Get Out and Enjoy the Spring Weather
If you aren’t hunkered down doing your taxes at the last minute (relax, they don’t have to be postmarked until Tuesday, Apr.17, thanks to D.C.’s Emancipation Day holiday on Monday), it will be a great weekend to get out and see the last of the cherry blossoms with temperatures in the mid-70s to low-80s and little chance of rain. There are plenty of other things happening this weekend too.
Enjoy this last weekend of relatively little work on Metro and near-normal service levels. The Orange, Silver, Blue and Yellow Lines will all operate on regular weekend schedules. Although the Orange Line will singe track at New Carrollton, it isn’t expected to cause delays. The Red and Green Lines will also operate on regular schedules until 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, when they will begin running every 20-25 minutes as the Red Line single tracks between Dupont Circle and Judiciary Square, and the Green Line single tracks between Southern Avenue and Naylor Road.
National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade
The culmination of the three-week National Cherry Blossom Festival yields arguably its most popular event: the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade. Catch everything from giant helium balloons to elaborate floats to live musical performances and celebrities. This year’s grand marshal is Carla Hall from ABC’s The Chew. Others include rapper Silentó, best known for his hit single Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae), 90s hip-hop group Arrested Development, pop/classical string quartet Well Strung, The Voice season 11 contestant Billy Gilman, The Voice season eight contestant Sarah Potenza, country singer Ty Herndon, Miss America Cara Mund, Sarah Whitcomb Foss of the Jeopardy! Clue Crew and others. You can purchase tickets to enjoy the parade sitting in the the grandstand beginning at $20 or stand along the parade route on Constitution Avenue NW for free.
Apr. 14 from 10 a.m.-noon along Constitution Avenue from Seventh to 17th Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Identify: Lee Mingwei, Sonic Blossom
Accept the gift of song from the National Portrait Gallery. Lee Mingwei’s Sonic Blossom project is part of the gallery’s Identify series, which celebrates activism, visibility and experimentation through portrayal. Sonic Blossom will see singers roaming the museum, asking visitors if they would like to receive the gift of song. If accepted, the two will move to the Great Hall where the singer will sing one of Franz Schubert’s famous five lieders to the individual.
Through Apr. 29 from noon-4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Thousand Incarnations of the Rose
The Thousand Incarnations of the Rose, a new music festival, celebrates Takoma Park native John Fahey and his co-pioneers of American primitive guitar, an influential style of fingerpicked guitar playing that can sound both rough and virtuosic. The style has spread slow and steady across the American underground since Fahey’s death in 2001, and festival organizers thought it was time to bring the guitarist’s legacy back home. They invited more than two dozen practitioners of American primitive to perform on Fahey’s stomping grounds, striking a thoughtful balance between living legends — Peter Lang, Max Ochs, Harry Taussig, Peter Walker — and rising torch carriers — Marisa Anderson, Daniel Bachman, Nathan Bowles, Rob Noyes.
Apr. 13-15 at various times starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday in venues around Takoma Park including Rhizome D.C., Takoma Beverage Co., Busboys and Poets, Republic and the Takoma Park Gazebo. Weekend passes are sold out, but each day features FREE shows open to the public.
Mixed Masters
The Washington Ballet performs compositions from three masters of choreography during Mixed Masters, which will close its Kennedy Center season. Accompanied by an orchestra, the company will take on George Balanchine’s Serenade, Frederick Ashton’s Symphonic Variations and Jerome Robbins’s The Concert (or The Perils of Everybody), all essential pieces in the history of dance.
Apr. 13 at 8 p.m. and Apr. 14 and 15 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $25-$140.
Snow Child
Be a part of the world premiere of Snow Child, a musical that combines Alaskan string-band tradition with bluegrass based on Eowyn Ivey’s debut novel, a finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize. The 1920 Alaskan wilderness is a brutal place to try to save a marriage. Reeling from the loss of an unborn child, Mabel and Jack struggle to rebuild their lives even as the fissures between them continue to widen. But everything changes suddenly when they are visited by a wild, mysterious girl who embodies the dark woods that surround their cabin. In this beautiful and violent land, things are rarely as they appear, and what the snow child teaches them will ultimately transform them all.
Apr. 13 through May 20 at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets are $41-$120.
Evicted
The National Building Museum features Evicted, a groundbreaking exhibition that uses audio interviews, powerful images and detailed statistics to illuminate the crisis of housing instability in America. More than 2.4 million Americans, most of them low-income renters, are evicted from their homes each year, with a disproportionate effect on African American communities. The phenomenon exposes not only income inequality in America, but also the growing separation between the build environments of the rich and the poor. Housing instability threatens all aspects of family life: health, jobs, school, and personal relationships. Landlords hesitate to rent to those with eviction records, or charge them extra money, causing a devastating negative feedback loop. Children switch schools too often to make friends or be noticed and helped by teachers; neighbors cannot develop bonds; personal belongings are left in storage or out on the street. Americans often take home for granted—homes forms the building blocks of community life—and this stability is under attack when eviction looms. Uncover the dire effects that this process has on communities, as well as potential solutions.
Apr. 14-May 19, 2019 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 FREE!
Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival
The largest one-day Japanese cultural festival in the United States, the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival is an event for all ages. Check out more than 80 cultural groups, art vendors, food booth and more than 30 total hours of programming including four stages of performances and demonstrations. There is also a children’s corner.
Apr. 14 from 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. along Pennsylvania Avenue from Third to Seventh Streets NW. Admission is $10 for people 13 and older online or at the gate. Children 12 and younger are FREE!
Rhode Island Avenue Porch Fest
On one Saturday each year, music, dance and poetry fills the air along Rhode Island Avenue NE, ringing out from restaurant patios and the front porches of homes. The fifth annual Rhode Island Avenue Porch Fest is part bar crawl, part music festival: Fans wander between stoops and stops to hear different bands — rock, country, smooth jazz, old-school funk, indie folk — playing for free outdoors in the Brookland and Woodridge neighborhoods. Food trucks and local restaurants provide picnic fare, and don’t miss the beers pouring at the Public Option brewpub, which has one of the more popular pop-up stages.
Apr. 14 from 2-6 p.m. between 1600 and 2300 Rhode Island Ave. NE as well as other nearby locations. Admission is FREE! Free shuttles will run to and from the Rhode Island Metro station with stops at The Public Opinion, South Kitchen and the corner of Rhode Island Avenue and 24th Street NE.
Emancipation Day 2018 Concert
Celebrate D.C.’s Emancipation Day, which honors the Emancipation Act of 1862 that ended slavery in the nation’s capital. The Emancipation Day 2018 Concert will feature R&B singer Brandy, R&B and neo-soul singer Angie Stone and D.C.’s own go-go masters, Rare Essence, in addition to other artists.
Apr. 14 at 3 p.m. on Freedom Plaza, 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Let It Be: A Celebration of the Music of The Beatles
This Broadway production of Let It Be: A Celebration of the Music of The Beatles rocks out with classic songs from the most successful rock group of all-time. The first half of the show features their biggest hits in theatrical form, while the second half imagines if The Beatles had reunited 10 years after breaking up. You will hear classics such as Hard Day’s Night, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Twist and Shout, Get Back, I Wanna Hold Your Hand, Back in the USSR, Hey Jude, Got to Get You Into My Life and many more.
Apr. 14 and 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $45-$80.
Light City
Head north and see Charm City in a neon light during the third annual Light City, Baltimore’s annual extravaganza of 21 light installations, as well as video projections, performers and food vendors that drew approximately 470,000 people last year. Think Georgetown’s Christmas GLOW display, but on a larger scale. Several of the displays from GLOW will make appearances at Light City including On the Wings of Freedom (left) and Prismatica from 2016. Take it all in at the 2018 BGE Light Art Walk, which brings illuminated sculptures to the waterfront promenade around the Inner Harbor and Harbor East. The festival kicks off with an opening night parade Saturday at 8 p.m.
Apr. 14-21 from 7-11 p.m. daily at various locations throughout Baltimore. Admission is FREE!
Anacostia River Festival
The Anacostia River Festival celebrates connecting people to parks. Activities include hands-on art projects, a bike parade, fishing, kayaking and canoeing, lawn games, live music and performances and much more. Held in Anacostia Park, it encourages residents and tourists alike to explore the communities and parks east of the river.
Apr. 15 from 1-5 p.m. at Anacostia Park, 1900 Anacostia Drive SW. A free D.C. Circulator shuttle bus will run from the Anacostia Metro (Howard Road exit) and the Eastern Market Metro stations. Admission is FREE!
National Symphony Orchestra at the Zoo
The National Symphony Orchestra comes to the Smithsonian National Zoo for two free National Symphony Orchestra at the Zoo afternoon concerts. Free, same-day passes become available at 11 a.m. for the 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. concerts, and passes are required to attend. There will also be instrument “petting zoos” at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. Take the entire family to enjoy an afternoon of beautiful music and the zoo.
Apr. 15 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. at the Smithsonian National Zoo’s Visitor Center auditorium, 3001 Connecticut Ave. NW. Admission is FREE, but tickets are required. Tickets will be distributed at the information kiosk across from Kids’ Farm beginning at 11 a.m. Limit six passes per person.
Ongoing Events
1968: Civil Rights at 50 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 2 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is $21.21 for adults, $16.96 for seniors 65 and older, and $12.71 for children ages 7-18 in advance or $24.95, $19.95 and $14.95, respectively, at the door.
Alexander Hamilton’s American Revolution from 10 a.m.–4 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon-4 p.m. Sunday through May 16 at Anderson House, 2119 Massachusetts Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Americans from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through 2022 at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian, Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
The Artistic Table from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday through June 10 at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Tickets are $18 for adults, $15 for seniors, $10 for college students, $5 for children 6-18 and free for children younger than 6. Adults and seniors get $3 off weekdays and $1 on weekend if purchased online.
Beautiful Blooms: Flowering Plants on Stamps from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through July 14 at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Admission is FREE!
Brand New: Art and Commodity in the 1980s from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through May 13 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Admission is FREE!
Cézanne Portraits from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through July 1 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Community Policing in the Nation’s Capital from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 15 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for seniors 60 and older, students with valid ID and youth ages 3-17 Children are FREE!
Day to Night: In the Field with Stephen Wilkes from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. through Apr. 22 at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for students, seniors 62 or older and military, $10 for children ages 5-12 and FREE for kids younger than 5.
Diane Arbus: A Box of Ten Photographs from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Jan. 21 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Do Ho Suh: Almost Home from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. through Aug 5 at the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Drawn to Purpose: American Women Illustrators and Cartoonists from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. daily through Oct. 20 at the Library of Congress, Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. SE. Admission is FREE!
Encountering the Buddha: Art and Practice across Asia from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Nov. 29, 2020 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
The First Lady of Song: Ella Fitzgerald at 100 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Apr. 29 at the National Museum of American History, 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Heavenly Earth: Images of Saint Francis at La Verna from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through July 8 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Hung Liu in Print from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday through July 8 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and older or students and free for children 18 and younger.
In Her Words: Women’s Duty and Service in World War I from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through May 8 at the National Postal Museum, 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. Admission is FREE!
Making Room: Housing for a Changing American from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through Sept. 16 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. NW. Admission is $10 for adults and $7 for seniors 60 or older, students, and children ages 3-17.
The Marines and Tet: The Battle That Changed the Vietnam War from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through July 8 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is $21.21 for adults, $16.96 for seniors 65 and older, and $12.71 for children ages 7-18 in advance or $24.95, $19.95 and $14.95, respectively, at the door.
Mark Bradford: Pickett’s Charge from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Nov. 12 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
LAST CHANCE! Marlene Dietrich: Dressed for the Image from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Apr. 15 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Michel Sittow: Estonian Painter at the Courts of Renaissance Europe from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays through May 13 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Mural from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and 11 a.m-6 p.m. Sunday through Oct. 28 at the National Gallery of Art East Building, Fourth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Jan. 21 at the Renwick Gallery, Pennsylvania Avenue at 17th Street NW. Admission is FREE!
Outliers and American Vanguard Art from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sundays through May 13 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Pictures of the Year: 75 Years of the World’s Best Photography from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through Jan. 20 at the Newseum, 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Tickets are $24.95 for adults, $19.95 for seniors 65 and older, $14.95 for your 7-18 and free for children 6 and younger.
Portraits of the World: Switzerland from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Nov. 12 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
The Prince and the Shah: Royal Portraits from Qajar Iran from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Aug. 5 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Recent Acquisitions from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Nov. 4 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Remembering Vietnam from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through Jan. 6, at the National Archives, 700 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Admission is FREE!
Sakura Yume/Cherry Blossom Dream from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.-11:30 p.m. (21+) through May 6 at Artechouse, 1238 Maryland Ave. SW. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors 65 and older or military, and $8 for children 8 and younger.
Sally Mann: A Thousand Crossings from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through May 28 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!!
Secrets of the Lacquer Buddha from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through June 10 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Sharing Images: Renaissance Prints Into Maiolica and Bronze from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday through Aug. 5 at the National Gallery of Art, Sixth Street and Constitution Avenue NW. Admission is FREE!
Subodh Gupta: Terminal from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through 2020 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
The Sweat of Their Face: Portraying American Workers from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Sept. 3 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
Ten Americans: After Paul Klee from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and noon-6:30 p.m. Sundays through May 6 at The Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. Tickets are $12 for adults, $10 for students and visitors 62 and older and children 18 and younger are FREE!
To Dye For: Ikats from Central Asia from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through July 29 at the Freer|Sackler Galleries, 1050 Independence Ave. SW. Admission is FREE!
Tomb of Christ from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. daily through Aug. 15 at the National Geographic Museum, 1145 17th St. NW. Tickets are $15 for adults, $12 for seniors/students/military and $10 for children 5-12.
Tony Lewis: Anthology 2014-2016 from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. through May 28 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Independence Avenue and Seventh Street SW. Admission is FREE!
Translations at 8 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and 7 p.m. Sunday through Apr. 22 at Studio Theatre, 1501 14th St. NW. Tickets are $20-$106.
EXTENDED! Two Trains Running at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7:30 pm. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday through May 6 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets are $50-$111.
Underground Railroad Game at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, 3 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Sunday through Apr. 29 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW. Tickets are $20-$84.
UnSeen: Our Past in a New Light, Ken Gonzales-Day and Titus Kaphar from 11:30 a.m.-7 p.m. daily through Jan. 6 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets NW. Admission is FREE!
What Absence Is Made Of from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. daily through the summer of 2019 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Seventh Street and Independence Avenue SW. Admission is FREE!
The Winter’s Tale at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7 p.m. Sunday and 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday through Apr. 22 at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $35-$79.
The Wiz at 7:30 p.m. most nights with noon matinees on Friday and 2 p.m. matinees on Saturday through May 12 at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. Tickets are $27-$71.
Women House from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday and noon-5 p.m. Sunday through May 28 at the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for seniors 65 and older and students and free for children 18 and younger.
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.