5 things to do this weekend, including PEM Pride and puppetry in the park

I am a very lucky girl. I have never experienced a man playing guitar at me like Ken plays Matchbox Twenty’s “Push” at Barbie with unwavering, nauseating eye contact. But I do love a good professional guitar performance, and Eliot Fisk Guitar Academy’s Boston GuitarFest XIX will allow classical guitar fans to enjoy pleasant strumming with other concertgoers this weekend. Sounds way less demeaning and much more fun, right? If guitar isn’t your thing, there are many more events happening in and around Boston this weekend, from a night of drag and dancing to a puppet show in the park.

As drag queen RuPaul always says, “You better work” — or in this case, werk. The Peabody Essex Museum in Salem is hosting a night of drag and dancing with “the queen of Salem” Miz Diamond Wigfall, Salem-based drag collective Hometown Queeros, Brooklyn-based queen Cain and drag king Landon Cider (the season three winner of the Boulet Brothers’ “Dragula”). The event will kick off at 2 p.m. with a film screening of Peabody TV’s documentary “The Drag Queens, Kings, and Things of Salem,” followed by a panel discussion with the Hometown Queeros and a runway walk by workshop graduates from North Shore Alliance of GLBTQ+ Youth. Guests can then dance and take part in a “fantastical photo booth” designed by Courtney B Hall, the “light witch.” And Landon Cider, Miz Diamond Wigfall, Maxine Harrison, Buster Pants, Stardust Cropper, Miss Michael, Dick Kayin, Cain and Peewee Vermin will perform in a drag show. The event is for ages 18+ and a cash bar will be available for guests over 21. General admission is $25. For those interested in an elevated experience, a VIP ticket is $50, which includes a free drink ticket, a skip-the-line pass for the photo booth, and a meet and greet with Landon Cider. Get your dollar bills (or Venmo apps) ready because tipping the performers is encouraged.

I’ve learned to appreciate the art of puppetry from my friends who majored in comedic arts at Emerson College (yes, that’s a real thing). Puppet Showplace Theater’s free puppet show “Marvelous Metamorphoses” is open to everyone, although it is catered to ages 3-9. Audience participation is a must on this transformative journey. Kids and accompanying adults will move through the life cycles of birds, butterflies, frogs, snakes and other creatures while singing and dancing. The show will take place at the Herter Park Amphitheater and will be rescheduled to the following day if Saturday becomes rainy.

The Eliot School of Fine & Applied Arts is hosting a Schoolyard Summer Concert series every Sunday at 5 p.m. from June through August. This Sunday, Pheonixoutthe will take the stage. Pheonixoutthe, who goes by Pheonix, is a hip-hop artist from Los Angeles now based in Boston. According to the school’s site, “Pheonix's mission and work reflect the spirit of anti-colonial movements seeking truth, justice, and unity for the human family.” A $20 donation is suggested, but admission is free. Concertgoers must bring their own chairs.

The aforementioned festival hosted by the Eliot Fisk Guitar Academy takes place over the course of five days and includes lessons, competitions, concerts, masterclasses and more. Unfortunately, the deadline to register for the full range of events was May 15, but nine concerts are available to anyone willing to purchase a ticket. Guitar fans can choose from performances by faculty members, a solo performance by Russian Flamenco virtuoso Grisha Goryachev on Thursday at 7:30 p.m., a performance by Croatian guitarist Ana Vidović on Friday at 7:30 p.m., a performance by virtuoso and school namesake Eliot Fisk on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. There will also be a closing concert by the guitarist who wins the festival performance competition and the John Dearman Ensemble on Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Ticket prices range from free for families, ages 70+ and guitar fest students — depending on the event — to $80.

Since 2018, Boston Art & Music Soul Festival has brought R&B, funk, soul, hip-hop and house music lovers together for a two-day celebration of Black and brown artists to the Franklin Park Playstead. This year’s headliners are singer-songwriter BJ The Chicago Kid and rapper Rapsody. There’s also plenty of local talent, including Mattapan rapper Nay $peaks and Lawrence-based Latin R&B singer-songwriter Bia Javier. Along with the performances, there will also be Kidchella (a stage for young artists), Afro-diasporic dance classes led by local Black choreographers, small business vendors and “Soul Food Row,” a selection of food trucks with global cuisines. The event is more financially accessible than many music festivals with solidarity tickets from $10-50 and “pay what you wish” tickets starting at $5 for both days. Check out my interview with R&B singer-songwriter Lisa Bello to get a taste of what to expect at the festival.