After months of braving the cold winter, Bay State residents will have the beauty of spring to look forward to starting Tuesday.
Spring officially starts on March 19 in Massachusetts and runs until June 20, according to almanac.com.
In the Northern Hemisphere, spring is when the sun crosses the celestial equator – an imaginary line above the Earth’s equator – going south to north, almanac.com reported. In spring, the Northern and Southern hemispheres get about the same amount of sunlight.
The days will continue to get longer until the summer solstice in June, when the days are the longest, according to almanac.com.
A new season brings in new opportunities. Although some may spend their time inside spring cleaning, the warmer air, sweet smell of budding flowers and the longer days call for people to get outside.
Tami Kolawole, 22, of Franklin, said she looks forward to eating outdoors at cookouts and visiting the Institute of Contemporary Art in Boston.
“I enjoy spring because I feel it symbolizes growth, rebirth,” Kolawole told MassLive. “Spring is always when the sun is out more, the days feel brighter as the days last longer.”
Massachusetts’ springtime gems are opening up and although you can welcome in the new season by stepping foot outside just about anywhere, here are six places throughout the state that let Mother Nature shine.
Arnold Arboretum at Harvard University
Springtime is a good time to visit the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University in Boston, with a stroll throughout the 281-acre natur preserve revealing budding cherry trees, dogwood, redbuds and magnolias and spring birding events scattered throughout the calendar.
This is the oldest arboretum in North America, according to its website. Arnold Arboretum holds one of the world’s most comprehensive and well-documented collections of temperate woody plants – plants that produce wood.
But it’s not just the flora that can draw you to this historic nature preserve. Arnold Arboretum features a biking path and walking trails that showcase more than 16,000 plants, according to Condé Nast Traveler.
New visitors can venture through the preserve’s Explorers Garden Tour, where for a quarter mile they can listen to stories about the Arboretum’s over 150-year history of collecting plants and other flora, according to the Arboretum’s website.
Later in the season, the arboretum celebrates Lilac Sunday on Mother’s Day, when visitors can see the nature preserve’s lilac grove, according to the arboretum’s website. Arnold Arboretum boasts more than 400 of the flowering shrubs and 149 different taxa, making it one of the biggest lilac collections in North America, according to Boston.com.
The Arnold Arboretum is free from sunrise to sunset every day, according to its website.
A new outdoor gorilla habitat opened at the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston on April 12, 2022.
“Lions, tigers and bears, oh my!” isn’t just an iconic line from “The Wizard of Oz.” It’s what you can expect to see during a trip to The Franklin Park Zoo in Boston.
This 72-acre site sits inside Boston’s historic Franklin Park, according to the Zoo’s website. The zoo is home to several species, including the Andean Condor, a large bird with a 10-foot wingspan indigenous to the mountainous of South America; the Pygmy Hippopotamus, a small semi-aquatic mammal native to West Africa and the Masai Giraffe, the world’s tallest land animal found in east Africa.
Spring marks the time when many critters’ babies are born. Last year at this time, the zoo welcomed a wattled crane chick and prairie dog pups.
The zoo also holds educational spaces for visitors, curious children can attend special events to learn about wildlife in a fun and engaging way. Every Tuesday through Sunday, the zoo hosts an “Animal Meet & Greet,” where for 30 minutes children can get a close-up view of two animals, according to the zoo’s website. Some of the animals include snakes, ferrets, iguanas, rabbits and tortoises.
If you’re looking for a more family-oriented experience, try going on the “Behind-the-scenes tours.” These are private experiences where visitors get a closer encounter with the four-legged kind, according to the zoo’s website. For $200, you and your family can meet a Red Panda, a small creature with reddish fur and white markings on its face. Tickets for these tours are separate from general admission.
Until March 31, the Franklin Park Zoo will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily, with the last ticket being sold at 3 p.m., according to the zoo’s website. Starting on April 1 to July 31, the zoo will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends and holidays.
Whale watchers on Stellwagen Bank, a marine sanctuary between Cape Cod and Cape Ann. (Massachusetts Office of Travel and Tourism via Flickr Creative Commons).
Whale watching may seem like a summer activity, but in Boston, the whale-watching season starts mid-spring.
The season is from late March to October, Laura Howes, a naturalist for New England Aquarium Whale Watch, told Boston.com.
In Boston, Boston Harbor Cruises and the New England Aquarium have partnered to offer whale-watching cruises. For $65, patrons can get on a boat to Stellwagen Bank Marine Sanctuary, a protected wildlife area off the coast of Massachusetts Bay. At Stellwagen, patrons are likely to see whales, dolphins, sea birds and other marine creatures, according to cityexperiences.com.
The Stellwagen is known for being home to several types of whales, including humpbacks, finbacks and minkes, cityexperience.com reported.
In the springtime, visitors occasionally see the North Atlantic right whale, one of the most endangered whale species in the world, according to Boston.com. Since the species is endangered, the New England Aquarium’s cruise boats stays 500 feet away from the whale to give it extra space.
“You’ll watch the whales splash in the water, see pods of dolphins playing nearby, and observe many species of sea birds and other marine life,” according to the Boston Discover Guide, a website dedicated to Boston tourism.
Whale-watching tours are offered all along Massachusetts’ coast, including in Newburyport, Gloucester and Provincetown.
A calf at Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Village on Oct. 22, 2023.Nicole Simmons/MassLive
Old Sturbridge Village
Spring is a good time to visit Old Sturbridge Village, the largest outdoor history museum in the Northeast, according to the museum’s website. The village replicates an early 19th-century American town with trade shops, schoolhouses and working farms.
The village already heralded in spring with its annual Maple Days event that ran through March 17 and showed visitors the maple sugaring process from tree to breakfast table.
Now until April 28, up to two children can be admitted free into Old Sturbridge Village, if they are accompanied by an adult or guardian, according to the museum’s website. This free admissions policy is just in time for the bevy of springtime events the village is offering.
This spring, Old Sturbridge Village offers several events for children and families, including a Patriots’ Day Weekend celebration. From April 13 to 14, visitors can explore the stories of the patriots who helped found this country, according to the museum’s website.
The village is open Wednesday through Sunday from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. until March 31, according to the museum’s website. From April 1 to Sept. 29, the museum will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Online tickets are $27 for adults; $25 for seniors – adults at least 55; $12 for youth – ages four to 17; and free for children under 3-years-old.
The elite men break from the starting line during the 127th Boston Marathon, Monday, April 17, 2023, in Hopkinton, Mass. (AP Photo/Mary Schwalm)AP
Attend the Boston Marathon
The Boston Marathon, the oldest marathon in the world, will be on April 15. Thousands of people from across the Bay State and the world will participate in the 26.2-mile race from Hopkinton to Boston.
You don’t have to be a runner to enjoy the marathon. Throngs of spectators gather on the sidelines of the race cheering on someone they know or shouting the names of strangers who invite support by writing their own name on their race bib.
This year, Rob Gronkowski, a former New England Patriots tight end, will be the grand marshal for the 2024 Boston Marathon, according to the Boston Athletic Association, the agency that hosts the annual marathon.
As grand marshal, Gronkowski will lead the way to the finish line along the Boston Marathon route ahead of the athletes in a 2024 Honda Prologue, according to the Boston Athletic Association. Gronkowski will deliver the trophies to the finish line ahead of the athletes.
Jacob Pemming, 11 of Grand Rapids, made a sign for his first-ever Opening Day as the Detroit Tigers face the Boston Red Sox on Thursday, April 6, 2023 at Comerica Park in Detroit. (Jake May | MLive.com)
The Red Sox’s opening day is on April 9, according to the team’s 2024 season calendar. That day, thousands of Sox fans across Massachusetts and New England will head down to Fenway Park in Boston to watch the Sox play the Baltimore Orioles.
Opening day at Fenway marks the end of the off-season and the start of the 162-game season.
Tickets to the Red Sox’s opener run from $68 to at least $187, according to mlb.tickets.com.
