Local News

The mayor says a busy slate of major events will lead to fewer car-free weekends on Newbury Street.

A delay in announcing this year’s Open Newbury Street schedule prompted questions about whether the popular car-free events would return at all.

In a Reddit response, Mayor Michelle Wu said the events are still planned but will be scaled back this year as Boston prepares for a packed calendar of major happenings, including World Cup-related events, the city’s 250th anniversary celebrations, and the Tall Ships visit.

“We’re doing fewer Open Streets events this year because June and July are mega-programmed with lots of events already,” Wu wrote. 

“Each year we look at the entire calendar, including non-City events that also require public safety and streets coordination capacity,” she continued. “We’re always trying to do things more efficiently to be able to increase our capacity.” 

The city has not yet released dates for Open Newbury Street, which typically closes the Back Bay shopping corridor to traffic on 10 Sundays during the summer and one in the winter for a special holiday stroll. 

Boston has, however, announced other Open Streets events in Jamaica Plain, Allston/Brighton, Mattapan, and Roslindale between August and October. It is one fewer than last year.

Wu said not to worry. After these big summer events are over, the city will return to regular programming in 2027. 

The city did not return a request asking whether they know when the city will release the dates or how many there will be.