National Cherry Blossom Festival Wraps Up
Like the petals of the famous cherry blossom trees have already done, the National Cherry Blossom Festival comes to its end this weekend with the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade, the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival and the Cherry Blast party. But there are many other events in the DMV to fill your weekend including the 30th Filmfest D.C., the launch of Truckeroo for another year, the USA Science and Engineering Festival and free admission to national parks this week in celebration of the National Park Service’s 100th anniversary.
This is the final weekend of no work on Metro. Work was suspended during the cherry blossom festival, so take enjoy one last weekend of no delays and regular schedules.
The National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade will fill Constitution Avenue from the National Archives to the Washington Monument from 10 a.m.-noon on Saturday. (Photo: National Cherry Blossom Festival)
National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade
The National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade runs 10 blocks along Constitution Avenue. The parade includes giant helium balloons, floats, marching bands from across the country, celebrities and performers. Performers this year including cast members from the musical Jersey Boys, pop star Tiffany, Sisaundra Lewis and Meghan Lindsey from The Voice, season one winner of America’s Got Talent Bianca Ryan, top-10 finisher from season 12 of American Idol Lazro Arbos, Miss America 2016 Betty Cantrell and more. Local marching bands include Ballou High School and Herndon High School. If you can’t watch the parade in person, you can watch it on WJLA/ABC7 from noon-2 p.m. and again on News Channel 8 from 2-4 p.m.
April 16 from 10 a.m.-noon along Constitution Avenue from Seventh to 17th Streets NW. Admission between Ninth and 15th Streets NW is FREE! Grandstand eating along the parade route is $20.
Truckeroo
Truckeroo with 27 food trucks is back for 2016 beginning Friday from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. at the Half Street Fairgrounds. (Photo: Truckeroo/Facebook)
Truckeroo, the seasonal food truck festival returns for the year. From April through September on the third Friday of each month, except July when it is the second Friday, the Half Street Fairgrounds hosts a variety of food trucks for an all-day eating extravaganza. The lineup of 27 trucks including Arepa Zone, CapMac, D.C. Slices, Peruvian Brothers, Pittsburgh Rick’s, Red Hook Lobster Pound, The Big Cheese, Urban Poutine, Sang on Wheels, Korean BBQ Taco Box and Goodies Frozen Custard.
April 15 from 11 a.m.-11 p.m. at the Half Street Fairgrounds, Half and M Streets SE. Admission is FREE!
Filmfest D.C.
Men & Chicken is a comedy about a pair of socially challenged, bumbling, harelipped siblings who discover in their late father’s videotaped will that they are adopted half-brothers. (Photo: Drafthouse Films)
Filmfest D.C. is celebrating its 30th anniversary with 75 films from 45 countries over 11 days. This year’s movies includes thrillers, comedies, social justice films, films from Cuba, shorts and films on music with live pre-screening performances.
Through April 24 at various times at AMC Mazza Gallerie, 5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW and E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Tickets are $14.50 online until the day before the show or $13 at the door one hour before the first screening of the day. A director’s package is available for $103 for 10 shows and a weekday package good for four screenings Monday through Thursday is $46.50. Student tickets are $10 at the door with ID. If tickets are sold out on line, some are reserved to be sold at the box office the day of the show.
Grammy-award winner Maria Schnieder will debut Data Lords with her orchestra at the Library of Congress on Friday night.
(Photo: Jimmy and Dena Katz)
Maria Schneider Orchestra Concert
Grammy award-winning composer Maria Schneider finishes a weeklong residency at the Library of Congress with a concert that includes her 12-piece orchestra. The concert will include the premier of Data Lords, a piece she was commissioned to write for the concert. She describes it’s as “a very dark piece, a commentary on the Big Data companies who cannibalize our economy, our art and our lives. It seemed appropriate for the Library of Congress, which is attached to the Copyright Office.”
April 15 at 8 p.m. in the Library of Congress’ Coolidge Auditorium, 10 First St. SE. A pre-concert conversation with Schneider begins at 6:30 p.m. Admission is FREE! Tickets will be available at the door beginning at 4:30 p.m.
Laughter and Reflection with Carol Burnett
Carol Burnett brings her one-woman show to Strathmore Friday and Saturday nights. (Photo: Strathmore)
Comedian and TV star Carol Burnett brings her one woman show Laughter and Reflections with Carol Burnett to the DMV, but she won’t be alone. The show is essentially an extended Q&A with the comedy icon. There’s no routine or preparation, although it begins with archival clips of Burnett fielding questions from the studio audience of ‘70s staple The Carol Burnett Show. The unscripted show is never the same twice.
April 15 and 16 at 8 p.m. at the Music Center at Strathmore, 530 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $65-$175.
Admission to Great Falls along with other national parks across the country is free this weekend.
(Photo: Mark Heckathorn/DC on Heels)
National Park Week
As part of its 100th birthday celebration, the National Park Service is opening it wide-open spaces to everyone during National Park Week. For nine days, including the next two weekends, visitors will have free admission to the parks that regularly charge entrance fees. Locally, that includes Great Falls, Manassas National Battlefield and Fort McHenry. Others within a short drive include Harpers Ferry in West Virginia, Antietam National Battlefield in Maryland and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia.
April 16-24 at all national parks that normally charge an entrance fee. Admission is FREE!
USA Science and Engineering Festival
Visitors to the last USA Science and Engineering Festival check out a display from the National Institutes of Health. (Photo: Colella Digital)
The USA Science and Engineering Festival, which is held every other year, returns to the district and targets kids with Q&As featuring actual scientists, interactive demonstrations of the “don’t try this at home” variety, performances from They Might Be Giants nd talks from stars in the nerd universe including Will Wheaton from Big Bang Theory and Star Trek: The Next Generation, who will appear at noon Sunday.
April 16 from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. and April 17 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW. Admission is FREE!
Monroe Street Farmers Market Season Opening
Shoppers browse the wares at last year’s Monroe Street Farmers Market.
(Photo: Monroe Street Farmers Market)
Brookland’s Monroe Street Farmers Market opens for the season with 15 vendors offering potted plants and herbs, mushrooms and honey, loose leaf teas and pickled peppers along with the market’s staples: fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, dairy, coffee, artisan bread, baked goods and more. The 27 artist studios on the Arts Walk will be open for guests to visit during the markets. There will also be face painting, costume making and balloon twisting with a special performance at 1:30 p.m. by Only Make Believe. Also this weekend, The Bike Rack D.C, and Filter Coffeehouse & Espresso Bar celebrates its first anniversary with kid’s bike safety checks, balloons, raffles, Acme Pice Co. Treats and more.
Saturdays from April 16-Dec. 17 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at 716 Monroe St. NE. Admission is FREE!
Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival
Traditional Japanese dancers perform at the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival. (Photo: smata2/flickr)
Republican presidential Donald Trump is already bullying D.C. The construction of his new hotel at the Old Post Office Building require the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival put on by the Japan-America Society of Washington, D.C. to move from its usual Freedom Plaza location to the Capitol Riverfront neighborhood near Nationals Park. There will be more than 80 cultural groups, arts vendor and food booth this year rain or shine. There will be three states including a J-POP stages featuring singers, dancer and martial artists.
April 16 from 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. in the Captiol Riverfront neighborhood, M Street and New Jersey Avenue SE. Tickets are $10 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. Entrances are located at New Jersey Aveue and N Street SE and First Street and N Street SE.
D.C. Emancipation Day
Marchers in last year’s D.C. Emancipation Day Parade. (Photo: Don Baxter)
The District celebrated Emancipation Day, the day slavery was abolished in the city in 1862, with a bevy of activities including an Emancipation Day Parade on from 1-3 p.m. on Saturday along Pennsylvania Avenue starting at Seventh Street NW and ending at Freedom Plaza, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Then from 2:45 p.m.-9 p.m. there is an Emancipation Day Concert at Freedom Plaza featuring Sweet Honey in the Rock, Trouble Funk, Be’la Dona, April Sampe, Rare Essence, Black Alley and Raheem DeVaughn. There will also be a “truck touch” with municipal vehicles like dump trucks and snow plows parked around the plaza for kids to touch. It will be followed by fireworks at 9 p.m
April 16 from 1-9:15 p.m. along Constitution Avenue NW and at Freedom Plaza. Admission is FREE!
Cherry Blast
Cherry Blast is four parties in one. (Photo: Events D.C.)
If you’ve always wanted to go to a Japanese-inspired anime/cosplay/gaming party, the wait is over. Cherry Blast features sushi and sake workshops, the Cherry Blast Dance Party with DJs including NYXLIVE4 and DJ Mario Venechi, a cosplay competition and dance party with DJ LJ MXTand DJ Leko (go dressed in your favorite cosplay ensemble and you could win a pize), an anime fashion show, live painting and a cherry blossom-inspired art show with pieces from more than 60 local and international artists, and manga and Tokyo street food vendors.
April 16 from 6 p.m.-2 a.m. at the Carnegie Library, 801 K St. NW. Tickets are $20 for general admission tickets or tickets to the sake/sushi tasting, cosplay dance party or Japanese whiskey tasting; $23 for the Cherry Blast dance party; $75 for all five events or $125 for VIP tickets to all the events plus access to a VIP suite.
Earth Day Plant Sale Kickoff and Picnic
Pack a picnic and lunch on the grounds of Tudor Place free on Sunday. (Photo: Tudor Place/Facebook)
In celebration of Earth Day, Arbor Day and the beginning of its annual plant sale, Tudor Place opens its grounds for visitors to bring their own picnics and lounge on the property’s gardens during its Earth Day Plant Sale Kickoff and Picnic. Enjoy the historic gardens and browse a range of flowering and native sun to shade perennials. Plants for sale include toads lily, lambs ear, columbine, anise and more to add to your own garden, along with tropical and house plants.
April 17 from noon-3 p.m. at Tudor Place, 1644 31st St. NW. Admission is FREE, but registration is recommended.
Cochon 555
Cochon 555 comes to the Lowes Madison Hotel Sunday with five area chefs using five heritage pigs to make six dishes each.
(Photo: Cochon 555)
Pork lovers, take note. Cochon 555, the traveling tour de pig, makes its annual stop in the nation’s capital. Chefs Jennifer Carroll of Requin, Anthony Lombardo of the Hamilton, Louis Goral of Rural Society, Jonah Kim of Yona and Marjorie Meek-Bradley of Ripple and Roofers Union will compete to make a maximum of six dishes using a different kind of whole heritage-breed hog. The winner will be decided by the audience and a panel of judges, with the champ moving on to the national competition in Aspen, Colo. in June.
April 17 from 5-8 p.m. at Loews Madison Hotel, 1177 15th St. NW. Tickets range from $125-$250 and include food and drink samples.
Editor-in-Chief Mark Heckathorn is a journalist, movie buff and foodie. He oversees DC on Heels editorial operations as well as strategic planning and staff development. Reach him with story ideas or suggestions at dcoheditor (at) gmail (dot) com.
