FALL PREVIEW: TOP TEN FESTIVALS

MassCann/NORML Boston Freedom Rally
First, they got it decriminalized. Now, they’ve got medical on the ballot. What’s next for Hempfest? Oh, snacks. Rad. [Sat 9.15.12. Boston Common. noon-6pm/free. @MassCann. masscann.org/rally]

South Boston Street Festival
Boston, the way people who’ve never been to Boston think it is. [Sat 9.15.12. East Broadway between I and L Streets, South Boston. 11am-5pm/free. southbostonstreetfestival.com]

3rd Annual Somerville Dog Festival
Check out our Department of Commerce page for the big reveal, but let’s just say the star attraction rhymes with “wakeboarding snog.” [Sun 9.16.12. Trum Field, Somerville. 10am/free. @somdogfest. somdogfest.org]

SoWa Open Market
Kinda like Summer SoWa, but … in the fall. And less “kinda” and more “exactly.” [Every Sun, May-October. SoWa Open Market, 460 Harrison Ave., Boston. 10am-4pm/free. @sowaopenmarket. sowaopenmarket.com]

Boston Fashion Week 2012
The Hub’s got a nasty reputation, sartorially. For seven days, that is less true. [Thu 9.27.12-Sat 10.6.12. Copley, Revere Hotel, Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Boston. times/prices vary. @Bostonfashionwk. bostonfashionweek.com]

HONK! PARADE
This seventh annual gathering of activist street bands is a loud, quirky thing. On a unicycle. Juggling, somehow. Moving on. [Sun 10.7.12. Davis Square, Somerville. noon-2pm/free. honkfest.org]

The Boston Book Festival
If you were a bully and you were trying to think of a way that you could get all of the city’s nerds into one place so you could more efficiently perform your bullying duties, this is what you’d do. [Sat 10.27.12. Copley Square, Boston. @bostonbookfest. bostonbookfest.org]

The Big E
Seventeen days long and the de facto state fair of six states, The Big E agricultural fair is the New England-est thing to ever New an England. [Fri 9.14.12-Sun 9.30.12. Eastern States Exposition. 1305 Memorial Ave., West Springfield. 8am-10pm/$12 per day, $40 for a 17-day pass. @TheBigEFair. thebige.com]