Every Sunday throughout the summer and fall, Newbury Street is closed to all vehicle traffic and becomes a pedestrian walkway, allowing local musicians, businesses and restaurants to turn the roadway into a lively hub for shopping, dining and entertainment.
The weekly closure, referred to as Open Newbury Street by the City of Boston, is part of a group of street closures that aim to boost community engagement and connect residents with local businesses. During the event, the entire stretch of Newbury Street from Berkeley Street to Massachusetts Avenue is completely closed to car traffic, with certain roads that cross Newbury Street being open to allow for local traffic to pass through.
This past Sunday, residents enjoyed their time in the sun looking for a break from the wind and rain of Hurricane Lee. Locals and tourists alike came to shop, walk their pets, dine on outdoor patios and listen to live music performed by busking students and local musicians. Many small business owners set up tents and tables to sell their products to people walking by or even give away free samples to advertise their business. Many stores also used Open Newbury Street as an opportunity to advertise their products by putting out signs or products along the road.
In addition to Open Newbury, Boston hosts scheduled open street events elsewhere in the city, where streets like Dorchester Avenue, Center Street in Jamaica Plain and Blue Hill Avenue in Roxbury are similarly closed to car traffic and become temporary local centers for entertainment, dining and shopping. The popularity of open street events in the past few years has allowed them to expand this year, with Harvard Avenue and Brighton Avenue in East Boston and Meridian Street in Allston-Brighton being added to the list of events being hosted.
The next Open Newbury Street is Sunday, Sept. 24, and the initiative will run every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. until Oct. 15.
