Patriots' Day 2013: A Weekend Events Preview (Photos)

It starts tomorrow.

Patriots' Day weekend has arrived, and we all know what that means: Parades, patriotism, people and the smell of sulfur in the morning.

The running battles and re-enactments begin tomorrow, April 13. An afternoon parade and midnight ride will be among the highlights on Sunday, April 14. And on Patriots' Day itself -- Monday, April 15 -- there will be enough activities that it wouldn't be fair to try and pack them all into one sentence.

So, flip through the photos above, which have many of the area's Patriots' Day weekend events included therein. Or scroll down below to find event information in an easy-to-scan list, subdivided according to community. Or, take a peek at the PDF posted above, which includes a schedule of Lexington-specific events for Patriots' Day weekend this year.

Among the hotspots you'll want to check out: the Concord Museum, Minute Man National Historical Park's Visitors Center, the National Heritage Museum and Lexington's three historic houses: Buckman Tavern, Munroe Tavern and the Hancock-Clarke House.

Lexington

Tower Park Battle
Minutemen and Redcoat re-enactors clash in Lexington, where musketfire and cannon blasts ring out as the battle blows across the hilly field and spectators stand along the sidewalks above.
Date: Saturday, April 13
Time: 4 p.m.
Place: Tower Park, Mass Ave., Lexington
Price: Free

Lexington Symphony Patriots' Day Concert
The Lexington Symphony will present a special program celebrating American Music and featuring professional jazz soloists trained in the Lexington High jazz program.
Date: Saturday, April 13
Time: 8 p.m. (conductor's talk at 7 p.m.)
Place: Cary Hall, 1605 Mass Ave
Price: $30-50, and $20 for students

Afternoon Parade
Occurring a day early in recognition of Lexington's 300th, the parade features original floats, marching musicians, local dignitaries and lots more.
Date: Sunday, April 14
Time: 2 p.m.
Location: From Massachusetts Avenue and Maple Street in East Lexington down Mass Ave through Lexington Center past the Battle Green and down Worthen Road to the Center Recreation Complex
Price: Free

Celebration of Colonial Music and Dance
Lexington Historical Society's "Colonial Singers" and friends for an evening of Revolutionary era songs and period dance in honor of Patriots' Day.
Date: Sunday, April 14
Time: 8 p.m.
Location: Lexington Depot, 13 Depot Square, Lexington
Price: $5 for adults, $3 for kids

Paul Revere’s Ride Reenactment
As he did that fateful night in 1775, Paul Revere will ride up to the Hancock Clarke-House in Lexington to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock.
Date: Sunday, April 15
Time: 11:30 p.m.
Place: Hancock-Clarke House, 36 Hancock St., Lexington
Price: Free and open to the public 

Lexington Battle Reenactment
The “alarm” sounds at 5:30 a.m., there is a reading of the script by the Lexington Minute Men Company and then colonists and Redcoats clash in a re-enactment.
Date: Monday, April 16
Time: 5:30 a.m.
Location: Lexington Battle Green, Massachusetts Avenue and Bedford Street
Price: Free

Lions Club Road Race
The 99th annual Lions Club five-mile road race starts and ends on Massachusetts Avenue, at the Battle Green.
Date: Monday, April 15
Time: 10 a.m.
Location: Lexington Battle Green
Price: Free to watch, $20 to run with online pre-registration; $22 if you register the day of

Concord

Warlike Preparations at the Barrett Farm
In 1775, Col. James Barrett's house was where the colonists military supplies were stored and, as such, was the destination of the British Regulars who marched out of Boston that fateful morning of April 19. On Saturday, visitors are welcome to drop by the Barrett House to recount the military preparations, sit in on a "Committee of Safety" meeting, make artillery cartridges and more.
Date: Sunday, April 14
Time: 1 to 4 p.m.
Place: 448 Barretts Mill Road, Concord
Price: Free

Commemoration of North Bridge Fight and Patriots' Day Parade
British reenactors conduct a “Mourn Arms” ceremony in honor of the British dead buried at the North Bridge. Meanwhile, musicians, minuteman companies, organizations and dignitaries march through Concord Center, out over the North Bridge and back through the center of town.
Date: Monday, April 15
Time: 8:30 a.m.
Place: North Bridge, at the intersection of Monument and Liberty streets
Price: Free

Dawn Salute
The Concord Minute Men and Concord Independent Battery observe the opening battle of the American Revolution with a 21-gun musket and cannon salute.
Date: Friday, April 19
Time: 6 a.m.
Place: North Bridge, Monument and Liberty streets in Concord
Price: Free

Lincoln

Bloody Angle Battle Demonstration
Re-enactors recreate tactics used by colonists and British Regulars during their running battle back to Boston on April 19, 1775.
Date: Saturday, April 13
Time: 11 a.m.
Place: Hartwell Tavern area, Route 2A, Lincoln
Price: Free

Parker’s Revenge
The Lexington Minute Men ambush the British Regulars headed back toward Boston, like Capt. John Parker’s local militia did April 19, 1775 to exact revenge for then men lost that morning on the town green.
Date: Saturday, April 13
Time: 2 p.m.
Place: Parker’s Revenge Site, near the Minute Man Visitor’s Center off Route 2A, Lincoln
Price: Free