The DMV Shows Its Pride This Weekend
There is plenty of pride in the DMV this weekend with Capital Pride event happening all over the city through Sunday night. The big events are Saturday’s parade in the Dupont and Logan Circle neighborhoods and the festival on Sunday along Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the U.S. Capitol. The March for Equality and rally is also Sunday past the White House and on the National Mall. And in Fairfax, Celebrate Fairfax! returns for its 36gh year with music, food, ride and fireworks nightly. If you plan on participating on any of this weekend’s events, remember your sunscreen and water. The first heatwave of the summer is expected to start with highs in the mid-90s lasting into the middle of next week.
With so many people expected downtown for the various Capital Pride events and Sunday’s March for Equity, Metro is keeping work to a minimum with Red, Blue, Yellow and Green lines operating on regular weekend schedules. However, SafeTrack Surge 15 continues with the New Carrollton, Landover, Cheverly, Deanwood and Minnesota Avenue stations on the Orange Line closed. Buses will replace trains between Stadium-Armory and New Carrollton with trains running every 12-15 minutes between Vienna and Largo Town Center. Silver Line trains will operate every 12-15 minutes between Wiehle-Reston East and Stadium-Armory ONLY.
Capital Pride Festival
The 42nd annual Capital Pride Festival returns to America’s Main Street in front of the U.S. Capitol featuring entertainment, music, food, drink, education and celebration. There are three stages and three beer gardens along with 300 exhibitors including food and gift vendors. This year’s headliners are Miley Cyrus (6-8 p.m.), Tinashe (6-8 p.m.),, the Pointer Sisters (4-6 p.m.) and Vassy. (2-4 p.m.). Times are approximate.
June 11 from noon-10 p.m. on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between Third and Seventh Streets in front of the U.S. Capitol. Admission is FREE!
Nicolas Party: Sunrise, Sunset
The Hirshhorn’s entire third level inner-circle gallery will feature Nicholas Party: Sunrise, Sunset, an installation from New York-based Swiss artist Nicolas Party. Visitors will be immersed in a panoramic piece that will highlight the power of sunrises and sunsets through eye-popping color and captivating landscapes. Party wants viewers to step out of the everyday and into the surreal, so bring your imagination to what will be a stunning work of art.
Daily through Oct. 1 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
New York Latino Film Festival
The two-day New York Latino Film Festival at the Smithsonian American Art Museum includes films, salsa dancing and conversation highlighting the social and cultural contributions of New York’s Latino community and the Puerto Rican diaspora. Friday’s schedule includes a salsa workshop from 5:30-6:30 pm. Followed by dancing in the Kogod Courtyard, a screening of La Carreta about a Puerto Rican family displaced by American argo-corporations from 6:50-7:20 p.m. and a screening of Fania All-Stars: Live in Africa about New York’s legendary salsa group performs before the Muhammad Ali-George Foreman fight from 7:30-9 p.m. Saturday includes screenings of Bx3M about three Bronx teenagers struggling with love, sex and violence while preparing to graduate from high school from 11:45 a.m.-1:30 p.m.; A Decade of Fire, a documentary of the 1970s fires that consumed the South Bronx from 1:45-2 p.m.; Style Wars, which documents the hip-hop dancers and graffiti artists of New York’s 1980s street culture from 2-3:10 p.m.; and Brincando el Charco, a mix of fiction, archival footage and interviews exploring the experiences of a Puerto Rican woman in the U.S. from 3:20-4:30 p.m. Saturday will conclude with a panel discussion with several of the producers and directors from 4:30-5:30 p.m.
June 9 from 5:30-9 p.m. and June 10 from 11:45 a.m.-5 :30 p.m. at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Celebrate Fairfax!
The 36th annual Celebrate Fairfax! returns this weekend. In addition to craft and food vendors, the festival features carnival rides and activities for children and adults as well as more than 130 performances on eight stages including Bush at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Everclear at 6:30 p.m. Saturday. There are also a petting zoo, a doughnut-eating contest, team trivia and the Fairfax County Karaoke Championship with nightly fireworks. On Sunday, there is a new Sunday Brew pop-up beer festival with 12 local and regional breweries each serving up to four craft beers with two stages of non-stop entertainment, beer-focused activities and exhibitors.
June 9 from 6 p.m.-midnight, June 10 from 10 a.m.-midnight and June 11 from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. at the Fairfax County Government Center, 12000 Government Center Parkway, Fairfax. Free parking at Fair Lakes Circle and Fair Oaks Mall with shuttles to and from the festival entrance. Tickets are $12 for adults on Friday and Saturday and $8 on Sunday, $5 for children 3-12. Prices at the gate are $15 for adults on Friday and Saturday or $10 on Sunday, $5 for youth 2-12 and $10 for seniors 55 and older as well as active and retired military with ID. Tickets are $22 for the weekend and $40 for the Sunday Brew, which includes admission and unlimited 4-ounce tastes from noon-6 p.m. Ride ticket are extra.
A Gilded Age Garden Party
Smithsonian Gardens and Smithsonian Libraries invite you to celebrate the American gardens of the late 1800s at A Gilded Age Garden Party after-hours event. You are welcome to rock Gilded Age-inspired attire as you enjoy live music, arts, crafts, food and drink. You will also have exclusive access to the Smithsonian’s Arts and Industries Building. Tickets include two drinks with craft beers from Ninkasi Brewing Co., hors d’oeuvres and all activities and crafts, such as creating and personalizing your own journal using images from Gilded Age seed catalogs and gardens, creating a framed floral message or making your own Victorian era calling card featuring you in a garden setting. There will also be a photo booth with Gilded Age props including top hard, parasols and more.
June 9 from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Enid A. Haupt Garden, 900 Jefferson Drive SW. Tickets are $45 online until 3 p.m. or at the door.
D.C. Jazz Festival
Now in its 12th year, the D.C. Jazz Festival brings national and local musicians to large venues, as well as intimate jazz clubs all over the city with its Jazz in the ‘Hoods series. The festival brings more than 125 performances to 40 venues in the city – both emerging and renowned musicians. A total of 90 bands and 300 artists will strut their stuff on stage. Lineup highlights include Pat Metheny, Gregory Porter, Robert Glasper Experiment, Lalah Hathaway, the Kenny Garrett Quintet, Roy Haynes, Ron Carter and Jacob Collier. This weekend’s highlights include Hathaway at 8 p.m. Friday (sold out), a jazz legends double feature with Roy Haynes Fountain of Youth Band and Ron Carter-Russell Malone Duo Saturday at 7:30 (tickets $40-$65) both at the Howard Theatre.
June 9-18 at various times and locations around the city including the Howard Theatre, the Kennedy Center and Yards Park. Some concerts are free; most are ticketed.
Independence Eve
Arlington’s contemporary chamber opera company, UrbanArias, takes on race relations in the U.S. in Independence Eve, the compelling new opera. Three black males (baritone) and three white males (tenor) struggle with identity across three unrelated scenes that all take place on July 3 on a single park bench in three different unspecified American cities spanning 100 years. The complexities and differences of black and white America come into focus, showing how racism has remained throughout the country’s history.
June 9 and 10 at 8 p.m. and June 11 at 2 p.m. at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets are $37.
Source Festival
The 10th annual Source Festival showcases new theater works centered around the “covert catalyst” theme, many by local artists through July 2. The main play is Perfect Arrangement by Topher Payne set in a 1950s Georgetown duplex. Bob and Millie live next door to Norma and Jim, in what appears to be a perfect arrangement. The twist is that all four are gay and have cultivated fake identities outside of their homes in order to live truthfully inside. The cultural shift of the 1950s brings about a moment of change when their carefully crafted falsehood is thrown into chaos. There are also three full-length play readings. Other offerings include six 10-minute play competitions that highlight super short (and often super funny) works, six returning 10-minute plays and two artistic blind dates, which see very different artists — a cellist and an actor, for example — collaborating on genre-bending performances
June 9-July 2 at various times at the Source Theater, 1835 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, and $32 for VIP. A five-play pass is $75 and VIP five-play pass is $150.
Movie Nights in the Heights
Grab a blanket or chair and head to Columbia Heights for Movie Night in the Heights, a free screening of Fences at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School athletic field. The movie will start when it gets dark – about 9 p.m., but you can go earlier to set up a blanket and enjoy a picnic. Future screenings include La La Land on June 15, Lion on June 23 and Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them on June 30.
June 9 from 9-11 p.m. at Harriet Tubman Elementary School’s athletic field, 11th and Irving Streets NW. In case of rain, the movie will be shown at the Salvation Army, 3335 Sherman Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Truck Touch
The D.C. Department of Public Works’s 10th annual Truck Touch takes place on Saturday at RFK Stadium. Kids can look up close and climb into nearly 30 D.C. vehicles use to clean and repair streets, change traffic lights, collect garbage, clear snow, provide emergency services, administer mobile health care and more. On the perimeter of the event, local high school students will race their battery powered electric cars in the Electric Grand Prix, hosted by the Department of Energy and the Environment. Free boxed lunches will be given to kids ages 18 and younger.
June 10 from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. at RFK Stadium, Lot 7, 2400 East Capitol St. SE. Admission is FREE!
Wright on the Walls
In honor of the 150th birthday of architect Frank Lloyd Wright, the National Building Museum hosts the new Wright on the Walls exhibit and a day of events honoring the man’s work. The exhibit turns a gallery of the museum into an interactive “coloring book,” with interpretations of Wright’s work including the Pope-Leighey House in Alexandria on walls waiting for you to imbue your own colors and shades (washable dry-erase makers are provided). From 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, you can hear lightning talks and participate in http://go.nbm.org/site/Calendar/698240377?view=Detail&id=122030 activities that also pay tribute to Wright’s great contribution to modern architecture by building your own cantilever, creating a faux stained glass sun-catcher inspired by the geometric windows Wright including in menay of his homes and listen to a reading of Moxie the Dachshound of Falling Water.
June 10-Sept. 4 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, students with ID and youth ages 3-17.
Capital Pride Parade
Join tens of thousands of people watching the Capital Pride Parade as it makes its way through the Dupont Circle and Logan Circle neighborhoods. There will be more than 180 contingents including floats, vehicles, marchers, marching bands, businesses, politicians, community groups, dogs, drag queens and more. This year’s grand marshal is Edie Windsor, who was the lead plaintiff in securing legal same-sex marriage in the U.S. This year, there will also be a block party at 15th and P Streets NW adjacent to the parade route with entertainment including Brian Justin Crum and Azra, food and a beer garden from 3:30-10 p.m.
June 10 from 4:30-7:30 p.m. beginning at 22nd and P Streets NW, winding through the Dupont and Logan Circle neighborhoods, and finishing at 14th and R Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Shadow/Casters
Local arts organization Transformer teams up with the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden to create Shadow/Casters, a special after-hours performance art event that will be held on the museum’s outdoor plaza. Local artists Jason Barnes (Pussy Noir), Alexandra “Rex” Delafkaran, Kunj and Hoesy Corona will celebrate the onset of the summer solstice with live performances throughout the evening including dance and drumming by Devin Ocampo and Jerry Busher and music by DJ Natty Boom. The night will culminate with the Hirshhorn’s round building becoming a shadow theater, impressively displaying light and shadow in a spectacle that will stun onlookers below. Guests can also explore the museum during special extended hours. A cash bar will be available. The event is presented in conjunction with Capital Pride.
June 10 from 7:30-11 p.m. at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Tickets are $18.
The Equality March for Unity & Pride
The Equality March for Unity & Pride is expected to attract tens of thousands of marchers in support of LGBTQ rights. According to its website, the march is being held to mobilize “LGBTQ+ communities, our loved ones and our allies – with particular focus on those who have been actively silenced and neglected – in the fight to affirm and protect our rights, our safety and our full humanity.” The march will begin near the White House at 17th and I streets NW (line up begins at 9 a.m.) then proceed east on G Street, south on 15th Street and east on Constitution Avenue, south on Seventh Street to its finish near Madison Drive. A rally will be held on the National Mall near Third Street and Madison Avenue NW beginning around noon. Speakers include actors Charlie Carver and Asia Kate Dillon, and NBA player Jason Collins among others.
June 11 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. starting at 17th and I Streets NW and finishing at Third and Madison Streets NW with a rally on the National Mall. Admission is FREE, but pre-registration is requested.
Tastes of Africa
One of the most fun ways to learn about a place is by tasting the native food. Tastes of Africa will not only offer bites inspired by the continent, it will feature art, music, movies, a fashion show and live performances so you can fully immerse yourself in various cultures throughout the day.
June 11 from noon-9 p.m. at Veterans Plaza, 1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring. Admission is FREE!
On-Going Events
Architecture of an Asylum: St. Elizabeths 1852-2017 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 15, 2018 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors, students and children.
Down These Mean Streets: Community and Place in Urban Photography from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. through Aug. 6 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Fancy Animal Carnival daily through Oct. 15 at CityCenterDC, 825 10th St. NW; Chinatown Park, Sixth Street and Massachusetts Avenue NW; and Herald Square, 13th Street and New York Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
The First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald at 100 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through April 2, 2018 at the National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
The Faces of Battle: Americans at War, 9/11 to Now from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Jan. 28, 2018 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Frédéric Bazille and the Birth of Impressionism from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through July 19 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
HIR at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 3 p.m. on Saturday, and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday through June 18 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW. Tickets are $20-$74.
Jazz in the Garden from 5-8:30 p.m. on Fridays through Aug. 25 at the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Jesus Christ Superstar at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m. Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday through July 2 at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington. Tickets are $40-$89.
Sharks daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. through Oct. 15 at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors and military and $10 for children ages 5-12.
Trolley Car Mail from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. through Sept. 10 at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
XYZT: Abstract Landscapes hands-on interactive experience from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. and 5:30-10 p.m. daily through Sept. 3 at Artechouse, 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Daytime admission is $15 for adults and $10 for children, students and seniors and evening admission (21+) is $25.
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.