Boston After Dark: A new social event for teens this summer

Sitting at home bored wasting your summer away? Want a night to remember? A night filled with fun, music, and free food? Then join Boston in their new Boston After Dark Events. 

Started in 2024 Boston After Dark is an event hosted by the City of Boston, it’s a space used to create and promote summer safety through “creating safe and fun spaces” for youth 14-18 years old. All the events take place between 5p.m. and 9 p.m. and happen every Friday from the end of June to August.

Pedro Cruz, the Event Director of the Office of Youth Engagement, stated that “The goal of [Boston After Dark] was to give young people something to do after work hours.”

In collaboration with Boston Centers for Youth and Families (BCYF) and YMCA centers around Boston, they create fun events such as basketball tournaments, paint nights, pool parties, movie nights, and more. 

Cruz elaborated, “last year we collaborated just with BCYF, this year it was BCYF, YMCA and Boston Housing Authority (BHA) sights”.

He brought up the possibilities of making Boston After Dark an event that continues during the whole year; “We’re already having conversations on, how do we do this during vacation weeks, you know, during the Christmas vacation, during April vacation.”

To add excitement and thrill to the events, every event is paired with free food, a live D.J. and merch giveaways. Cruz said, “One of those collaborations is with community officers. So we make sure that we have BPD present, and specifically the community officers. You know, one of the ice cream trucks is that BPD ice cream truck that shows up.”

Cruz also stated, “One of the businesses we collaborate locally with is Shake Shack. You know, Shake Shack provides food for a number of our events.”

I went personally to the event hosted on July 18th, 2025 at BCYF Martin Pino Community Center, and from my personal experience I can say that it is truly an event worth attending.

The event had so much life and joy. There were people of all ages interacting with each other in ways that build true and deep connections. 

Cruz added that he first hand experienced a community growing at Boston After Dark. “A grandmother dropped off her grandson, who just came into the neighborhood, had no friends, and he literally walked away with about six or seven friends. And even after our event, the grandson stayed with the kids he met, and they went to the local basketball court. So I literally was able to witness a young person make friends in real time at our event.” 

The event had a dance section where so many people ages four to 18 were all dancing and enjoying themselves. There were even a few times where the police officers who were patrolling the event had joined the kids in their dance parties. Truly showing how Boston After Dark is meant to bring the people of Boston together especially in the tough times we’re facing now.

Even though Boson After Dark events are promoted to teens ages 14 to 18, they are truly open to everyone regardless of age. They welcome all to join in the festivities regardless of who you are. “Our target audience is 14 and 19, but it’s open for the community. You know, we have events where young people, even as young as 11-12 show up. And we have even some that are as old as like 19-20, show up with their little brothers, sisters or just because they’re part of the community.”

Boston After Dark is an event that is supposed to have the community excited for every year and is supposed to bring everyone together. Cruz stated “In terms of contributing to the culture, what we want is that we want this to become something people look forward to. We want people every summer to say, I can’t wait for that Boston After Dark event, I can’t wait for them to come to my neighborhood.” 

As Boston After Dark continues to light up the city, it’s clear that this event is more than just a gathering – it’s a beacon of community and joy. With its safe spaces and engaging activities, it’s received positive reviews from many people in different communities in Boston; while wrapping up the interview Cruz stated, “A lot of families are happy that we’re doing this, that the young people have options to do, especially again, on the evening hours[…] A lot of families are happy that we provide a safe environment and safe spaces for young people to engage.”