What to do in Baltimore this weekend, including St. Patrick’s Day events

Satirical puppetry, St. Patrick’s Day fun, a rising national artist making a major mark in Baltimore — there’s so much to do in the city this weekend, and those are only just a few of your options. Time to fill up the calendar.

Thursday, March 12

‘Really Quite a Lot of Mechanisms’

Why must the machine keep running? Is the status quo worth maintaining?

These questions animate the latest production from Alex & Olmsted, Baltimore’s celebrated puppet theater and filmmaking company from Alex Vernon and Sarah Olmsted Thomas. Making its world premiere at Baltimore Theatre Project, the dark social satire tells the story, with puppets and simple machines, of an unseen boiler room at the earth’s center where (somewhat) skilled technicians try to keep things running.

“We’re all feeling like we’re living in a big, malfunctioning machine, and the people in power keep telling us that it’s working properly,” Vernon said in an interview with WBJC 91.5.

The play, a recipient of a 2026 Jim Henson Foundation grant, runs through March 29.

Time: 7:30 p.m. Thursday-Friday; 3 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday; 3 p.m. Sunday

Price: $15-$25. Thursday is “pay what you can” night.

Location: Baltimore Theatre Project (45 W. Preston St.)

Family friendly? Yes. Recommended for ages 7-plus.

‘Fratino and Matisse: To See This Light Again’

The influence of Henri Matisse, who died more than 70 years ago, continues to inspire and delight.

This match made in expressive, richly colored art heaven finds Annapolis native Louis Fratino, a 32-year-old rising star in the art world, using works by the French master as direct inspiration for his first major U.S. museum exhibition. The host had to be the Baltimore Museum of Art, with its more than 1,600 works making up the world’s most comprehensive Matisse collection.

“It’s a huge figure to be seen next to, but at the end of the day it’s been an incredible honor,” Fratino, who now lives in Brooklyn, New York, said at the BMA last week. Opened on Wednesday, the exhibit runs through Sept. 6.

Time: 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Thursday; 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday-Sunday

Price: Free

Location: Baltimore Museum of Art (10 Art Museum Drive)

Family friendly? Yes, though there is nude work.

Hittin’ with the Youngins

This series from the Jazz Composers Forum pairs a local student composer with a musician from the Peabody Jazz faculty for a performance that highlights the collaborative spirit between veteran musicians and jazz’s bright future.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Price: $10-$20. Peabody students are free with valid ID.

Location: An die Musik Live! (409 N. Charles St.)

Family friendly? Yes

Friday, March 13

Meet in the Street

You’ll find St. Patrick’s Day fun and specials at bars throughout the city this weekend. For my money, the best of the bunch goes down at Claddagh’s Pub in Canton. Now in its 31st year, the two-day party will draw a big crowd with cover bands (Bryen O’Boyle and Just the Tip, Starcrush and more), discounted drinks and pit beef and turkey, served up hot.

Time: 7 p.m. Friday; opens 9 a.m. Saturday

Price: Free

Location: Claddagh’s Pub (2918 O’Donnell St.)

Family friendly? No

405 Daily

It’s your last weekend to see Area 405’s first tenant exhibition, which was inspired by the Station North art space’s relationship with the media and headlines. Featured artists in the exhibit, which has a closing reception on Friday night, include Ann Weaver, Lyn Goeringer, Thea Canlas and more.

Time: 5-9 p.m.

Price: Free

Location: Area 405 (405 E. Oliver St.)

Family friendly? Yes

‘Hadestown’

Singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell’s concept album-turned-Broadway-smash about the Greek myth Orpheus and Eurydice — and the depths we’ll go to resurrect love — comes to the Hippodrome Theatre for a two-day run.

Time: 8 p.m. Friday; 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. Saturday

Price: $150-$273

Location: The Hippodrome Theatre (12 N. Eutaw St.)

Family friendly? Recommended for ages 8 and up. The production “contains theatrical haze, strobe-like effects throughout, and some adult language and themes,” per the venue’s website.

The Method

Enjoy some live Django jazz music and sketch some art, if you choose, at Black Cherry Puppet Theater with Baltimore’s the Method, a trio featuring players Sam Farthing, Kai Knorr and Sami Arefin.

Time: 7:30 p.m.

Price: $10 suggested donation at the door

Location: Black Cherry Puppet Theater (1115 Hollins St.)

Family friendly? Yes

Saturday, March 14

Tracing Maryland’s Culinary History

Michael W. Twitty, the 2018 winner of the James Beard Foundation’s Book of the Year Award for his exploration of Southern food history, takes a historically minded look at the Old Line State’s favorite foods, from crab cakes to Old Bay.

Time: 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m.

Price: $30

Location: Maryland Center for History and Culture (610 Park Ave.)

Family friendly? Yes

Olive Dennis Day: Celebrating Women in S.T.E.M.

We can thank Olive Dennis — the late Goucher College alum and pioneering B&O Railroad service engineer — for many comforts we still enjoy today on a train, from reclining seats and footrests to dimmable lights. The B&O Railroad Museum honors Dennis with a full day of programming, including crafts, storytime and hands-on workshops.

Time: 10:30 a.m.-4 p.m.

Price: Included with museum admission

Location: B&O Railroad Museum (901 W. Pratt St.)

Family friendly? Yes

Eyelet

Eyelet, the punishing emo quartet from Baltimore, celebrates the release of its new album, February’s “Solenoid,” at Metro Baltimore with support from Ousted, Gloop, Starveling, and a Paramount, a Love Supreme.

Time: 7 p.m.

Price: $20.60

Location: Metro Baltimore (1700 N. Charles St.)

Family friendly? All ages

Sunday, March 15

St. Patrick Parade

Get in the festive spirit at Baltimore’s annual St. Patrick Parade, which starts at the Washington Monument in Mount Vernon at 2 p.m. before heading south on Charles Street and ending at Market Place near the Inner Harbor. Expect the usual fun of dance groups, marching bands and local organizations coming together to celebrate all things Irish.

Time: 2-5 p.m.

Price: Free. Find more information here.

Location: Begins at the Washington Monument (699 Washington Place)

Family friendly? Yes