This story was originally published by The Trace, a nonprofit newsroom covering gun violence in America. Sign up for its newsletters here.

In early July, more than 100 people stopped by Sawmill Creek Park just across the Baltimore City line in Glen Burnie for the third-annual “Aaliyah Day.” It was a good turnout, especially given the triple-digit temperatures that threatened to keep some away.  

The stifling weather didn’t stop attendees from playing basketball or entering raffles for cash, shoes, and Orioles tickets. A DJ played upbeat music as family and friends handed out food and cold water. People chatted and exchanged quiet smiles. Many paused to look at the tribute on the black metal fence, where Aaliyah’s portrait hung alongside eight others, all young people lost to gun violence. 

The day before the event, Krystal Gonzalez, Aaliyah’s mother, felt overtaken by emotions.

“Yesterday was full of tears, a rollercoaster,” she said. “This was the last day that I saw my baby alive on July 1, three years ago.”

For Gonzalez, the July 2 celebration was meant to be completely different from the block party where her daughter died. It was her way of reclaiming the day and restoring hope.

“But it’s also inspiring change,” she said.

Aaliyah was 18 and a recent high school graduate when she was shot and killed. She was one of two people who died after shots erupted in the largest mass shooting in modern Baltimore history. Twenty-eight others were also wounded—including 15 minors.

They were shot at the Brooklyn Day block party, an annual community event in the Brooklyn Homes section of Baltimore. The event was banned after the shooting, and the city Housing Authority is now being accused of negligence in a lawsuit filed by Gonzalez and the family of 20-year-old Kylis Fagbemi, the other victim who died in the shooting. Four people injured in the shooting have also filed lawsuits.

“My eyes were opened to the many disparities and injustices that caused this awful event to happen,” Gonzalez says. “There were a lot of missteps and finger-pointing, and as a result, my daughter is no longer here.”

Gonzalez’s journey from grief to activism has been driven by her desire for answers and change. She has become a prominent voice in the media and at the Baltimore City Council, calling attention to systemic failures around Brooklyn Day. She has pointed to years of unpermitted block parties that were allowed to continue, a public housing authority that looked the other way, and police officers who did not respond to several 911 calls about guns at the scene.

The last moments Gonzalez shared with her daughter felt strangely eerie. She had cooked Aaliyah’s favorite meal for dinner, and her gut had urged her to pull Aaliyah into a tight embrace in the hallway, for no particular reason. They had shared similar moments many times— quick hugs before Aaliyah’s shifts at Starbucks, after rides to school, or during late-night check-ins. But this time felt heavier, as if Gonzalez sensed something was wrong that July evening. 

When Aaliyah stopped by her bedroom to say goodbye before leaving for the party, Gonzalez again felt she needed to pay close attention. Aaliyah’s last words to her mother were, “I’m leaving. I love you, Mom. I’ll see you later.”

That night around 1 a.m., Gonzalez was woken up by her husband’s screams. Aaliyah had been shot. They hurried to Brooklyn Homes, hoping to find their wounded daughter. First responders told them to go to MedStar Harbor Hospital, but the hospital told them to go back to Brooklyn Homes. Back on the scene, Gonzalez found Aaliyah’s body, identified by the tattoo on her arm, lying on the ground covered with a sheet. 

Shocked and inconsolable, she learned Aaliyah had been pronounced dead at 12:34 a.m. and that her body had been waiting there all along amid the chaos of overturned tables and broken glass, blood spatters, exhibit tags, and crime scene tapes. 

“I could feel the fear of people in that place,” Gonzalez says. “I knew Aaliyah might have been scared. It was an awful thing for any parent to experience. It never leaves you.” 

Five people have pleaded guilty to charges related to the Brooklyn Homes shooting, but no one has faced murder charges for the two deaths. The Baltimore Police Department has not responded to requests for comment. 

The lawsuits filed by Gonzalez and the other victim’s families claim the Housing Authority failed to provide proper security that could have prevented the shooting.  

The city’s “after-action” report, released in August 2023, placed much of the blame for events spiraling out of control on the Baltimore Police Department. The report noted BPD’s failure to gather intelligence around the event, to deploy needed officers, and to respond to 911 calls prior to the gunfire.

The report added, “Officer indifference may have compromised the awareness, planning, and response to Brooklyn Day prior to the large crowds arriving.” Ultimately, one police officer was terminated along with one BPD civilian employee. Seven other officers and three other civilian employees were assessed days of lost pay.

“There’s nothing that they can do criminally to give me justice for my child,” Gonzalez says. “What I can focus on is seeing my community change as a result of my daughter losing her life.” 

As one of the few victims’ family members to speak out publicly since the tragedy, she realized the community had come to accept violence as normal because it had gone on so long. Without action, this cycle would likely continue.

“Bullets have no name—wrong place, wrong time,” Gonzalez says. “I refuse to let this be a world that we live in. We have to do so much to change the culture.”

That’s how her nonprofit foundation, Redirecting Our Culture (ROC), was born seven months after Aaliyah’s death. The organization helps families rebuild after trauma, focusing on mental health and interrupting the cycle that turns traumatized youth into future perpetrators. 

Key initiatives include bi-weekly peer-to-peer meetings for bereaved mothers affected by gun violence, grief support sessions, and youth character development workshops. ROC also serves as a bridge, connecting survivors with community violence interrupters to access wrap-around services through the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE). 

“Our vision is to turn those same moms into victim advocates, which is going to open up more of a space for more victims to be touched,” says Mark Mason, who oversees victim services at MONSE.

During this year’s Aaliyah Day, representatives from the Anne Arundel County Workforce Development Corporation provided job resources, while officers from the Baltimore Police Department were present not just to ensure safety, but also to engage with the community, Gonzalez says. 

Sitting on a shaded bench, Tamica Howard looked at her son’s portrait displayed on the fence across the field. A rush of emotions came over her as she took in the tribute. Her oldest son, 19-year-old Diamante Howard, was killed in April 2018 during a dice game, and even now it still feels like it happened yesterday.

“I am just trying to bear with it,” she said. “So it’s rough.”

Howard was attending Aaliyah Day for the first time, having recently joined ROC. She takes part in the group chats, Zoom calls, and in-person meetings with the other bereaved mothers. 

“We went through the same thing, but differently,” Howard said. “If you need someone to talk to, you can call them. It’s awesome to have support from people who know what you’re going through.”

Baltimore has seen historic reductions in gun violence in recent years, in line with the national downward trend. Research suggests this is driven by the city’s approach—a coordinated system that combines focused deterrence, community violence intervention, victim services, and improved investigations under the sustained leadership of the Mayor’s Office.  

Nationally, though, gun violence remains the leading cause of death for Generation Z, something that has held true since 2017. That’s where Aaliyah Day comes in, and why it can play a key role in maintaining progress toward reducing gun violence.

From the start, Gonzalez has framed Aaliyah Day as more than just a vigil. She views it as part of a greater effort for community safety, with city agencies, violence interrupters, neighborhood leaders, and survivors all working together.

“It absolutely is a collective effort,” she says. “Everybody has to work together in order to see any kind of change.”

Mason, MONSE’s chief of victim services, says events like Aaliyah Day complement government-led initiatives and can be “hugely effective” in changing how young people see violence and their options. 

“Which is why [Aaliyah Day] is so unique,” he says. Gonzalez “has put things together where, everywhere you turn, as a young person, you can find something or someone to engage with.”

For young adults like Kayla Green, watching people from different backgrounds and cultures come together at Aaliyah Day was inspiring.

Green, a 25-year-old makeup artist from Baltimore, had planned to go to the Brooklyn Day block party three years ago, but ultimately stayed home. Even though she did not know Aaliyah personally, Green was deeply affected by her story. Almost attending the deadly block party changed how she thinks about safety and community responsibility. 

She believes government programs are important, but says survivor-led events like Aaliyah Day “just take away the tension.” She feels that while politicians should do more, the community often does better.

“I feel like we as a community could work faster than them,” she said. “We want the younger community to have a say in protesting, getting out in the field, and sticking up for ourselves.”

On the same day Gonzalez brings families and young people together for Aaliyah Day in Sawmill Creek Park, MONSE, through its Safe Streets Baltimore program, hosts a quieter wellness event at Brooklyn Homes to mark the anniversary of the mass shooting there. These healing events are designed, as Mason puts it, to bring “a more serene type of atmosphere” to Ground Zero.

Along with promoting community events like the bi-annual healing hikes and the annual Aaliyah Day, Gonzalez has spent many hours meeting with lawmakers. She met with Maryland Governor Wes Moore about the ENOUGH Act to fight child poverty after Brooklyn Day, testified for gun control laws to stop DIY machine guns, and spoke at rallies. 

Recognized as a leading advocate for victim services, she attended the Biden-Harris administration’s Mother’s Convening on Improving Services for Gun Violence Victims at the White House in March 2024.

Even as she navigates unresolved grief, Gonzalez is intent on widening the reach of Redirecting Our Culture. She wants to build on her partnerships with MONSE and to one day open a trauma recovery center for youth and parents. 

Gonzalez, who now works as chief of staff for a state delegate in Annapolis, says she feels “no trepidation, no fear, no anxiety” when it comes to standing before those in power to prevent other families from enduring what her family has. 

“There are days where I sit with my tail down, but I let those days come and go,” Gonzalez says. “In the meantime, I have to keep moving forward, because the only things in life that are guaranteed are death and change.”

Outdoor movies have long been a summer tradition in Baltimore. Just look at Bengie’s Drive-In in Essex, which has been a destination for 70 years. Not only do the open-air screenings offer a hefty dose of nostalgia, they also provide an unconventional way for locals to experience some of the area’s greatest greenspaces.

“Experiencing a film in the surrounding setting of a new park or outdoor venue is really what’s bringing people out, especially post-COVID,” says Jonathan Young, the owner of Essex-based Vintage View Cinemas, a company that sources screens, concession stands, and other equipment for many area movie events. 

Beyond the setting, Young says that the summer activity endures as a way for locals to connect.

“Outdoor movies can bring people together, not just from a standpoint of sitting in the same space and watching the same film but, beyond that, creating communities and friend groups based on the love of the movies on the screen.” 

To that end, no matter where you are in the Baltimore area this summer, there is always an outdoor movie nearby. Here, we round up places to catch fresh-air flicks in the coming weeks: 

BALTIMORE CITY

AVAM’s Flicks from the Hill: On four Thursday nights in July, AVAM will once again host its summer movie series on the hill facing the museum off of Key Highway. This summer, show up early to enjoy on-theme, pre-movie workshops preceding The Wiz, A Wrinkle in Time, Men in Black, and Labyrinth. Viewers also get free museum admission from 5-9 p.m., so be sure to do a walkthrough before claiming your spot. 800 Key Highway. 5 p.m. Movies begin at 8:45 p.m. Free.

The Sound Garden x Arepi Summer Film Series: For th second year, Fells Point neighbors The Sound Garden and Arepi are hosting films under the stars in their back parking lot on Tuesday nights at dusk. Throw a lawn chair over your shoulder and head toward Thames to stock up on records, beer, wine, arepas, and popcorn before the opening credits. The theme this year is movies with iconic soundtracks, including Fast Times at Ridgemont High on July 21 and Scott Pilgrim vs The World on July 28. 1616 Thames St. Films start at dusk. Free admission. 

Rhythm & Reels: This summer, and through October, the Baltimore City Department of Recreation and Parks is rotating around the city’s many public spaces to bring the community films of all kinds. You can catch titles like Wicked: For Good on Aug. 22 at Canton Waterfront Park, Jurassic Park: Rebirth at Irvington Park on Oct. 2, and The Craft just in time for spooky season back at Canton Waterfront Park on Oct. 23.  Locations and times vary. Free. 

Outdoor Movie Nights at Baltimore Peninsula: South Baltimore’s waterfront locale is bringing back its outdoor film series with monthly showings, including Love & Basketball on Aug. 14 and The Greatest Showman on Sept. 11. As always, the events will feature eats for sale by visiting vendors beginning at 6 p.m. Pack a blanket or lawn chair and head to the big screen adjacent to Rye Street Tavern. 301 E. Cromwell St. Movies at 8 p.m. Free.   

BALTIMORE COUNTY

Bengies Drive-In: With frequent double features, this famous film fixture—known for having one of the largest outdoor screens in the country—offers quantity and quality. Be sure to review Bengie’s house rules before attending. (A minimum of two people must be in the car.) 3417 Eastern Blvd. Middle River. Times vary. Weekend showings: $4.00 car fee, $12.50 per person, $7.00 ages 4-10.   

Essex Outdoor Movie Under the Stars: Mingle with friends and neighbors while checking out community resources (and chowing down on free pizza while supplies last) at this recurring event put on by the Essex Community Development Corporation. On Friday, Aug. 28, bring a lawn chair to relax and enjoy Pixar’s Elio with the whole fam at 6 p.m. Cox’s Point Park. 820 Riverside Dr. Essex. 6 p.m. Free. 

Movies on Main at Hunt Valley Towne Centre: A massive pop-up screen in Hunt Valley Towne Centre’s center plaza will display movies on the third Thursday of every month through October. Grab dinner (and a requisite treat) from the area eateries before settling down for Inside Out on Aug. 20, Freaky Friday on Sept. 17, and Hocus Pocus on Oct. 15. 118 Shawan Rd. Movies start at sundown. Free. 

Screen on the Green Movie Series: The folks with Baltimore County Recreation and Parks are hosting roving showings at parks around the county on weekends throughout the summer. Among the featured films are The Lion King at the Pikesville Armory on July 26, Goat at the Benjamin Banneker Historical Park and Museum in Catonsville on Aug. 21, and The Wedding Singer at the Fullerton Community Center in Overlea on Sept 18. Locations and showtimes vary. Free.

CARROLL COUNTY

Outdoor Summer Movies in Westminster: On select Tuesdays throughout the summer, join the Carroll County Arts Council for its Outdoor Summer Family Movie Series. Films roll Tuesdays at 8:30 p.m. at Carroll Community College. Bring your own chairs, blankets, and snacks to enjoy adventures like Robin Hood on July 28 and Muppet Treasure Island on Aug 4. 1601 Washington Rd. 8:30 p.m. Westminster. Free.

HARFORD COUNTY

Summer Movie Nights in Bel Air: Consider yourself lucky, because the Bel Air Downtown Alliance is showing summer movies at Shamrock Park every third Friday in July and August. This season, bring the fam for pre-show activities like face-painting, karate, cheerleading, and book browsing. The movies—Zootopia 2 on July 17 and The Minecraft Movie on Aug. 21—start at 8 p.m., and food trucks (think: Crabby Pretzel, The Slice is Right, Kona Ice, and Sunny Day Lemonade) will be present for all of your concession needs. Shamrock Park-Lee Street. Bel Air. 7:00-9:30 p.m. Free

HOWARD COUNTY

Movie Nights at the Wine Bin: This Ellicott City liquor store has a lot more to offer than its namesake bottles of vino. Along with its craft beers, cocktail kits, and charcuterie selection, the shop provides a great variety of outdoor movies in its parking lot on Saturday nights throughout the summer. The Wine Bin staff has once again curated a jam-packed lineup of classics such as The Breakfast Club, Monsters Inc., The Princess Bride, and The Dark Knight. This year, all popcorn proceeds will benefit Ellicott City advocacy program Voices for Children. 8390 Main St. Ellicott City. Times vary. Free.

Lakefront Live: The Columbia Association is back with another year of Lakefront Live, a series of music, food, and, of course, outdoor movies overlooking Lake Kittamaqundi. Happening on select Friday and Saturday nights September, the well-rounded roster this season includes adventures like The Super Mario Galaxy Movie on July 23, Hoppers on Aug. 14, Freakier Friday on Aug. 21, and How to Train Your Dragon on Sept. 4. Downtown Columbia Lakefront 10275 Wincopin Circle. Columbia. 8:15 p.m. Free.

Additional reporting by Hunter Hine, Nina Branwell, and Kirstin Nichols

There’s a reason why Christopher Nolan keeps suggesting that you see his The Odyssey on the largest screen possible—ideally, in IMAX. If nothing else, the film is a spectacle—a technical triumph that brings all the magic, bloodshed, and mythology of Homer’s epic to life.

Ever wondered what it was like inside the Trojan Horse? Wonder no more. Ever asked yourself what it felt like for the soldiers of Ithaca to take on a Cyclops? It was apparently terrifying (and a little sad). We see it all—the depths of Hades, the deadly allure of the Sirens, and, in one remarkable scene, the witch Circe (Samantha Morton) turning Odysseus’ army into a pack of grunting hogs.

We have the technology. And we also have a master of action who can choreograph all of these elaborate set pieces with intensity, clarity, and awe.

I confess I’ve never read The Odyssey (I did my thesis on James Joyce’s Ulysses, if that counts (it doesn’t)). But we’ve all learned the story through cultural osmosis. We know one of its major themes is a primal desire for home, which happens to be an obsession in many Nolan films—from Interstellar to Inception to Dunkirk. Here, Nolan also grapples with the Golden Rule—in the film it’s called Zeus’ Law. The idea is to be kind to strangers, lest they be gods in disguise.

But are the gods even real? In the film, they are depicted as real—although Athena (Zendaya) only comes to Odysseus (Matt Damon) as an apparition. But the Cyclops—massive, with a one enormous eye and a nose twisted to its side to make him look like a giant Picasso painting—is real. As is the righteous magic of Circe, the omniscience of the denizens of the underworld (here called Hades), the power of goddesses, and so on.

But Nolan also leaves room for the idea that gods were conjured to explain the horrors and mysteries of nature. When Odysseus’ ship is wracked with deadly storms and waves, his crew believes it’s because he has angered Poseidon. There’s an angry god to explain every natural disaster, every tragedy that befalls man.

So, the plot: Odysseus leads an army into Troy, knowing the mission is possibly futile, if not doomed completely. Meanwhile, his devoted wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), waits for him for 20 years, fending off dozens of would-be suitors, who stay in her castle like it’s a gilded Holiday Inn. Odysseus’ son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), was just a baby when Odysseus left for war—he doesn’t know his father, but he idolizes him all the same. He hears wonderful stories of Odysseus’ decency, bravery, and honor, from not just his mother, but from his father’s loyal servant, the now blind and enfeebled Eumaeus (John Leguizamo). Like many blind men of mythology, Eumaeus can “see” what other men can’t. There is also Odysseus’ bedraggled, loyal hunting dog, half dead, waiting for his master to come home. (Nolan is laying it on a little thick here, but who am I to grumble over a cute dog.)

Of the would-be suitors, the most attractive—and malevolent—is Antinous (Robert Pattinson), who sees young Telemachus as a threat to the throne and plots to kill him.

The film toggles back and forth between life with devoted Penelope and the many trials of Odysseus and his crew. Penelope insists she will pick a suitor once she finishes the funeral shroud she has been weaving for years. However, every night, she unravels the work of that day. When he’s old enough, Telemachus travels to Sparta to learn something—anything—about the whereabouts of his father, a trip that will imperil both him and his mother.

By now, the war is essentially over. Odysseus is presumed dead, but in fact, has been a captive, of sorts, of the goddess Calypso (Charlize Theron), who healed his wounds and has been feeding him lotus flower to cloud his memory for seven long years.

Is it spoiler to say that Odysseus eventually makes his way home? (This is less a spoiler alert and more of a “know your classic literature” alert.) He disguises himself as a beggar—and we get a little Good Will Hunting action. Never underestimate Matt Damon, especially if you think he’s beneath you.

Damon, I should say, is an excellent Odysseus. The 55-year-old actor got jacked for the role and he seems powerful, even as an old man with a white beard wandering around in a tattered toga on Calypso’s island. Importantly, he manages to convey the wisdom, kindness, and practicality of Odysseus. Like all great leaders, he must make difficult choices. Sometimes a few men need to be sacrificed to save the rest.

Most of the acting is solid, with Hathaway able to do some enjoyable scenery chomping as Penelope, ever imperious and regal but nearly driven mad with grief. In their few scenes together, she and the mustache-twirling Pattinson get to fight over who can devour the scenery more greedily. Go off, you two. Holland is fine as Telemachus—he brings an earnestness and sturdy physicality to the role. He’s likeable, as ever, but just not that interesting? (Or maybe that’s just compared to the histrionics of Hathaway and Pattinson.)

Other standouts in the cast include Leguizamo, Morton—the film really comes to life once her Circe appears—and Himesh Patel as Odysseus’ faithful (to a point) deputy.

Again, I’m not able to point out discrepancies between the film and the original text, but there is one element to Nolan’s Odyssey that feels very modern, very much him: Odysseus’ guilt over the destruction of Troy, which mirrors Oppenheimer’s guilt when he sees what his atom bomb has wrought. I’m not sure Odysseus was that in touch with his feelings back in 1200 BCE.

Still, it’s Nolan’s party and he can do what he wants with it. He’s succeeded in many ways—bringing a classic epic poem to life, modernizing it, but certainly not in a thoughtless way, and utilizing the full range of his prodigious cinematic toolkit. Did I love it? Not quite. I prefer more a little more character development and a little less spectacle. But it’s going to be a lot of people’s favorite film (okay, mostly dudes). And yeah, it’s more than good enough to earn that honor.

We know, we know. When you walk up to a bar on a sweltering summer day, and the maître d’ asks if you prefer inside or outside, the obvious answer is to get in that chilly AC. But there’s something about sipping al fresco, amidst the city’s classic summer sights and sounds—neighbors walking their dogs, a parade of 12 O’Clock Boys—that feels like a rite of the season.

The outdoor patio becomes the point. Gathering with friends you haven’t seen in a while, with a beautifully garnished drink in your hand, becomes a special occasion. And if you know where to go, you’ll find that the city’s seasonal craft cocktail offerings are worth breaking a sweat for.

Case in point: Sugarvale in Mt. Vernon. Its outdoor seating consists of small café tables, picnic tables, and benches installed during the pandemic, which have become a go-to spot to post up and people-watch near the Washington Monument.

Beverage director Collin Schnitker has been excited about the warm weather for months. “We’re a craft cocktail bar, but, to me, we’re a neighborhood bar above everything else,” he says.

Nearly a decade into his tenure, Schnitker still approaches each new menu the way a chef does. He looks at which ingredients are in season, and pursues the unexpected.

“It’s a creative thing,” he says. Outside of Sugarvale, he produces music and film through his label Shiny Boy Press, now approaching 50 releases. He uses those same artistic instincts to show up behind the bar.

He breaks his menu philosophy down into three sections. The first is “the big swing,” a strong concept usually borrowed from food. Previously, he’s used pho and tacos al pastor as inspo for drinks. This summer, Schnitker is featuring the “Uncle Albert,” which spotlights broccoli juice (he promises it tastes better than it sounds) with Uncle Val’s botanical gin, Pangur Irish Poitín, ginger honey, lime, black pepper, and ranch powder tinctures—all garnished with olive oil droplets to tease its savory flavors.

The second is the classic riffs, where he takes something familiar and pushes it somewhere new. The last is simple: find an ingredient he’s never worked with and figure out how it can appeal to customers.

This summer, these goals surfaced in new drinks like the Mai Taigo, a riff on the Mai Tai that wasn’t complete until Schnitker took a walk around the corner to see his friends at neighborhood restaurant My Thai Go. He went over, explained what he was thinking, and came back with Thai tea and Thai chilies. The result is cold, bright, and built for a warm evening outside.

Another is the Telenovela, a cilantro-forward cocktail that gets its name from a connection Schnitker couldn’t resist: cilantro, soap, soap opera, Mexican soap opera. The drink fuses tequila, a wheat-based spirit from the company Empirical made with cilantro, and a house-made roasted coriander syrup that gets blended fresh with cilantro every day. There’s a little pepper liqueur. A little aquavit. It’s approachable, but strange in the best way— something that sounds like a margarita but drinks like its own thing.

That balance is welcoming and adventurous, as is the whole vibe at Sugarvale. The menu is built to have something for everyone, including NA versions of all the shaken cocktails. Schnitker designs each menu to span the full range: savory drinks, easy-sippers, and “drinks your mom could order.” He wants people to feel comfortable asking questions, admitting when they don’t see what they want, and letting the bartenders take them somewhere new.

Nine years in, he still talks about the bar like it’s a living thing—something that gives back what you put in, that belongs to the neighborhood as much as to anyone who works there.

“There is something for everyone here,” he says. “I just want people to feel welcome.”

Now that we’re all in the summer sipping spirit, here are a few more local bars to hit for refreshing libations before the season passes us by.

The Coral Wig
Tucked in an alley near Mt. Vernon’s Hotel Ulysses, this concept—lauded by Bon Appétit—draws on owner Lane Harlan’s childhood in the Philippines and her husband Matthew Pierce’s upbringing in St. Kitts, giving the drink menu a tropical, rum-forward sensibility perfectly timed for warm weather. Inside is tiny, dark, sexy, and sumptuous, while the outdoor patio is small and feels like a secret, which is part of the appeal.

The Dive
We don’t know about you, but, to us, cocktails taste better when served in a vintage cartoon glass with a crazy straw. This is the kind of nostalgia you can expect at The Dive in Canton, which pours signatures like the cucumber gin and melon-forward Pinball Wizard and blue-hued Mermaid’s Tale with rum and amaretto. Don’t leave without ordering a pizza and a swirl of house soft-serve. 

Fadensonnen
In Old Goucher, this courtyard at natural wine bar is a popular spring-summer hangout. Recent upgrades include a roster of all-Spanish bottles “designed for long afternoons and evenings in the garden.” It’s also a known venue for community events, so be sure to peep the online calendar of live music, markets, and other programs before you visit.

Golden West Cafe
At this nearly 30-year-old institution on the Avenue in Hampden, beverage director Dee Acosta builds her drinks around ingredients that trace back to her New Mexico roots—prickly pear, agave, lavender, peppers, and nixta (corn). “Using traditional ingredients is an act of cultural preservation and resistance,” according to Acosta, who connects the bar’s approach to Indigenous food sovereignty and a broader effort to help modern communities reconnect with ancestral knowledge.

Go for the Spaghettini, an Aperol and High Life pony poured into a coupe glass, or the Espresso Tonic, made with La Colombe coffee and the NA spirit Pathfinder—proof the NA program gets the same level of care as everything else on the menu.

Pink Flamingo
Set in the longtime home of dive bar The Dizz in Remington, the space is now a rum-forward tropical tavern from  Brendan Dorr and Eric Fooy of Dutch Courage in Old Goucher. The cocktail list, developed with bar manager Nick Pikounis, leans into a lineup of more than 150 rums.

The signature Dizzy Flamingo is a two-rum daiquiri with lime and sugar, while the Whirlybird riffs on a Jungle Bird with black pot-still rum. For something lighter, the Road Less Traveled is a spirit-free amaro mule. Vivid tropical murals and a patio make it an easy add to a summer crawl.

Spirits of Mt. Vernon
Employee-owned since 2024, this North Charles Street staple is stocked with a carefully curated selection of wine, spirits, and beer. But regulars know the cocktail program running behind the counter is the real draw, especially on a sticky summer evening when the patio fills up. Order a chilled glass of Vinho Verde or an icy shaken martini to help cool off.

Tiki Garden
Boozy slushies are the stars of the show at this island hideaway on East Cross Street Federal Hill. Icy iterations include a classic pina colada or rum runner, plus mango daiquiris and prickly pear margaritas. In keeping with the theme, there are also a variety of tiki-inspired cocktails and shots. But if you’re out with a crew, consider the Volcano Bowl of rum punch that arrives topped with a flame.

Thousands lined the paths of Druid Hill Park this past weekend to celebrate Baltimore’s many Caribbean communities at the Baltimore Washington One Carnival, which has been a local staple for more than four decades.

Now a three-day event, the fest features authentic food, live music, and non-stop activities for all ages. But its crown jewel continues to be its parade—a three-mile, heart-thumping procession of dancers, musicians, stilt walkers, and revelers (often covered with mud, clay, or paint to align with the ancient mud mas tradition) showing off stunning cultural attire.

Sporadic downpours and excessive heat didn’t even come close to putting a damper on the party this year. Here’s a look at all of the color, costumes, and culture through the lens of contributing photojournalist J.M. Giordano’s 20-year-old Nikon D200.

The Invite starts with an Oscar Wilde quote that perfectly sets up what we’re about to see: “One should always be in love. That is the reason one should never marry.”

Enter Angela (Olivia Wilde, who also directed) and Joe (Seth Rogen). They were in love once, allegedly, when he was an aspiring indie musician (his band had one minor hit and dissolved) and she was an art student. (She no longer practices her art.) They used to have a lot of sex, too, Angela claims. Great sex. But now they are living lives of quiet disappointment, if not quite desperation.

They no longer have sex. They have a 12-year-old daughter they love—she is the glue that keeps them together. He retreats to his home “studio,” to smoke pot and zone out. She redecorates the house—searching for creative fulfillment anywhere she can get it. The nice apartment they live in? It was the house Joe grew up in; he doesn’t even own it—a source of constant shame for him.

It is Angela who invites the mysterious and glamorous upstairs neighbors for dinner. When Joe comes home from work—he teaches music at a small college in the shadow of Berkley—he’s tired from biking up San Francisco’s hills. His back hurts, as usual. But Angela has been fussing. She has put out a spread—cheese, ham, bread, flowers—and is making a soufflé.

“Are we expecting company?” he says, mortified.

Yes, she says, the neighbors. I told you yesterday they were coming.

No you didn’t, Joe rebuts.

You never listen to me, Angela replies.

There’s something else about these neighbors—they have absurdly loud sex in the middle of the night. Joe and Angela always talk about them—like all long-married couples, some of their best conversations involve speculating about the private lives of others. Joe thinks their noises are selfish at best and performative at worst.

So Joe is pissed. Not just because the boisterous sex keeps him up at night but because he thinks the male in the relationship is creepy and makes too much eye contact in the elevator. If they’re coming, Joe says, I’m going to confront them about the loud sex.

They’re arguing over this when Hawk (Edward Norton) and Piña (Penélope Cruz, in a blonde wig) arrive.

Piña, of course, is gorgeous, preternaturally confident, sexy—she is played by Penélope Cruz, after all. Hawk (his ridiculous name is a source of cruel amusement for Joe) is, as advertised, a bit smarmy. The couple believes in radical honesty. We heard you arguing, they say. Angela tries to demur, “No…we….”

We were having a fight, Joe admits, adding, things are a bit contentious between us right now.

“We like contentious,” Hawk says.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place,” Joe cracks.

The guests take in the decorating that Angela has done—complimenting her taste and the “energy” she created. Joe rolls his eyes—he hates this kind of New Age bullshit—but Angela is overwhelmed. She starts to cry. “I was going for energy,” she sniffs. It’s clear that Angela wants to be seen—by Joe, of course, but by anyone. This is why the couples’ approbations overcome her like that.

The dinner party commences—well, to an extent. Angela has burned the soufflé. Piña is a gluten-free, dairy-free vegetarian, so she can’t eat the Jamón or the cheese Angela has put out (she picks at olives instead). And they are forced to break into their special occasion wine—and later tequila—to have something to drink.

Meanwhile, Joe keeps threatening to bring up the loud sex. In one hilarious scene, he tries to mention it several times but Angela keeps shoving the flan that Piña has made into his mouth to shut him up.

Wilde directs this inflamed dinner party with a swirling camera as though we are witnessing a mating/domination ritual. And the film’s string score combines playful jauntiness with elements of caustic and disruptive staccato. The film is extremely funny—at one point, Angela shows Hawk the three paint shades she is considering for the bedroom and it’s clear they’re all exactly the same—a white-ish gray. Hawk, pretentiously, suggests that one color feels like a walk on the beach, one feels like a hot morning on a Southern veranda, and one feels like a date with a stranger in Copenhagen. Angela’s mouth drops open. He gets it. “Joe thinks they’re all the same,” she says, shaking her head.

Things are relatively harmonious for a while, but we keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. Yes, the verbal sparring and tension recalls Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? but this is as much a sex comedy as it an exploration of power dynamics among the couples.

Piña and Hawk, who occasionally converse in Spanish, who have a natural (or performative) physical intimacy, and who sometimes regard Joe and Angela like they are amusing children, clearly have the upper hand. But the power dynamics will shift throughout the night. And maybe, just maybe, Piña and Hawk aren’t as perfectly content as they seem.

Olivia Wilde, working off a script by Rashida Jones and Will McCormack, has hit a home run here. The film is uproariously funny and sexy but more than a little sad, too. Is it too late for Joe and Angela to find their way back to each other? Or is their marriage the very thing that has doomed their love?

The cast is note perfect, with Rogen evoking cranky, funny, neurotics like Albert Brooks and Woody Allen and Wilde—emotional, frazzled, unaware of her own beauty— evoking Diane Keaton. Cruz has the sexual confidence of Anne Bancroft in The Graduate and the self-satisfied Norton is reminiscent of Alan Alda in Crimes and Misdemeanors. Yes, there’s a reason I’m recalling stars of yore. The Invite feels like a throwback to the grown up films of the ’70s and early ’80s. What an absolute pleasure. Grownups are back, baby!

For local bar owner Matthew Steinberg, opening his newest spot in Fells Point represents a return to the part of the job he’s missed most: actually connecting with patrons from behind the bar.  

When he opens NEATFREAK! on Aug. 1 in the former Greyhound Tavern on Fleet Street, Steinberg won’t be in the background supporting a team of bartenders, as he has with his other concepts like Meander Art Bar and the now-closed Kenwood Tavern. 

He’ll be center stage, shaking martinis, pouring rare spirits into one-of-a-kind snifters, and walking guests through the stories behind what’s in their glass. In fact, for the most part, he’ll be the only face you see behind the bar at NEATFREAK! 

“Life is with people,” Steinberg says. “I go for the bartender, not the bar.” 

Steinberg first looked at the property nearly a year ago. Upon seeing a recent price drop, he knew it was the right time to make a move. He and his wife, Molly, purchased the building and now live upstairs with their two cats. 

“I loved Greyhound Tavern,” he says of the bar’s previous inhabitant, which poured its final pints in May due to the sale. “Every time I came in and sat here, I’d look around the room and think, ‘Man, these old bones are gorgeous.’”

Named after Steinberg’s love of drinking his spirits neat—and his tendencies of making sure everything is in its place—NEATFREAK! will be a martini bar at its core. Rather than showcase elaborate cocktails, he wants it to be a place where people can count on a well-executed classics, as well as affordable glasses of wine ($7-10), and rare spirits from around the world. 

A signature “day-cap” special will offer $10 customizable martinis from 12-5 p.m., catering to a recent trend of patrons drinking earlier to reduce the risk of hangovers, especially on weekdays. (He’ll open the doors on Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays, and Mondays.)

“A lot of people are thirsty for something that’s really tasty and straightforward,” Steinberg says. “I want to send people off so the next bar they go to, they know their martini order.”

To complement the drinks, Steinberg will serve a concise menu from a newly built kitchen.

“I’m for sure doing a hot dog,” he says, planning to keep the classic bar snack simple, serving it from a roller with mustard, ketchup, Kewpie mayo, and perhaps relish. He also wants to offer noshes like olives and popcorn, plus limited-run items like crab cakes. 

Much of NEATFREAK’s atmosphere draws inspiration from “the ashes of Bar 1801,” where Steinberg featured natural wines and non-stop spinning vinyl in the Upper Fells Point space that is now Meander Art Bar. (Bar 1801 closed in 2023 when it was denied zoning for recurring live jazz nights. Simultaneously, Steinberg’s former business partner moved abroad to cook at a Michelin-starred restaurant in France.)

Despite being short-lived, the spot developed a following for its laid-back vibes. Steinberg says NEATFREAK! is his chance to revive that spirit.

The space is filled with his impressive personal collection of antiques, old instruments, glassware, and more than 3,000 records. 

“I think I was an interior designer in another lifetime,” says Steinberg, whose “neat freak” tendencies have made for a cozy atmosphere that feels new, yet lived in. Among the treasures locals will spot throughout the bar are a functional antique cash register, a ’90s Guinness poster, a Natty Boh clock, aged Chartreuse display case bottles, and Maryland-labeled whiskey bottles. 

“I want to bring all of that soul back,” he adds. 

While some details are still being ironed out, one thing is clear—Steinberg wants people to come and hang. He’s excited to strike up conversations and answer questions, either about the booze or a piece of decoration. 

“I’ll wake up, have breakfast, do my morning exercise, and then come down to pop open the door,” he says, not batting an eye at the thought of working a 12-hour shift alone. “I love hanging with people, I’d rather just be at my own bar.”

Steinberg is also keen on unearthing and preserving the building’s history. Inspired by old neighborhood storefronts, the front window shelves will display his cocktail books, instruments, glassware, and spirits, some of which are for sale—a nod to the building’s earliest days as a grocery store. 

“This should be a bar for the next 100 years,” he says. “I hope it stays in our family, and I hope we can continue to build a strong community in Baltimore.”

In our new Walk & Talk web series, we send a reporter and a local tastemaker to a Charm City cultural event and record their real-time reactions. Recently, arts contributor Kerry Folan met up with Bmore Art founder Cara Ober to explore BMA Celebrates MICA200, which is on view through January 3, 2027. 

Blockbuster shows are always a good reason to plan a trip to the Baltimore Museum of Art, but the institution’s smaller permanent collection exhibitions can be just as rewarding—and, bonus, they’re free.

Case in point, BMA Celebrates MICA200, which is currently on view in the museum’s contemporary wing. This compact exhibition features 17 works by Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) instructors and alumni—selected out of more than 500 in the permanent collection—that celebrate the longterm relationship between the museum and the city’s fine arts university.

The carefully selected pieces, plus others tagged throughout the contemporary wing, manage to represent the breadth of MICA’s output and impact throughout the past two centuries. The range is impressive, with painting, sculpture, photography, film, textiles, jewelry, and works on paper all represented. In particular, the exhibition highlights MICA’s tradition of pushing the boundaries of what craft can be—especially for socially minded artists.

Ultimately, the show emphasizes the ways in which each institution has supported the other’s mission throughout the years—a symbiotic relationship that is no small part of the reason Baltimore is home to such a vibrant arts community.

“MICA has played a major role in training and fostering that next generation of artists,” says one of the show’s curators, Antoinette Roberts. “That ethos is something that we share here at the Baltimore Museum of Art, which is why there are so many MICA artists in our collection, and why we’ve been engaging with MICA throughout the entirety of our existence.”

On a recent June afternoon, we toured BMA Celebrates MICA200 with one of MICA’s most ubiquitous and beloved alums, Cara Ober. Founder and editor-in-chief of the essential local arts publication Bmore Art, Ober graduated from the low-residency MFA program in 2004 and went on to teach at MICA as an adjunct professor for a decade.

Here, she shares her take on six can’t-miss works from the exhibition.

“Cuddly Black Dick” by Joyce J. Scott
1995. Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Francine and Benson Pilloff, North Carolina 

“The first thing you see when you walk into the exhibition is this tiny sculpture. There’s a porcelain Hummel-type doll, a white woman, and she’s snuggled up to an iridescent, but definitely Black, beaded penis that is about the same size as her torso,” says Ober. 

“You really do have to get in close before you’re like, ‘Oh, wait, that’s a giant dick, actually. Okay.’ And this doll/woman is lovingly caressing him/it. This piece really packs a wallop, so it’s fun to be greeted by it at the entrance. Joyce Scott steals the show from the first moment.”  

“Howling Mongrel” by Jo Smail
2004. Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Dr. Julien Davis, Baltimore, BMA 2016.11. © Jo Smail 

“Jo Smail recently retired after a very long career teaching painting at MICA. In this work, we’ve got black, cursive, loopy line work, while the background has very simple triangles and circles and a very subtle pink skin color.

“You can barely see the triangles until you zoom in with your eyes, because the black lines on top are much more prominent. In the year 2000, Smail had a stroke and wasn’t able to speak for a little while. Her pieces from this time period have a raw power to them, a sort of unspoken language.” 

“Ingres’ Bath” by Grace Hartigan
1993. Baltimore Museum of Art, Alice and Franklin Cooley Fund, BMA 1994.160. © The Baltimore Museum of Art / Estate of Grace Hartigan 

“This is a later Hartigan. She started out as an abstract expressionist painter in the ’50s in New York, and she famously hung out with Willem de Kooning, Jackson Pollock, all the bad boys. She ended up in Baltimore because she got married, and she started teaching at MICA. She was the director of the Hoffberger School of Painting for a long time. I actually had my most brutal grad school critique ever with her. 

“The BMA has some of her large abstract pieces, and I think they’re really beautiful, but later on in her career, she decided that abstraction was over, and figurative art, like this piece depicting the human body, was where it’s at. That really attracted a lot of figurative painters to the Hoffberger program for many, many years.”  

“Necksculpture” by Betty Cooke
1976. Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Barbara Katz, Baltimore, BMA 2019.7. © Betty Cooke 

“Betty Cooke jewelry has been a calling card for women at art events for 50-plus years in Baltimore. This one has a bunch of different sized circles dangling from a choker. It reminds you of satellites. It reminds you of constellations. And it’s interesting that the circles are also in the back, so, for the wearer, from every angle there is going to be some level of detail.

“I’m always happy when there’s jewelry and functional pieces in museums, along with more traditional pieces. Oftentimes they’re separated now, but I think it’s important to recognize—this is art.” 

“Mama’s Little Rock and Roll Baby” by Tom Miller
1991. Baltimore Museum of Art, Gift of Steven Scott, Baltimore, in Memory of the Artist, BMA 2015.366. © Estate of Tom Miller, Courtesy Steven Scott Gallery 

“I like that this work is placed near Joyce Scott’s. The two of them were known to be close friends. [Miller] was the only Baltimore-based artist to have a solo exhibit at the BMA in the 1990s, so he was really an artist of significance before he passed away in 2000. He would collect found furniture, discards, and then transform them using this imagery that reminds you of childhood, with lots of bold color and pattern.

“There’s a real joy and celebration in his work, and it’s also kind of unassuming because it is on these castaway furniture items. He was also really thinking about Black culture and expression, and was instrumental in bringing Black artists to MICA.” 

“Monarchy” by Taha Heydari
2020. The Baltimore Museum of Art: Purchase with exchange funds from the Pearlstone Family Fund and partial gift of The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. BMA 2021.160 

“This work is so good. Taha Heydari is originally from Iran. He came here to study, and Doreen Bolger, who was the BMA director then, specifically commissioned a piece to help him to be able to stay here. A lot of his work is about having secular life erased with the Iranian Revolution. He talks about the fact that all the publications and the television could suddenly be deemed inappropriate or offensive and just be glitched out.

“He talks about the fact that all the publications and the television could suddenly be deemed inappropriate or offensive and just be glitched out.

“In his work, he blurs that line of family, memory, tradition, and surveillance, and visually it’s meant to evoke computer glitches. But it’s all done by hand. That’s the other crazy part. I think this piece really speaks to the way that Baltimore is a global city, and MICA is a huge part of that influence, bringing incredible artists, incredible talent, and incredible scholarship to the city.”  

Know Before You Go: The exhibit is free and open to the public. In addition to the works selected for the show, pink wall labels on permanent collection works throughout the museum’s contemporary wing galleries—such as Heydari’s “Monarchy”—highlight pieces by other MICA artists, faculty, and alumni.  

We’ve got a long Fourth of July Weekend ahead of us—which means the requisite parades, carnivals, cookouts, and shimmering firework shows planned everywhere from Cherry Hill to the Carroll County Farm Museum.

But this year is set to be even more spectacular, given that America is turning the big 2-5-0. No matter where you plan to post up, expect extra festivities (bigger and brighter fireworks, expanded live music lineups, over-the-top decor) to mark the milestone.

If you’re still locking in where you want to celebrate, check out our master guide for details on the area’s most dazzling displays.

Annapolis: After kicking off the celebration with the annual parade at 6:30 p.m., the Naptown fireworks will launch over the harbor on July 4 starting at 9:30 p.m. For the best viewing experience, head to public spaces northeast of the Severn River, City Dock, the Naval Academy Bridge (be aware of limited parking), or park spaces facing Spa Creek.

If you plan to be in the area throughout the long weekend, check out the capital’s full itinerary for more events like a performance by the Piscataway Nation Singers & Dancers and a fitting outdoor screening of Hamilton.

Bel Air: The Bel Air Independence Committee is back with its all-day Fourth of July funfair—which will feature everything from a pancake breakfast and family water balloon toss to a bicycle rodeo and the annual parade. The day starts with flag-raising ceremonies in the morning and culminates with the blazing fireworks from Rockfield Park at approximately 9:30 p.m. You can watch the sparks fly from any permitted area in or around town.

Catonsville: Break out those lawn chairs. Now in its 80th year, Catonsville’s Fourth of July festival is back with the theme “Hometown Heroes.” Leading up to the fireworks, there will be concerts, games, all-ages activities, and the annual grand parade—for which locals traditionally set out their lawn chairs along Frederick Road days in advance—to look forward to throughout the day. The Grand Fireworks Show will kick off at 9:15 p.m. on the Catonsville High School Athletic Fields.

Cherry Hill: Now in its 10th year, the neighborhood’s annual Arts & Music Waterfront Festival is going all out for a triple milestone celebration: 250 years of America, 100 years of Black History Month, and 80 years of Cherry Hill. Spend the day enjoying live music, food trucks, art installations and small business vendors at Middle Branch Park.

Once again, in lieu of fireworks, organizers with Youth Resiliency Institute, South Baltimore Gateway Partnership, and the mayor’s office are pumped to showcase an eco-conscious drone show, which will go on rain or shine. Scheduled for 9:30 p.m., the display “merges technology and art in a breathtaking aerial show” over the Patapsco. 

Cockeysville: Per tradition, The Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s Star-Spangled Spectacular will honor our country’s history with a jaw-dropping fireworks show and performance at Cockeysville’s Oregon Ridge Park. But to honor America 250, the concert has been extended to two nights on July 3 and July 4 this year.

Spread a blanket on the lawn to hear renditions such as the finale from Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture, as well as John Williams selections from Star Wars and, of course, “The Star Spangled Banner.” Pack a picnic, or scope out a lineup of food and drink vendors before you settle in beneath the stars. 

Columbia: Co-hosted by Howard County Recreation & Parks, the Columbia Association, and other community orgs, the annual fireworks display will return to the Columbia Lakefront on Independence Day.

The party kicks off at 5 p.m. live music from rockers Chasing Straights (6 p.m.) and new string band supergroup Don Flemons & the Traveling Wildfires (7:30 p.m.) before fireworks light up Lake Kittamaqundi at dusk. You can arrive as early as 3 p.m. to lay out your blankets and claim a spot while enjoying food truck fare.

Dundalk: After last weekend’s Heritage Fair, the Dundalk festivities continue on the big day. Kick off the morning with the 92nd Annual Dundalk Independence Day Parade, the longest continually running procession in Maryland, starting at 8:15 a.m. After the filling up at the family cookout, rally to watch fireworks shoot off from North Point Government Center/Grange Elementary around 9:15 p.m.

Glen Burnie: Bring your blankets and chairs to Sawmill Creek Park (or additional viewing at 3rd Avenue Park) on July 3 at 9 p.m. to watch the sky sparkle, thanks to the Glen Burnie Improvement Association.

Havre De Grace: Before the fireworks, all launched from a barge in the Susquehanna River, fizzle over Concord Point Park at 9:15 p.m. on Sunday, July 5, groove to live tunes to get the party started. At 7:30 p.m., a free show by the Maryland Military Band will kick off the fireworks at Concord Point Park. 

Inner Harbor: Nothing quite compares to watching fireworks illuminate the Inner Harbor skyline. Before the sparks fly around 9 p.m., catch live entertainment everywhere from Pier Six Pavilion (where DJ Supream, DJ Mr. Incredible, Jonathan Gilmore, and Stephanie Mills will take the stage) to Harbor Point—where you can jump into a silent disco for $15. An evening iteration of the Pratt Street Market will also be up and running with local food vendors at McKeldin Square.

To get the best views, take a walk along the Waterfront Promenade, head up to a roof deck, climb atop Federal Hill, or, if you’re looking to splurge, purchase front-row seats with the Baltimore Museum of Industry‘s annual fundraiser—which includes museum admission, parking, and a live concert by John Lamkin Favorites Jazz Quintet. You can also head over to the Sagamore Pendry in Fells Point for a posh pool party and barbecue on the water. (Wagyu burgers, housemade crab chips, and peach shortcakes? Yes, please.)

Laurel: This all-day celebration on July 4 begins at 3 p.m., featuring a parade, car show, live music, and family-friendly games. To end the day, bring your chairs and blankets to the 45-minute firework show over Laurel Lake, which starts at 9:15 p.m. Spectators are encouraged to arrive early to find the best seats.

Mount Airy: Happening on July 3, this free community tradition at the Mount Airy Carnival Grounds invites guests to bring their own chairs, blankets, and coolers with food. Or you can indulge in some fairground treats from an array of food trucks onsite. The gates will open at 4 p.m., followed by live music at 5 p.m., and fireworks around 9:30 p.m. 

Ocean City: If you’re heading downy ocean for the long weekend, make plans to go to either uptown (Northside Park on 127th Street) or downtown (the Caroline Street Stage on the boardwalk) to enjoy live music at 8 p.m. before the big fireworks display at 9:30 p.m. To watch from the water, get tickets aboard the Sea Rocket’s 4th of July Fireworks Cruise.

Towson: Post up along Bosley and Washington Ave. before 10:30 a.m. on Saturday to enjoy Towson’s patriotic parade. Feeling extra festive this year? Decorate your bike in theme with the holiday and line up for the bike rush an hour before the parade starts, finishing just in time to grab your seats before the floats come by. After dark, the Towson Communities Alliance hosts its annual fireworks show from Loch Raven Middle School.

Westminster: Head to the Carroll County Farm Museum to partake in this annual summer soiree. Gates will open at 4 p.m. on July 4, followed by fireworks around 9:30 p.m. While you wait, groove to live tunes by Park Avenue & The Guard and enjoy treats from on-site vendors including The Cow (Italian ice and frozen custard), The Crabby Pretzel, The Arepa Stop, and more. Admission is $10 per vehicle (cash only) and groups can feel free to bring their own coolers with snacks and non-alcoholic drinks.

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Fact-checking by Caroline McDonough

In Baltimore, a piece of summer has belonged to AFRAM for 50 years.

The time-honored celebration of Black culture dates back to August 1976, when the late Norman E. Ross, then the director of Baltimore’s Urban Services Cultural Arts Project, worked with city leadership to produce the inaugural Afro-American Exposition at Charles Center and Hopkins Plaza.

The community gathering was conceived during an era of liberation, especially for African-Americans, who were seeing the rise of representation in arts and media and the popularization of the Black is Beautiful movement. Folks were also reclaiming Afrocentric styles in dress, including afros, and bringing African folk art, masks, and sculptures into the home. 

Deborah Mason, 75, was among the dancers who performed at the very first festival. The former executive director of the Sankofa Children’s Museum of African Cultures walks with a cane now. And although she says the memory has blurred with time, she recalls her participation with pride.

“For African-Americans in the city, it was a time of not being hidden or oppressed so much anymore,” Mason shares. “As a young person, I was coming out and expressing myself, and the Black community was doing the same thing in regard to having a full festival that was Black that freely. We were not afraid of gathering and enjoying ourselves. We were letting down a lot of the chains as young people that imprisoned our parents. It was a wonderful time for me.”

The goal for AFRAM’s big 50th anniversary this weekend, overlapping with Juneteenth from June 19-21, is to celebrate that legacy. Back at Druid Hill Park this year, the milestone event will feature headlining performances (Baltimore’s own Dru Hill, Mario, DJ Quicksilva, and Black Assets, as well as hip-hop trio The Lox and The Gap Band’s Charlie Wilson), plus Black-owned arts exhibitors, food vendors, community resources, and family-friendly activities.

“We were not afraid of gathering and enjoying ourselves. We were letting down a lot of the chains as young people that imprisoned our parents.” 

While some of the programs and people who helped bring AFRAM to life are no longer with us (Ross sadly passed away in 2015), the drive to protect and preserve Baltimore’s Black culture is alive and well.

Just ask Mayor Brandon Scott, whose office now organizes the event. He remembers attending his first AFRAM with his older cousin. Throughout the decades, as AFRAM was held everywhere from Pimlico Race Course to Camden Yards, he recalls riding the Ferris wheel, as well as being in the crowd for national names like LL Cool J, Doug E. Fresh, The O’Jays, and Busta Rhymes. To him, AFRAM always feels like a big Baltimore family reunion.

“I grew up going to AFRAM, I then worked at AFRAM as a staffer, and now I’m running AFRAM,” Scott says. He goes on to emphasize the importance of the 50th anniversary, especially in the wake of federal attacks on civil rights.

“When they’re telling the story of AFRAM 100, this generation that is coming up now will be telling the story about how, in the midst of a time where Black culture faced its biggest threat since Reconstruction, we kept moving, kept going. We went Blacker, we went bigger. We showed the world that we were not going to cower and not celebrate Black history and Black culture in a Black city, simply because a small group of people thought it was time to go back to the days of slavery and the Jim Crow South.”

Mason echoes this importance, adding that, because Black communities have been so marginalized, actively preserving the culture isn’t optional, it’s essential. “The ways that we keep our history don’t have to be professional, they just need to be intimate,” she says, mentioning rituals like sitting down together for dinner, the way her family did when she was growing up in the 1950s, “because our children are listening.”

“When they’re telling the story of AFRAM 100, this generation that is coming up now will be telling the story about how, in the midst of a time where Black culture faced its biggest threat since Reconstruction, we kept moving, kept going.”

In an effort to cement AFRAM’s history for generations to come, the Mayor’s Office is producing a new documentary titled AFRAM 50: A Celebration of Us. Directed by Baltimore-born, Emmy and NAACP Award-winning Alexandria Queen-Sneed, the film combines archival footage, photos, and interviews with key figures like Rep. Kweisi Mfume and Mason, affectionately called “Mama Debbie” by the film’s producers. The plan is for the final edit to include footage from AFRAM 2026, and screen publicly this fall. 

“Baltimore is a Black city, and you can’t tell many stories without telling the story of Black folks, but you definitely can’t tell this one without spending some time with Black folks,” says executive producer Tia Goodson, chief marketing and programs officer at Create Baltimore. “I think it’s important for Baltimoreans to tell Baltimore’s story.”

Of course, the filmmakers all have their own personal connections to AFRAM. Goodson loves looking back on national acts like Common performing in the stadium parking lots, while fellow executive producer Maya Gilmore, of the Mayor’s Office of Cable & Communications (CharmTV), recalls her mother purchasing a signature pair of wooden-carved earrings from a local maker while browsing the vendor tents.  

For Queen-Sneed’s part, she missed 12 years of AFRAM when she relocated to Los Angeles, so she equates the experience of being at the festival with “the feeling of home.”

“I feel honored to be trusted with this story, because this is Baltimore’s story, and Baltimore is deciding to get behind its own narrative,” Queen-Sneed says. “It just feels right.”

Know Before You Go: Mayor Scott recommends AFRAM attendees bring an ice pack, towels, and an umbrella to keep cool, as well as sunblock, sunglasses, a portable charger, and any necessary medications.

As every soccer fan in the entire world knows, and has known for the last four years, the 2026 FIFA World Cup began Thursday, June 11, with the Mexico v. South Africa match, which Mexico won 2-0. (In our case, it was a terrific excuse to eat tacos and cheer ourselves hoarse alongside other revelers at La Calle in Fells Point, as pictured above.)

For the next 39 days across the USA, Canada, and Mexico, the greatest soccer (sorry, football) tournament of all will play out not only in stadiums across North America, but also in local bars, restaurants, sports hubs, taquerias, and community greenspaces.

Here are the best Baltimore-area hangouts to quench your cravings—for eats and drinks and for what most of the planet considers the best of all sports.

La Calle: If Mexico’s first game was any indication, this Fells Point taqueria—which uses a massive projector to play the action live—is going to be well populated the next few weeks. Snag a seat, tip back a beer, and chow down on bites that showcase the flavors of the chef/owners’ native Puebla. 623 S. Broadway.

Claddagh Pub: Billed as Canton’s original soccer bar, with roots dating back to 1995, Claddagh has long been known for its hyped-up watch parties. Head to the O’Donnell Square pub for static specials during every game, including $4 Michelob Ultras, $5 Stella Artois bottles, $5 Nutrl seltzers, and $18 Michelob Ultra buckets for a crew. 2918 O’Donnell St.

The Duchess: Hampden’s English-inspired pub was born for this. During every match, take advantage of 50 percent-off drafts and a special snack of the day. Games will be on as early as 3 p.m. Monday through Wednesday and as late as 10 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. 1002 W. 36th St. 

Guilford Hall Brewing: Big screens and big beers. What more could you ask for? This community hub near Penn Station offers multiple spaces with indoor/outdoor seating and plenty of screens. Plus, game-day grub and discounts on its house-brewed pints. For the first Team USA game on June 12 🇺🇸, expect $18 Baltimore Pilsner and Guilford Lager pitchers, as well as a roster of food specials. 1611 Guilford Ave. 

Milloh!: As an Argentine-fusion concept, it makes sense that this pop-up purveyor is going all out for the tournament. The first of many local watch parties it plans to host will be at Mobtown Brewing Company in Canton on June 12 🇺🇸. Pair your beer with a signature smash burger, and stay tuned via Instagram for more events to be announced soon. 4015 Foster Ave. 

Monument City and Key Brewing: The breweries’ Highlandtown homebase is transforming from the Baltimore Brewers’ Haven to the Baltimore World Cup Haven for the next few weeks, when regulars can expect an interactive fan zone with live music, activities, and eats and drinks during all USA games and all matches that occur Thursdays through Sundays. In true Brewers’ Haven fashion, the teams will be collaborating on the watch parties with neighbors Motte, Urban Axes, and Old Line Spirits. And a new beer is dropping for the occasion, too. (Duh!) Be sure to sample the World Cup-inspired Extra Time, a 3.5 percent ABV summer ale. 1 N. Haven St.  

R. House: The community gathering spot in the heart of Remington is ready to party. Try to arrive early to snag a seat at R. Bar for drink specials (like $8 Crushes for the first Team USA match on June 12 🇺🇸) and a prime view. 301 W. 29th St. 

Sláinte Irish Pub: Soccer is religion at this Thames Street staple on the water in Fells Point. Here, the staff has dreamed up an entire menu of clever cocktails and “Sideline Snacks” to enjoy while rooting for your team. Among them are the vodka and lemon-infused Strawberry Striker served in a soccer chalice, the Final Whistle Margarita, and a flavored 34-oz. Hat Trick Crush bucket. Snacks are inspired by participating countries, with options like Rio yucca fries, Bavarian beer brats, jàmon and gruyere puffs, and, of course, all-American sliders. 700 Thames St.

If you haven’t noticed, things aren’t all that great out there. I mean, just in general, with wars raging in the Middle East, divisiveness roiling at home, AI poised to take all our jobs—you get the gist. So it makes sense that Steven Spielberg, the great American auteur of optimism, awe, and childlike wonder, would once again look to the skies. He generally sees aliens not as a destructive or frightening force, but benevolent creatures filled with curiosity, kindness, and wisdom. (His take on H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds being a notable exception.)

Disclosure Day is a film that suggests we should all be kinder to each other and listen to each other and lead with our “greatest evolutionary advantage”: empathy. And honestly, who could argue with that? The problem is, I found the final third of the film, when it rather explicitly spells out its themes, a bit moist. The more sentimental it got and the more John Williams’ soaring score all but begged for our tears, the less I enjoyed it.

But man, before that it’s a heckuva ride.

The film starts in medias res, with one of our heroes, Daniel (Josh O’Connor), rescuing his girlfriend, Jane (Eve Hewson), from a secretive government agency. (This all takes place at a pro wrestling match because if there’s one thing Spielberg can do it’s shoot the hell out of a set piece.) Daniel has something they need—a remote control-like doohickey that gives you access to other people’s brains and a whole lot more. And because Josh O’Connor has that expressive, gently handsome, sad-clown face, we never doubt for a second that he is the good guy and the men in black cars—led by a spectacularly bearded Colin Firth—are the baddies. Daniel grabs Jane, threatens them all with the doohickey, and escapes to a nunnery. Literally. Turns out Jane was studying to become a nun before she had a crisis of, well, it’s not totally clear. She still clutches her large cross necklace when she’s afraid, at one point, digging it into her palm and creating a kind of Spielbergian stigmata.

Meanwhile, in Kansas City, a perky TV weatherwoman named Margaret (Emily Blunt) sees a cardinal (the bird, not the religious figure) and suddenly just knows things. She speaks to her befuddled boyfriend Jackson (Wyatt Russell, perfectly cast as the kind but clueless dudebro) in Russian. On the way to the television station, she is stopped by a cop for speeding and she knows things about him, too, intuitively. She gives him advice on how to fix things with his wife. (Buy her that red velvet cupcake she likes, she says.) He’s so shocked, he lets her drive away without a ticket. At the station, she speaks perfect Korean to a visiting dignitary—I should mention that while all this is happening, World War III is looming ominously in the background—and then, once on air, starts speaking in clicks and gulps, until she collapses.

Jackson takes her to the hospital but, of course, she doesn’t have a brain tumor or Parkinson’s and she’s pretty sure the men in black lurking outside her hospital room are not there to help.

She escapes and somehow, through a kind of telepathy/shared grokking of the universe, she meets up with Daniel.

There’s another key figure in this film and that’s Colin Firth’s good guy counterpart, Hugo, swathed in professorial tweed and played with paternal warmth by Colman Domingo.

Hugo, if you will, is Team Disclosure—he believes humans would benefit from knowing about the aliens in their midst.

Firth’s Scanlon is Team Concealment—he thinks mankind can’t handle the truth. Let the grownups in the room handle the aliens.

One of the film’s actually interesting philosophical musing has to do with Jane’s faith. If aliens exist, what becomes of God? Is a divine entity no longer necessary? An intriguing premise worked out a bit too patly by Jane’s beloved Mother Superior (Elizabeth Marvel) who notes that God wouldn’t be so selfish as to let all that vast space go to waste.

As mentioned, the first two-thirds of the film absolutely rips. Nobody can do genre better than Spielberg—hell, he invented a bunch of them. Part of that means inserting welcome bits of humor in the midst of the chaos. At one point, Hugo instructs Margaret to ditch her cell phone. She throws it out of the car and tells Jackson to back up over it, but he keeps screwing up—backing up again and again, missing the phone entirely. It’s not quite DiCaprio’s Bob desperate to plug in his phone in One Battle After Another, but it’s the sort of touch that elevates the film.

Because there are few directors who can orchestrate an action scene better than Spielberg, the chase scenes are unsurprisingly electrifying—including one involving a half-crushed car dangling from the side of a train and another one involving a car stopping on a dime at the edge of a cliff.

The acting across the board is exemplary, with Blunt a standout as a woman who suddenly knows everything—and isn’t sure she wants to.

In general, Disclosure Day is rollicking entertainment until that dewy-eyed bit in the end. I understand that Spielberg wants to appeal to our better angels but I wish he had done it in a more subtle way. But for better or for worse—mostly for better— Spielberg’s gotta Spielberg.

(Before signing off, there is one depressing thought I have to get off my chest: Spielberg treats the “disclosure” as a seismic event—a game changer, the kind of thing that would make everyone pause, listen, and rethink their relationship to the planet. But did you know that Donald Trump recently declassified the government’s database about UAP (Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena) and it was met with a collective shrug? In fairness, there were no cool aliens in the file, but I can’t help but wonder if Spielberg’s premise is outmoded. If CNN broke into programming to tell us there were aliens in our midst, would we even bother to look up from our screens? Would it change a thing?)

Baltimore Pride showed out for its 50th anniversary last year, but attendees can expect the same level of commitment to the history, preservation, and celebration of the local LGBTQ+ community in year 51.

The 2026 festivities—the annual block party, parade, and festival are scheduled June 12-14—are returning under the theme “Charm City Homecoming: Pride Lives Here,” as organizers with The Pride Center of Maryland emphasize the unifying approach that led to Baltimore’s first-ever Pride, a small rally at Charles Plaza in 1975. “We walk where they marched,” reads the slogan for this year’s events.

Below, we not only map out the best ways to spend your Pride Weekend, but also round up how to keep the celebrations and reflections going all month long—with everything from glow parties and rainbow runs to sensory-friendly celebrations and book signings.

🪩Official Baltimore Pride Events

6/12: Mount Vernon Block Party
Kick off the weekend where it all began in 1975. At the joy-filled block party, connect with neighbors as Charles Street comes alive with DJs, dancing, food vendors, entertainment, and community activations. Park Ave. & Read St. 3-8 p.m. Free with RSVP.

6/12: Twilight on the Terrace Gala
Experience an exquisite evening at the Hippodrome’s M&T Bank Exchange celebrating Baltimore’s vibrant LGBTQ+ history and community. Look out for this year’s headliners, singer-songwriter Martha Wash and comedian Marsha Warfield, as well as a special tribute to John Waters. 401 W Fayette St. 7-11 p.m. Tickets start at $150.

6/13: Pride 5K
Early birds, this one’s for you. Get hyped for the parade by running or walking the annual Pride 5K. Throw on your rainbow to compete for a race award or keep a chill pace during the untimed PrideMile. Druid Hill Park. Chinese Pavilion on Swann Drive. 8 a.m. $49.61-$54.90.

6/13: Baltimore Pride Parade
Stake out a prime spot along the route—North Charles Street from Station North to Charles Village—for this year’s annual Pride Parade. The beloved tradition features festive floats, energetic performers, marching bands, and local organizations spreading the love throughout the heart of the city. Charles St. & North Ave. 12-3 p.m.

6/13: Baltimore Pride Block Party in the Park
Immediately following the parade, make your way to Druid Hill Park to rally with wellness programming, live entertainment, dancing, food, and vendors. Druid Hill Park. 900 Druid Park Lake Dr. 12-9 p.m.

6/13: Charm City Pride 
Perhaps after a quick power nap, head to the official Charm City Pride after-party downtown. Organized by Baltimore-based queer collectives, the bar bash invites attendees to experience multiple venues at Power Plant Live, highlighting various DJs and karaoke zones. GRL PWR will headline the main stage and SADBrunch will put on glittering drag performances throughout the night. Power Plant Live, 34 Market Pl., 6 p.m.-1 a.m. Tickets start at $32.

6/14: Baltimore Pride in the Park Festival 
Close out Pride week with a day of family-friendly festivities. In between grabbing bites from food vendors and participating in community workshops, squeeze into the crowd to dance to the timeless hits of headliner En Vogue. Druid Hill Park. 900 Druid Park Lake Dr. 12-8 p.m.

🎤Pride Performances

6/12: Jewels Sparkles at The Baltimore Eagle
Clink drinks with the first runner up of RuPaul’s Drag Race Season 17, then settle in for what is sure to be a dazzling drag show. The Baltimore Eagle. 2022 N. Charles St., 9:30 p.m. Tickets start at $20.

6/14: THOT POT: Hot Pot Drag Brunch
Get ready for the hottest drag brunch in Fells Point (literally), featuring song and dance by Kelsey Kadaver, Milky Hazard, and Hunny Du Buns. While you chow down on bottomless meats and sides at Broadway Hot Pot, cheer on all of the sizzling performers. Broadway Hotpot & Bar. 709 S Broadway. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Tickets start at $10 for seating. $32.99 for all-you-can-eat hot pot.

6/19: 40 Year Old Puberty: The Homecoming King Comedy Show
Comedian and filmmaker Ti Malik Coleman brings his award-winning one-man show back home to Baltimore Improv Group for a special Pride and Juneteenth performance. 40 Year Old Puberty is a funny, honest, uplifting story about a Black trans person’s experience with manhood. Baltimore Improv Group, 1727 N Charles St. 9-10:30 p.m. $10.

🎨Arts and Culture

6/12-6/14: Iron Crow Theatre Presents: The View Upstairs
Pride Weekend overlaps with the final performances of Max Vernon’s daring original musical based on the true story of the UpStairs Lounge arson attack in New Orleans in 1973—one of the deadliest attacks on the LGBTQ+ community in U.S. history. With a dynamic original score, the piece emphasizes queer resilience, history, and solidarity. Iron Crow Theatre, 45 W Preston St. 6/12: 7:30 p.m. 6/13: 7:30 p.m. 6/14: 3 p.m. Tickets start at $35.

6/12: Off the Rails Pride Party at the Baltimore Streetcar Museum
Join the Clifton Pleasure Club for its second-annual Pride Party highlighting streetcar rides, throwback dance anthems, a queer art exhibit, and plenty of local LGBTQ+-owned vendors to support. All proceeds benefit the local queer community. Baltimore Streetcar Museum, 1901 Falls Rd. 6-10 p.m. $25.

6/25: Unapologetic: Stories of Being Queer and Jewish in Charm City
The Queer Jewish Arts Festival, Stoop Storytelling, Bolton Street Synagogue, and the Gordon Center for Performing Arts are inviting community members to step up to the mic and share their own tales of being queer and Jewish at the Creative Alliance. Washington, D.C.-based indie band Flowerbomb will set the mood with their dreamy, alternative sound as the special musical guest. Creative Alliance. 3134 Eastern Ave. 7 p.m. Tickets start at $40.

6/25: A Gay Little History of Maryland Launch
Historian Ben Egerman will take over Red Emma’s for the launch of his book, which compiles his first six Gay Little History zines on LGBTQ+ people in Maryland. Swing by the free launch to pick up a copy and hear Egerman in conversation with Baltimore artist and writer Rahne Alexander. Red Emma’s, 3128 Greenmount Ave. 7 p.m. Free with RSVP.

Community Connections

6/13: “Unaffiliated” Pride Market
Explore tons of local vendors at Station North’s Mobtown Ballroom and YNot Lot. The market will also host free live crankie shows and poetry readings throughout the day. 30 W North Ave. 1735 Maryland Ave., Unit A. 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

6/13: Quiet Pride at Dreams and Visions
Join the folks at Dreams and Visions queer sanctuary in Station North for a low-sensory Pride celebration, complete with free massages, refreshments, and tarot readings. Away from the energy outside, sit back and enjoy a drag story hour or relax with a faux stained-glass craft. Dreams and Visions Church, 1900 St Paul St. 10 a.m.-3 p.m.

6/26: Baltimore Bike Party Presents: Pride Ride
Per tradition, Baltimore Bike Party’s last Friday of June ride will create a beautiful rainbow procession on wheels. Wear vibrant colors and set off from St. Mary’s Park, preparing for a midway stop as well as an after-party at Union Craft Brewing with food and dancing. St. Mary’s Park. 7 p.m. After-party: 9 p.m. Free with RSVP.

6/26: Pride Night at Oriole Park
Shine bright with the Orioles as they take on the Washington Nationals at Camden Yards. Exclusive Pride Night jerseys will be gifted to the first 15,000 fans who step through the gates. 333 W Camden St. Gates open at 5:35 p.m.

The lights at The Rockwell are, quite literally, going dim.

Since opening in 2013, the Fells Point rock club has been known for its immersive bitmap projector screens with colorfully collaged images swapped out weekly by longtime creative partner Scott Chmielewski—an Emmy-nominated designer who works in Hollywood production for touring shows and television. 

“We can’t even get the light bulbs to replace them,” says the bar’s co-owner Bryan Burkert, also behind record shop The Sound Garden around the corner. “The technology just starts to wear out. And it’s not like we could just replace this piece or replace that piece. Everything is built together and works in conjunction.”

Left without the proper tech to maintain the screens—which have been central to the spirit of the spot—Burkert recently announced that The Rockwell will host its final rager this Saturday, June 6.

“This place still kicks ass,” says Burkert looking around the bar, reflecting on 13 years of DJ dance parties, karaoke nights, live drumming sets, photo booth sessions, and last-call pop-punk singalongs. “It feels good in here, you know? That’s what it was always about for us.” 

When the club first opened, it was called Vale Tudo, Portuguese for “anything goes,” which was fitting because Burkert designed the screens with the trippy music video for Nirvana’s “Come As You Are” in mind. But, “it didn’t really work explaining the name,” he says. So he rebranded to The Rockwell in 2014, inspired by a street sign he saw while on a trip to Los Angeles.

Musician Jeff Hearn—who could frequently be found behind the DJ booth, but also played live drums along with his tracks—was a part of the journey since the bar’s first weekend in business. He realized that the spot had an alt-rock audience (All Time Low drummer Jack Barakat was once a partner) in the early days, when a random Mighty Mighty Bosstones song made the room erupt.

Hearn drummed and DJed nearly every Friday and Saturday for years, creating a custom setup that Burkert compares to greats like Travis Barker and DJ AM.

“That didn’t really happen anywhere else,” Hearn says. “It just became interesting.”

Though Burkert will lock up the South Broadway bar for the last time this weekend (he doesn’t own the property, so he’s unsure what will move in next), he’s not leaving the neighborhood. In fact, he and Chmielewski just introduced a brand new nightclub called Wonderland two blocks away, in the Aliceanna Street building that housed his previous concepts Fletcher’s, The Get Down, and Sir Duke.

The downstairs lounge is open Thursday through Sunday, with live music—harkening back to the Fletcher’s days—set to kick off upstairs in the coming months.

The aesthetic is cinematic and dramatic, described as John Wick-meets-film noir, with lighting designed like a movie set—all Chmielewski’s vision. The glass floor has broken mirror underneath so that light hits the ceiling and bounces. The second floor will lean into an Andy Warhol Factory vibe, with bright colors and high ceilings to complement the various DJs and live performers that take the stage. (Burkert has already lined up a partnership with Darin Atwater of Soulful Symphony for a monthly night featuring Peabody Conservatory students.)

“Scott is art and visual and I’m music,” says Burkert. “So we built a really immersive space where people can sink into a different sound and different music—a different vibe.”

Although he has a new club to focus on, he’s got a soft spot for The Rockwell, so this weekend will undoubtedly stir up a lot of emotions.  “I’ve never kept anything this long,” he says of the bar’s run. “This one hurts, more than closing any of the others.” 

At 59, he admits that slowing down is inevitable. But, in the short term, he’s looking forward to giving The Rockwell the sendoff it deserves—complete with a packed dance floor, people standing on speakers with their drinks raised high, and one last pop-punk set that will leave the crowd with raspy voices in the morning. 

“We want to go out like this mattered, you know?” he says of the final days. “This was something that happened and it’s never gonna happen again. There will never be another place like this.”

Last week, as The Late Show officially wrapped its iconic run on CBS, we couldn’t help but think about Future Islands. How had it already been 12 years since the Baltimore indie rock band’s gliding, growling performance of “Seasons (Waiting On You)” on the show—then hosted not by Stephen Colbert, but David Letterman—sent them careening into the cultural spotlight? By that point, the band was already promoting its fourth album, Singles, and local audiences were familiar with the kinetic magic of vocalist Samuel T. Herring, William Cashion on bass, Gerrit Welmers on keys, and, since 2014, Mike Lowry on drums.  

This year marks the 20th anniversary of Future Islands, and in celebration, they’ve released a compilation album, From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth, out now as a double LP via 4AD. Featuring artwork by local designer Noren Strals, the album highlights, not their greatest hits, but 20 songs from over the years that never quite made the final cut. They’ve also been on a mini tour of their home state, North Carolina, where the East Carolina University students initially united in Greenville in the early 2000s. That’s where they first met electronic artist Dan Deacon, setting in motion their eventual move north in 2008.  

Fittingly, they’ll be wrapping that southern run in Baltimore, with an outdoor show along the Inner Harbor at Pier Six Pavilion this Thursday, May 28 at 7 p.m. Like the iconic Windjammer concert a decade earlier, this lineup—presented by Unregistered Nurse Booking—will include other local bands that were part of Future Islands’ early heyday, including Deacon and Ed Schrader’s Music Beat.

We recently caught up with the band, minus Herring, about the new album and their early days in Baltimore.   

Tell us the backstory of this album’s title, From a Hole in the Floor to a Fountain of Youth.
William Cashion: It’s a lyric from “Pinnochio.” That was one of the first songs we wrote once we made the move up to Baltimore. I’ve always just loved that line, and when we were bouncing around ideas for this upcoming release, that one felt like it fit. We like the poetry of it. 

How did you guys ultimately choose which tracks to include?
WC: We put together a big playlist of songs that had [only] been released on seven inches or were Japanese bonus tracks over the years. In recent years, we’ve done a couple VIP-only seven inches with songs that were only available on those. We have a lot of songs that are really rough recordings, but we wanted these to [have good fidelity and] be studio-quality recordings.

Do you have any favorites?
WC: For me, the first LP, side A and B, those are all really old songs, and I really remember that time. There was a period between 2009 and 2012, we were touring a ton, but even in between tours, we were writing a lot and finding time to get in the studio to record songs, and there’s a lot of that energy captured on those songs. I’ve always loved “Pinocchio,” but “The Ink Well” is a special song, it doesn’t really sound like anything else that we’ve done. I was also surprised at the strength of “Find Love.” That song is really catchy, and for whatever reason, it didn’t fit on On the Water (2011). I’m glad it’s getting out there. 

Mike Lowry: For me, “Find Love,” “Cotton Flower,” “The Ink Well.” Those were all songs that were before my time in the band and I  hadn’t heard them. We played a couple since I joined, like “The Fountain.” But it was exciting for me to hear those songs and how they were done and then try to figure out what I could bring to them. 

Gerrit Welmers: There’s a song that I’ve been digging called “Six Weeks,” which we wrote originally for The Far Field (2017). We played it a certain way leading up to the record, and I just didn’t really love it. So at the very last minute, I wrote all these extra parts. For whatever reason, it didn’t make the record. …[But] going back and relearning these songs for this tour, it’s a really strong song, and it’s fun to play.  

It must be surreal to sift back through all your work and reflect on this time. Twenty years is no small feat as a band. In what ways did Baltimore inform the band back then that still show up in your music or practice today? 
WC: This is making me think about this one time we were on tour with Dan Deacon [in Baltimore], in the early days. I was asking him about the performance, I can’t remember if it was gear-related or about where we should set up, and I remember he was just like, ‘You can do whatever you want to do…’

That was really profound to me at that time. That was the ethos of the Baltimore scene when we moved [here]. For every single band at that time, there was this whole mindset, like, there’s no rule book, we’re going to do it how we want to do it, it’s going to be weird, it’s going to be DIY. And that attitude really shifted how we approached performance, how we approached recording. Our first three albums were made with a portable studio and a computer in different houses. We mostly recorded our second album In Evening Air in a row home in Marble Hill with our good friend Chester.  

There was just an electricity in the air in Baltimore when we were first coming—around in 2006, 2007. It was really exciting, and we wanted to be a part of that scene. That’s what attracted us up to Baltimore, and then also rent was really cheap, so we could afford to tour all the time and be artists. Baltimore really allowed us to do that. We could play places in D.C. and Philly and New York way more often than we ever could in North Carolina. We played New York 22 times the first year that we lived [here]. I remember I used to work at an art store in town, and Sam and Garrett would pick me up when I got off work, we’d drive to New York, play a show, then drive back to Baltimore so I could be at work the next morning.

We did stuff like that. We didn’t even think twice about it. We just packed our bags and went. And everyone was doing it. Everyone was showing us that you can just do it. You can just book a tour and get out there and it can be a sustainable lifestyle, which we really loved. We loved the idea of putting off getting a real job as long as we could.  

To accompany this album, you’re doing a mini tour of North Carolina. Why did you decide to wrap the show in Baltimore? Why Pier Six?
WC: We talked about a million ideas of what the show could be and Pier Six is where we landed. Logistically, it just made the most sense. We really had a good time when we played there for Windjammer a couple years back. And it’s beautiful, right there on the water. 

ML: It definitely feels like a homecoming of sorts. We’re all really leaning into that idea. We’re all kind of spread out all over the place now, but it’s still a place we love and really want to show our appreciation for.  

GW: It’s also a homecoming [show], because Sam, William, Dan, Ed, and Devlin [Rice of Ed Schraeder’s Music Beat]—we all used to live together in Baltimore, which is probably the reason that we were able to tour so much, because we fit so many people into one house and had such small rents. We were touring all at the same time, but we were able to leave and know people would still be there to make sure the cats were fed or whatever. I’m excited to get back. It’s been too long.  

You were recently home rehearsing at Wright Way Studios. Are you also working on new music?
WC: We recorded our last two albums at Wright Way Studios, and over the years, that’s been our spot for when we need to rehearse. Because we don’t have a practice space in Baltimore anymore, that’s become our Baltimore home for the band—our hub.

WC: We have been writing a ton of new material. We have more than an album’s worth of new tunes, and we’re just trying to figure out where and when we’re going to record it. We’re thinking hopefully later this year. We’re really excited about it. 

If you’re anything like us (read: snowball snobs) you know exactly what you’re ordering once you step up to your favorite roadside stand this season.

As Baltimoreans, we all have our preferences. (Egg custard or Skylite? Domed top or pointy top? Marshmallow on top or in the middle?) But no matter what combo fills your cup, nothing beats the feeling of chopping away at the refreshing treat—especially when it’s the perfect ratio of ice to syrup—once the humidity sets in.

To get you ready for summer, we’ve rounded up a few of the best spots in town to get your fix. Among them is Ice Queens in Locust Point, whose mother-daughter duo sat down with us to discuss their signature New Orleans-style snowballs. (We see some of your eyes rolling, but, trust us, they’re incredible. Read the Q&A at the end of our list to find out why.)

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The Bus Stop: Options are endless at this dessert haven off of Hanover Pike in Upperco, but the snowballs are likely the most refreshing item on the menu. Unique takes on the classic cup of ice include DIY half-and-half flavors, a blended snowball (two flavors blended together), or the “Lollipop,” which layers a snowball with vanilla or chocolate soft serve. 15513 Hanover Pike, Upperco

Chestnut Ridge Volunteer Firehouse: Take the scenic route along the winding roads of Greenspring Valley to mix and match your favorite flavors from the stand in front of the firehouse—which acts as an annual fundraiser for the organization. 12020 Greenspring Ave., Owings Mills

Chill Snowballs & Ice Cream: Living up to its name on Main Street in Reisterstown, this family-friendly stand from brothers Todd and John Hays—who have been slinging snowballs since the ’80s—is an ideal spot to wind down on a summer night. Enjoy a lengthy list of classics, diet flavors, and signature concoctions like Unicorn and Tollhouse Cookie. 249 Main St., Reisterstown.

Crushed Velvet Shave Ice: Let’s get this out of the way right from the jump—Crushed Velvet serves shave ice, which isn’t technically a snowball, but still a very fun, unique spin on our city’s chilled treat. Taking inspo from the Hawaiian delicacy (a more fine and fluffy, rather than crunchy, texture topped with homemade syrups and formed in a dome shape atop a small bowl), the Key Highway stand (which is moving to Hampden soon) offers signature flavors like Peach Melba and Chocolate-Covered Cherry. Be sure to give the owners a follow on social for updates on community events and pizza-and-dessert deals with its neighboring sister-spot, Key Neapolitan by Verde. 1302 Key Highway. 

Emmorton Snowballs: This Bel Air institution, which began as a tiny structure off of Emmorton Road in the summer of 1981, quells sweet tooth cravings with flavors ranging from green apple and strawberry to signature mixes like the Blood Orange (cherry and orange) and Down on the Ocean (banana, coconut, and pineapple.) 101 E. Wheel Rd., Bel Air.

Friendly Snowball: The name fits the vibe at this Joppa Road community fixture, equipped with tables, umbrellas, and greenery that make you forget you’re in a Parkville parking lot. Around since 1984, the family-owned spot prides itself on its marshmallow, which can be added to more than 50 flavors. Stick with the classics, or go for premiums like Raspberry Cordial, Caramel Apple, or Milky Way. 2025 E. Joppa Rd., Parkville

Go Melvo Sno-balls: Run by namesake founder Melvin (Melvo) McMahon and his son, Jeff, this 30-year-old snowball staple has a fleet of roving trucks that can often be found at schools and sports games around town. Plus, on hot days, you can count on the trailers stationed in Severna Park and on the beach at 146th Street in Fenwick—where you can pour your own marshmallow. Fan-favorite Melvo medleys include the Cruel Summer (watermelon and Skylite) and the Cal Ripken (orange and egg custard.) Multiple locations including 104 Maple Ave. Severna Park.

Ice Queens: The fluffy snowballs at this Locust Point favorite are an homage to the finely shaved ice that’s popular in New Orleans (see our Q&A, below.) But the shop has passed the Charm City test—with options ranging from old-fashioned egg custard to Peaches N’ Cream and Chocolate-Covered Strawberry. 1648 E Fort Ave.

Icy Delights: Many locals have become acquainted with this local snowball chain, which has been around since the ’90s and boasts nine shops and stands scattered everywhere from Parkville to Brewers Hill. The business has become known for its signature style, which tops its  cups with a plastic dome cover and provides a long spoon for stirring. The brand has also made a habit of placing marshmallow in the middle of the ice—so don’t get discouraged if you have to dig around for it. Multiple locations including 3930 Fleet St.

Kona Ice: Neighborhood kids (and adults) are likely familiar with the island tunes that signal one of the snowball trucks from Kona’s fleet is nearby. But the chain also boasts a longtime stand in Parkville, where you can find palm trees, straw umbrellas, and all of the classic flavors, plus rotating specials like lavender lemonade and blueberry açai. If you want to pair your ice with something savory, grab a soft pretzel, hot dog, or order of nachos and stay a while. 3326 E. Joppa Rd. Parkville.

One Sweet Moment: The team at this famous wooden porch in Hamilton has been greeting guests for more than 30 years. The lengthy menu of both shaved and crushed ice snowballs showcases more than 150 choices, categorized by regular flavors, specialty mixes, sour selections, and cream concoctions (think: Creamy Colada and Root Beer Float.) Don’t forget to try the new-ish egg custard soft serve. 2914 Hamilton Ave.

Opie’s Soft Serve and Snowballs: Grabbing an after-dinner treat at this sweets shop has become a community tradition in Catonsville. Flavors range from strawberry to cotton candy, and—if you’re having a hard time choosing between a snowball or ice cream—go for the signature “Snowcream,” which layers soft-serve in the middle and on top of the ice. 1603 Edmonson Ave., Catonsville.

Original Hawaiian Island Snowballs: This summer hangout off of Liberty Road in between Randallstown and Eldersburg has been enticing locals for decades with its tasty treats and daily specials. Though it offers funnel cakes, soft pretzels, gelatis, and ice cream sundaes, the shop is best known for an array of more than 100 snowball flavors ranging from pear and tangerine to Fireball and strawberry-banana. 10636 Liberty Rd., Holbrook

The Peggy: After purchasing Walther Gardens in Hamilton-Lauraville last year, Christopher Heller—of The Margaret Cleveland home and garden shop in Bolton Hill—renamed the property’s beloved snowball stand “The Peggy,” after his great-grandmother. Expect fresh flavors made with pure cane sugar (Candied Orange, Cookie Butter, and French Raspberry, to name a few) and a fun new logo on your pink cup. 

Aside from that, Heller is committed to preserving the history of the community gathering spot—dubbed the oldest snowball stand in the country—as well as its age-old egg custard recipe. 3501 Southern Ave.

Quality Snowballs: Stationed just across the street from its sister-spot, The Food Market, on the Avenue in Hampden, this 10-foot shipping container churns out big flavors with toppings like fresh fruit, whipped cream, candy pieces, condensed milk, and torched marshmallow. If you’re feeling adventurous, try concoctions like banana with Oreos or rainbow cream with Nerds. 1014 W. 36th St.

Snoasis: Nothing screams summer like squishing your toes in the sand at this beachy Timonium mainstay—which first debuted in 1977. You can pretty much get any flavor under the sun (we’re partial to multi-colored Rainbow, pictured above) and finish it off with drippy marshmallow or the secret-recipe vanilla topping, for good measure. 30 E. Padonia Rd., Lutherville-Timonium

Stouten’s Marina and Snowball Stop: This neighborhood gem located at Stouten’s Marina on the water in Dundalk has something for everyone, whether you’re jonesin’ for a fruity flavor or in the mood for a peanut butter and jelly snowball (grape topped with peanut butter sauce.) The stand is even equipped with a drive-thru window for the scorchers when it’s too hot to step away from the A.C. 817 Wise Ave., Dundalk 

Summer Shack Snowballs: It’s difficult to drive down Falls Road without making a pit stop to this family-owned stand, which offers outdoor seating and plenty of sidewalk chalk to occupy little ones. Head to the royal blue awning to order a colorful cup (think Georgia peach, pink bubble gum, and Tutti Frutti.) 2339 W. Joppa Rd., Lutherville-Timonium

The Snowball Stand: Tucked away in Woodstock, this community gem off Route 99 has been a Howard County favorite since its inaugural summer in 1974. Gather in the gazebo to slurp standouts like blue raspberry, mango, and cola. Be sure to also check out the rotating “flavors of the day” sprawled on a chalkboard sign out front. 1970 Woodstock Rd., Woodstock

The Snowball Effect

How Ice Queens became one of the most popular sweet shops in Locust Point.

By Marie Bosslett

In 2020, mother-daughter duo Melanie and Dasia Kabia opened Ice Queens Snoball Shop on East Fort Avenue in Locust Point. Four years later, its popularity has, well, snowballed, with locals continuing to line up around the block to get a taste on warm days.

We caught up with the bubbly owners to discuss their start, favorite flavors, and what it’s been like to bring their signature New Orleans-style ice to Baltimore.

How did Ice Queens come to be?
Dasia Kabia: I worked at a snowball stand in Southwest Baltimore County for five years and got inspired. I shared the idea with my pediatrician, who is from Louisiana, and she became my “Angel Investor” who gave me my first loan.

Melanie Kabia: When she was young, Dasia’s grandmother used to take her to the same snowball shop that she ended up working at, so it’s a cool family tradition. Snowballs are nostalgic, so it was easy for us to fall in love with the idea.

What is a “New Orleans-style” snowball?
MK: The machine we use was patented in New Orleans and gives super finely shaved ice. We’re still a traditional Baltimore snowball shop with classic egg custard and marshmallow recipes, but you’re also getting that New Orleans twist with sweet cream and fruit.

DK: In my opinion, New Orleans has found a way to make the best ice. Combining a Baltimore snowball with it was a match made in heaven. It’s exactly what I wanted.

Do you often get Baltimore purists who are critical of trying something new?
DK: Of course.

MK: Every day. But we always convince them to try something they may not have had before. That’s a fun challenge for us.

How does it feel to have such a large presence in the community?
MK: It’s an amazing surprise. In two months, we went from two to 20 employees. It’s so humbling and encouraging to have that connection with our customers. It warms our hearts to know that we’re sharing a part of our family just through a snowball.

DK: It’s been an honor to watch my dream grow like this. Starting a business in the middle of the pandemic at 22 years old was very scary, but I always had the community supporting me.

What are your favorite flavors?
DK: Strawberry Shortcake. It’s delicious, looks pretty, and is very Instagrammable.

MK: Our Old Fashioned, which is an egg custard with sweet cream and marshmallow. But Mango Tango is also on my favorites list.