On the first and second Sunday of every month, any school-aged child who lives in Boston can walk into the New England Aquarium free, and bring two people with them. The program is called Boston Family Days, the aquarium has been in it since the pilot, and it now runs across 26 institutions in the city.
It started small. In 2024 the aquarium joined five other Boston cultural institutions in a pilot then called BPS Sundays, aimed at Boston Public Schools students and their families. Two years later the roster is 26 of the city’s museums, performance venues and historic sites, and eligibility has widened from one school district to residency.
Who qualifies, and how
Students who live in Boston or who are enrolled in grades K through 12 or Boston Pre-K get in free, along with up to two guests, on the first and second Sundays of the month. Boston Public Schools and Boston Pre-K students are enrolled automatically and receive their pass through the district. Everyone else who lives in the city signs up directly.
The program is run jointly by Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration, the participating organizations and a set of funders. Several thousand people have come through the aquarium’s doors on it, and the aquarium says many of them had never been before.
Why an aquarium gives away Sundays
Sunday is not a throwaway day for an attraction on Boston’s waterfront. Giving two of them away every month is a real cost, and the aquarium’s framing of it is the most interesting thing in the announcement.
“We’re proud to have been part of this program since the beginning,” said Luz Arregoces, the aquarium’s director of community engagement. “We want to make sure that people see the Aquarium as a place they belong, no matter what. Our space and waterfront belong to everybody.”
That last sentence is doing something specific. The aquarium sits on Central Wharf, on the Boston waterfront, and the claim is not that it is being generous but that the waterfront was never only its own to begin with. That is a sturdier argument than goodwill, because goodwill can be withdrawn in a bad year and a principle is harder to put down.
The practical case is simpler still. An aquarium that wants people to care about the ocean has to get them in front of it first, and a family that has never visited is not going to be persuaded by a research paper. The aquarium’s own conservation work, from right whale monitoring in the path of offshore wind development to its sea turtle rescue work, depends on a public that has a reason to pay attention.
Boston Family Days is how some of that public arrives. Details and sign-up are on the aquarium’s website. The next qualifying dates are Sunday, November 1 and Sunday, November 8.
Quick answers
- Who qualifies for Boston Family Days?
Students who live in Boston, or who are enrolled in grades K through 12 or Boston Pre-K, plus up to two guests each.
- When can they visit free?
On the first and second Sundays of each month. The next qualifying dates are Sunday, November 1 and Sunday, November 8, 2026.
- How do you sign up?
Boston Public Schools and Boston Pre-K students are enrolled automatically and receive a pass through the district. Every other student living in the city signs up directly.
- How many places take part?
Twenty-six of the city’s museums, performance venues and historic sites. The program began in 2024 as a pilot called BPS Sundays with the New England Aquarium and five other institutions.
- Who runs the program?
It is a partnership between Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration, the participating organizations and a group of funders.
- How many people have used it at the aquarium?
Several thousand, and the aquarium says many of them had never visited before.
