Rat City Arts Fest went down at the Charles River Speedway – 8/16

A daylong celebration of Allston-centric music and art took over the Notch beer garden and beyond a few weekends back.

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Is there anything more beautiful than a band performing in the shadow of a gigantic inflatable rat symbolic of their neighborhood’s unofficial mascot?

The Rat City Arts Festival sought to remind us last month that no, there isn’t. Returning for 2025 but moving up the road from Aeronaut Allston – where it proved popular enough have a line out the door last year – the fest took over the Speedway for a sunny Saturday with a lineup of 16 local favorites.

I didn’t wind up catching as much of the day as I’d initially planned, but did make it over for the final three main-stage sets. Tiberius’ lap-steel-forward rockers were bidding farewell to the daylight when I rolled up, followed by Allston house band Beeef delivering a set of their immaculately breezy tunes. Oldsoul closed things out with their always energetic indie-emo stylings, by which point some trippy projection and CRT visuals had fully taken over the darkened courtyard. It looked and sounded killer, playing out to a still-packed crowd as the night wrapped up.

By all accounts the day was a huge success, which hopefully means more Rat City Fests (that I manage to see more of) to come. In the meantime, check out some photos from the day’s end below.