Special Events and the events will be supported entirely by private sponsors and partners such State Street Corporation and CBS4.

The Massachusetts Bay Colony, site of present-day Boston, was established in 1630 when John Winthrop, official representative of the Massachusetts Bay Company, took up residence in the area. Harvard College was founded in Cambridge six years later.