North End Cornhole Classic returns, funds scholarships and neighborhood arts

The North End Cornhole Classic returned to the Rose Kennedy Greenway with the kind of built-in momentum that only a nine-year run can create. Held at Carolyn Lynch Garden between Hanover Street and North Street, the tournament mixed cornhole, music, raffles and a silent auction with a fundraising mission that has kept it central to Boston’s North End summer calendar.

The ninth edition ran Sunday from noon to 5 p.m., with registration opening at 11 a.m., and the format leaned more neighborhood festival than narrow bracket chase. Each $100 team ticket included two guaranteed games, two official New Balance T-shirts, two Ward 8 drink tickets and a Pauli’s sandwich package, a package that made the event feel as much like a block-party staple as a competition on the boards. The rain date was set for Sunday, June 14, a practical backup for an outdoor event in Boston’s summer.

What gives the Classic its staying power is the scholarship work attached to it. The event raised money for the Geraldine Marshall Scholarship Fund and the North End Music and Performing Arts Center, linking cornhole to arts access for North End children under 18. The fund, created in Geraldine Marshall’s memory by her son, State Representative Aaron Michlewitz, was founded in 2014 and is entering its 10th year in 2026.

That scholarship arm has become more than a symbolic beneficiary. NEMPAC says the Marshall Fund has awarded more than $54,000 in scholarships to 49 youth students over the last 10 years, with more than $12,000 in full scholarships awarded each year from the fund. The organization also said its broader tuition assistance program provided more than $38,500 in total aid in fiscal year 2024-25, underscoring how the tournament’s proceeds feed directly into local arts participation.

The Cornhole Classic has also shown an ability to evolve without losing its identity. Established in 2016, the event reached its ninth edition in 2026, and last year’s tournament was staged at the same Greenway location from noon to 5 p.m. That 2025 fundraiser supported the Geraldine Marshall Scholarship Fund, NEMPAC and the Community Music Center of Boston, a reminder that the tournament’s reach has expanded even as its North End roots have stayed fixed.

In a neighborhood that values tradition, the Classic has become a recurring summer fixture with measurable impact. The games bring the crowd in, but the scholarship dollars keep the event relevant long after the final bags are tossed.