#1 Music Event The 2011 Berklee Beantown Jazz Festival was smaller than recent years, but is still Boston’s biggest music fest, drawing 45,000 music-lovers to Columbus Avenue. Next: September 29, 2012.
Photo: Phil Farnsworth
2. Life is Good Festival
#3 Music Event (new to the list) Last year, the Life is Good Festival brought 20,000 people to Canton’s Prowse Farm and raised more than $1 million for charity. Next: September 22-23, 2012.
Photo: Courtesy of Life Is Good
3. Hot Stove Cool Music
#4 Music Event A 12-year-old benefit concert for the Foundation to Be Named Later—a branch of the Red Sox Foundation—the Hot Stove Cool Music featured a performance from Susan Tedeschi at Paradise Rock Club this year. Next: January 2013