5 things to do this weekend, including the Boston Theater Marathon and Art in Bloom

What will spring bring? For this weekend, it looks like we’ll be seeing a blossoming of celebrations centered around nature, community and creativity. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts for its annual Art in Bloom event to experience floral activities and artwork. The Wake Up the Earth Festival in Jamaica Plain offers musical acts, colorful parades and a drag show. Finally, get in the spirit of local theater at the Boston Theater Marathon, which presents a collection of short, new plays from New England artists. These events and more, below.

The city of Lowell celebrates Lowellian and Beat writer Jack Kerouac with the Town and the City Festival. The celebration honors the author’s spirit with three days of music and art events in bars, cafes, galleries and other spaces around town. The festival kicks off with a concert and party featuring “bummer pop” band Future Teens at Taffeta Music Hall on Thursday night. At Lala Books on Saturday, attend a reading by Chris Wrenn from his book “Fenway Punk: How a Boston Indie Label Scored Big on Baseball’s Biggest Rivalry” and hear music from folk singer-songwriter Grace Givertz. Galleries that will be featured include Brush Gallery Studios, Loading Dock Gallery, The Whistler House Museum of Art and Arts League of Lowell. A multi-day Pass costs $83, including fees. [Boston rock stalwarts Tanya Donelly and Chris Brokaw will perform new medieval music at the festival. Read WBUR music writer Noah Schaffer’s profile here.]

The acclaimed dance company returns to Boston, marking its first engagement in the city under the leadership of new artistic director Alicia Graf Mack. The program includes “Difference Between,” Boston-born choreographer Matthew Neenan’s first commission for Alvin Ailey, also a piece that showcases “wild abandon and gestural playfulness,” according to a spokesperson. “The Holy Blues,” which draws its title from a line in Alvin Ailey’s own journal, will fuse the sacred and the secular, while “Blink of an Eye,” set to music by Bach, is an Ailey company premiere. “Revelations,” a classic work of the company, will also grace the stage. Tickets start at $39. [Check out our spring arts guide for more dance performances.]

The Museum of Fine Arts showcases the beauty of spring with the 50th anniversary of Art in Bloom, an annual three-day event that displays an abundance of floral arrangements and interpretations inspired by specific artworks (“Framing Nature: Gardens and Imagination” is the companion exhibit). Special events include a Thursday and Friday “Bubbles and Blooms” workshop with Cailla Quinn of EPHEMIRUS, where participants can design centerpieces over cocktails and light bites. A Saturday masterclass with Rhode Island-based florist and gardener Kim Lamothe will teach guests to make elegant bouquets. There will also be an Art in Bloom Family Day on Sunday, where visitors of all ages can enjoy art-making activities and story hour. Admission to Art in Bloom is included with a ticket to the museum, which costs $30 for adults and $14 for youth ages 7-17.

Back in 1979, a grassroots movement led by the South-West Corridor Coalition prevented the construction of an Interstate 95 extension from cutting through Jamaica Plain and Roxbury neighborhoods. In recognition of that activism, the Wake Up the Earth Festival has been held annually on the reclaimed land. Two parades — the Centre Street Parade and the Egleston Square Parade — bring folks in mermaid and troll costumes, stilt walkers, puppets and more to the streets on Saturday. On the Pride Stage, trans and queer writer, activist and musician Evan Greer will perform, and there will also be a drag show. Other acts include Hawa Collective, BalletRox and Mystical Misfits. There will also be a bevy of vendors onsite, including Bikes Not Bombs, a bike shop that believes in social change, and the Boston Ujima Project, a member-run organization that aims to redistribute wealth to working-class communities of color. Entry to the festival is free.

If you’ve ever fancied watching an entire day of 10-minute plays, attend the Boston Theater Marathon from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday. Fifty short works have been written by New England playwrights and presented by New England theater companies. Pieces include “Badgering” by Isabella Madrigal and Sophia Madrigal, produced by Company One Theatre, a special commission in partnership with Native Performing Arts Network’s National Day of Theater Readings for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Relatives. Also on the program is “Madam Tiffani, the Minor Arcane,” a romantic comedy about a tarot card reader written by Michael Lin and staged by Fresh Ink Theatre. You might also catch “Werewolf Transgenderism,” a play about what happens when taking testosterone leads to fantastical results, written by Noah Good and produced by Liars and Believers. The marathon is divided into five blocks of play performances, and each block costs $30 to attend when tickets are purchased in advance, and $35 when tickets are purchased on the day of the event.