12 Things to Do This Weekend in the DMV
Temperatures will be in the low-60s this weekend with no rain in the forecast, a perfect weekend to get out and enjoy the DMV.
The cherry blossoms are gone and that means weekend construction returns to Metro. There will be no Yellow Line service this weekend. Shuttle buses will operated between Huntington, Eisenhower Avenue and King Street. Riders should add an additional 15 minutes to their commute per station. Red Line trains will single track between Farragut North and Union Station every 28 minutes. Blue Line trains will single track between Addison Road and Morgan Boulevard on a regular weekend schedule, but Silver Line trains will run on a regular schedule between Wiehle-Reston East and New Carrollton. Green Line trains will single track between Southern Avenue and Naylor Road and run every 15 minutes. Orange Line trains will operate on a normal schedule.
Shakespeare’s Birthday
Celebrate Shakespeare’s Birthday with this annual event that is free to all. The birthday of the Bard will be honored with birthday cake cut by Queen Elizabeth I, musical and theatrical performances, “sword fighting” demonstrations, discussions from Folger Shakespeare Library curators and scholars and even food trucks including Captain Cookie and the Milkman, D.C. Slices, People’s Bao, D.C. Empanadas and the BBQ Bus. Take the whole family out to wish a happy born day to Will.
Apr. 22 from noon-5 p.m. at the Folger Shakespeare Library, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Admission is FREE!
Filmfest DC
The 32nd annual Filmfest DC, D.C.’s international film festival, will touch theaters all over the city, showcasing 80 independent and foreign films from 45 countries over 11 days. The varied lineup will feature quite the genre exercise: comedies, dramas, thrillers, shorts and documentaries will all be on display. This year’s festival includes film categories such as international; thrillers; music and dance; social justice; local, international and women-produced shorts; and Cine Latino featuring films from Chile, Brazil, Cuba, Spain, Argentina and Paraguay. This weekend’s highlights includes Black Kite about the son of a kite maker in Afghanistan, the first in his family to attend school, who is a daydreamer and spends more time thinking about making kites with his father than studying; The Guilty at 9 p.m. Saturday about a Danish police officer demoted to desk who who must use others as his eyes and ears to find a kidnapped woman; and Sex, Pity and Loneliness at 8:45 p.m. Sunday, a wicked satire about 13 contemporary German urbanites. See the full schedule for times and locations.
Apr. 19-27 at various times at AMC Mazza Gallerie, 5300 Wisconsin Ave. NW and E Street Cinema, 555 11th St. NW. Most tickets are $14 and $10 for students with ID. A package of 10 tickets is $100 and a package of four weekday tickets is $45.
Light City
If you didn’t make it to Baltimore last weekend for Light City, Charm City’s annual extravaganza of 21 light installations, as well as video projections, performers and food vendors that drew approximately 470,000 people last year, you have until Saturday. Think Georgetown GLOW, but on a larger scale. Several of the displays from GLOW will make appearances at Light City including On the Wings of Freedom 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.
Apr. 20 and 21 from 7-11 p.m. at Inner Harbor and Harbor East in Baltimore. Admission is FREE!
Waiting for Godot
Waiting for Godot, Samuel Beckett’s classic play, comes to the Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Lansburgh Theatre. Lingering by the side of the road killing time, Estragon and Vladimir tell jokes and half-remembered stories to pass the time. Along the way, you will encounter hilarity, tragedy, poetry, philosophy and a rumination on the absurd.
Through May 20 at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday at Lansburgh Theatre, 450 Seventh St. NW. Tickets are $38-$118.
After the Rehearsal & Persona
The Kennedy Center honors the centennial of Ingmar Bergman, one of history’s greatest auteurs of both the screen and the stage. Two of his screenplays, After the Rehearsal and Persona will be performed by the ensemble Toneelgroep Amsterdam, directed by Tony Award-winning Belgian Ivo van Hove. After the Rehearsal is about a director forced to face a lack of control, while Persona is about an actress who falls mute, and her eventual struggle with her own nurse.
Apr. 20 and 21 at 8 p.m. and Apr. 22 at 2 p.m. at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, 2700 F St. NW. Tickets are $19-$59.
National Park Week Fee-Free Day
The National Park Service celebrates National Park Week from Apr. 21-29 with special events and activities that the entire family can enjoy. National Park Week kicks off with Fee-Free Day, which means you can enter any of the more than 400 national parks that normally charge an entrance fee for FREE! Local parks that are free on Saturday include Antietam National Battlefield, the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park, Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine, Fort Washington Park, Great Falls Park, Harpers Ferry National Historical Park and Prince William Forest Park.
Apr. 21 during normal business hours at all national parks that normally charge an entrance fee. Admission is FREE!
A Right to the City
A Right to the City explores the evolution of Washington, D.C.’s neighborhoods over the past 50 years, from dilapidation to rising rents and inequality. You will find out how D.C. residents have always stayed organized and engaged, fighting for better schools, healthier communities, equitable transit and development and fair city planning, among other efforts. Dive deep into the District, its history and its people.
Apr. 21-Apr. 20, 2020 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily at the Anacostia Community Museum, 1901 Fort Place SE. Admission is FREE!
Arlington Festival of the Arts
The sixth annual Arlington Festival of the Arts returns to Clarendon this Saturday and Sunday. Enjoy a weekend of true visual inspiration as more than 100 artists showcase their works including glass, mixed media, painting, jewelry and pottery; providing all sorts of opportunities to appreciate — and purchase — art. The show is located on North Highland Street, which runs over Clarendon Blvd & Wilson Blvd.
Apr. 21 and 22 from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. along North Highland Street beginning at Washington Boulevard in Clarendon. Admission is FREE!
D.C. Beer Festival
The annual D.C. Beer Festival takes place on the throughout Nationals Park’s concourse, Centerfield Plaze, the Budweiser Brew House, Bud Light Loft and Budweiser Terrace, making for one of the District’s best outdoor parties of the year. More than 80 craft breweries will be pouring their seasonal beers, as local food trucks sell their tastiest eats. Compete in lawn games, with the whole party soundtracked by DJs.
Apr. 21 from noon-3 p.m. and 5-8 p.m. at Nationals Park, 1500 South Capitol St. SE. Tickets are $45 and include unlimited beer tastings.
Frülingsfest: A Spring Garden Festival
Think of Frühlingsfest as the counterpoint to Oktoberfest: Instead of celebrating the fruits (and beers) of the harvest, the springtime festival marks the coming of better weather and longer days. D.C.’s best Frühlingsfest is at the Heurich House Museum, which throws a party in its manicured garden with lawn games, Port City beers and Garden District’s German sausages. Instructors lead classes in planting succulents and drawing flowers, and D.C. makers will have gifts for sale. Admission includes tours of the historic mansion.
Apr. 21 from noon-3:30 p.m. at the Heurich House Museum, 1307 New Hampshire Ave. NW. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 children online or at the door.
Earth Day Plant Sale and Picnic
Celebrate Earth Day and Arbor Day at Tudor Place’s annual Earth Day Plant Sale and Picnic. Enjoy a picnic on its historic grounds before or after perusing a wide range of plants for sale. This is the only time that the estate allows picnicking on its gorgeous property, so take advantage of the opportunity! Plants for sale include heirloom and native sun-to-shade perennials, tropical and house plants and herbs and other edible plants, which are new this year.
Apr. 22 from noon-4 p.m. at Tudor Place, 1644 31st St. NW. Admission is FREE!
Air Play
Modern circus acts meet street theater in Air Place, where performers use air and gravity to transform everyday objects into fantastical props. It is the tale of two adventurous siblings journeying through a surreal world, finding uncommon beauty in the most unexpected places as they go. In this spectacle perfect for families, anything is possible — fabrics dance in the wind, umbrellas fly, balloons have a mind of their own, confetti turns into the night sky and an enormous swath of silk creates a delicate, hovering canopy above the stage. Before the show, check out Kite Fly Day, a free event that invites the community, families and kite enthusiasts to spend the day on the rolling hills of Strathmore’s campus. Kite Fly Day begins at 1 p.m. Visitors can fly their own kites, picnic, play yard games or toss a frisbee, and enjoy solo and tandem flying demonstrations.
Apr. 22 at 4 p.m. at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda. Tickets are $22-$46.
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!
LAST CHANCE! 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!
Evicted from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday through May 19, 2019 at the National Building Museum, 401 F St. 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!
Snow Child at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Tuesday and Wednesday through May 20 at Arena Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Tickets are $41-$120.
Sonic Blossom from noon-4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays through Apr. 29 at the National Portrait Gallery, Eighth and F Streets 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!
LAST CHANCE! 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.
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!
LAST CHANCE! 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.