Your Boston Weekend: March 12–14

BOSTON — With so much going on in Boston every weekend, how does the culture lover choose, or even find, the best of what Beantown has to offer? Let wbur.org do some of the sleuthing for you.

Pat Cosgrove plays bagpipes with the Irish Prison Service Pipe Band, of Dublin, Ireland, during the St. Patrick's Day Parade in South Boston on March 16, 2008. (AP)

St. Patrick’s Day is coming up on Wednesday! As such, the weekend of March 12 to 14 has plenty of Irish events from cultural explorations to pub crawls.

Dropkick Murphys

• Friday 7 p.m.
• House of Blues
• $29.50

Massachusetts’ favorite Irish punk rockers, the Dropkick Murphys, are playing all-ages shows at the House of Blues nightly through March 17.

The Joshua Tree U2 Tribute: 3rd Annual St. Patrick’s Weekend Blowout

• Friday 8 p.m.
• Hard Rock Cafe
• $15
• 21+

The Joshua Tree, a U2 tribute band, celebrates the original’s Irish roots over the holiday weekend.

12th Annual ‘A Little Bit Of Ireland’

• Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 2 and 7 p.m., Sunday 2 p.m.
• Robinson Theatre
• $32 to $45

The Reagle Players and guests conduct a review of Irish entertainment, including dance, music and comedy featuring a cast of more than 60 performers.

Irish Cultural Centre Open House

• Saturday 1 to 11 p.m.
• Irish Cultural Centre of New England
• $3 to $10

Children’s activities in the afternoon include a puppet show and Gaelic demonstrations. The evening program features a celebratory Irish Mass, dancing and music. Buffet available all day.

Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade

• Sunday 1 p.m.
• South Boston
• Free

Click here for other parades around Massachusetts.

Toots Thielemans

• Friday and Saturday 8 and 10 p.m.
• Scullers Jazz Club
• $30

Toots Thielemans, arguably the most celebrated living harmonica player, appears with pianist Kenny Werner and guitarist Oscar Castro-Neves.

‘Don Giovanni’

• Friday and Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m.
• Cutler Majestic Theatre
• $16 and $20

New England Conservatory’s spring mainstage production is Mozart’s opera about the trials of the quintessential libertine.

‘Seussical: The Musical’

• Friday and Saturday 7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday 2 p.m.
• Regent Theatre
• $15

One of the most popular children’s shows is presented by the Arlington Children’s Theatre.

Opening: ‘Apple’

• Friday 8 p.m. through April 3
• Boston Playwrights Theatre
• $25, $20 for students and seniors

Company One presents ‘Apple,’ Canadian playwright Vern Thiesse’s work in which an unfaithful husband grapples with his wife’s sickness as he struggles with the morality and temptation of his adulterous relationship.

Black Grace Dance Company

• Friday 7:30 p.m., Saturday 8 p.m., Sunday 3 p.m.
• Paramount Theatre
• $39 to $54

Black Grace Dance Company, from Auckland, New Zealand, brings together the performance cultures of the Pacific into an authentic and raw dance performance.

34th Annual Israel Folkdance Festival

• Sunday 3 p.m.
• Kresge Auditorium at MIT
• $15

Jewish and Israeli troupes from across North America perform traditional dances in the showcase.

5th Annual Winter Restaurant Week

• Begins Sunday
• All over Boston
• $15 to $33.10

Restaurants around Boston offer prix fixe meals for lunch and dinner. Click here for a PDF of participating restaurants.

Boston Bartenders On The Rise

• Sunday 7 p.m.
• Green Street Grill
• $40

Showcasing four rising-star bartenders in Boston, the event includes four cocktails, appetizers and drink-mixing advice.

Maple Syrup Project Boil Down

• Saturday 10 a.m.
• Somerville Community Growing Center
• Free

Watch and learn about the process of turning maple sap into syrup. Includes syrup tasting, music and activities. Check out the WBUR feature on the Somerville Maple Syrup Project.

4th Annual Bacon-Eating Contest

• Saturday 1 p.m.
• Atwood’s Tavern

The event is advertised simply as “Music! Booze! Bacon!”

Ilan Stavans’ ‘Gabriel Garcia Marquez: The Early Years’

• Friday 7 p.m.
• Porter Square Books
• Free

Professor Ilan Stavans, of Amherst College, will speak about his new book.

Henri Cole, ‘Pierce the Skin’

• Sunday 3 p.m.
• Pierre Menard Gallery
• Free

Poet Henri Cole will read a collection of poems from ‘Pierce the Skin: Selected Poems 1982-2007.’

Did you attend one of our recommended events last week? Have a suggestion for next week’s calendar? Leave us a comment or send your suggestion to glevy@wbur.org.