Here are the Worcester Guardian’s five picks for things to do in Worcester this weekend:
- Down in the mud with the monsters: Monster Jam rolls into the DCU Center on Friday, May 8, at 7 p.m., bringing with it the sort of controlled chaos that doesn’t really translate unless you’re in the building. Expect oversized trucks with names like Grave Digger and El Toro Loco, head-to-head racing, and the kind of jumps that feel slightly unreasonable even after you’ve seen a few. It’s loud, it’s fast and it’s engineered to keep your attention whether you planned on giving it or not.
- Where the box score meets the stanza: The National Baseball Poetry Festival returns to Polar Park from May 7–10, turning a WooSox homestand into something a little more reflective without losing the rhythm of the game. The multi-day event blends readings, workshops, panels and open-mic sessions with actual baseball—games, a ballpark tour, even a postgame fireworks show—so you can move between the two without much effort. Highlights include a music-and-baseball session with WooSox President Dr. Charles Steinberg, youth and poet readings, and a “sunset catch” on the field. It’s an unusual pairing on paper, but in practice, it fits better than you might expect.
- If you love ‘90s alternative: Pull the Covers Off 2026 lands at Electric Haze on Saturday, May 9, leaning fully into a night of ‘90s-era stand-ins done with some conviction. Doors open at 6 p.m., music starts at 7, and the lineup moves through Beck (acoustic), The Saw Doctors, R.E.M., Paramore and 311—each handled by a different local act. Tickets are $20 in advance or $25 at the door. It’s less about originality and more about recognition, which, depending on your taste, is either the point or the problem.
- Book a piece of local history: The Museum of Worcester is clearing some shelf space with a book sale on Friday, May 8, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., offering duplicates from its collection at hard-to-argue-with prices. The deal is straightforward: the more you take, the less you pay—up to and including a full grocery bag for $20. If your reading list leans local (or you just like a good rummage), this is a fairly efficient way to stock up.
- All aboard the crossover event: This one combines a hockey team, a science and nature museum and a train. The ribbon is officially getting cut on the Worcester Railers Explorer Express Train on Saturday, May 9, at EcoTarium, marking a new partnership between the museum and the Worcester Railers Hockey Club. The ceremony starts at 11:30 a.m., with mascot Trax on site before and after for photos and autographs. From there, it turns into a full day: train rides, planetarium shows, science demos and a chance to check out the newly wrapped train engine. Admission gets you in the door (and to the ribbon cutting), with rides and shows ticketed separately. It’s part science museum, part hockey crossover, and mostly an excuse to spend a few hours outside pretending you planned this all along.
For more events, visit the Discover Central Massachusetts events calendar.
Have an event, news tip, information, joke, favorite recipe or anything else you’d like to tell us about? You should. Contact carsenault@theworcesterguardian.org
