Washington, D.C

36 Things to Do in the DC Area This Week and Weekend

Published

1 year ago

December 2, 2024

Press Room

36 Things to Do in the DC Area This Week and Weekend

Photograph courtesy of the Wharf.

Happy December, DC!

Embrace the holiday season this week at a number of new festivities as well as beloved seasonal events. From holiday boat parades at the Wharf and in Alexandria, to a new neighborhood-wide holiday concert in Georgetown, there are joyful experiences for everyone.

Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend

December 2–December 8

1. Wharf Holiday Boat Parade & Party. Watch more than 60 decked-out boats parade across the Washington Channel. In addition to the shimmering fleet, there will be ornament decorating, letters to Santa, holiday karaoke, meet-and-greets with Santa, live music by Yani the Band, and a fireworks finale (Sat, free, Wharf).
2. A Beautiful Noise: The Neil Diamond Musical. If you’re a fan of iconic singer-songwriter Neil Diamond, you’ll enjoy this live narration of the rockstar’s rise to fame. The hit-packed jukebox musical arrives at National Theatre this week; viewers can clap along to popular songs like “Sweet Caroline” and “Cracklin Rosie” (Tues-Sun, $69+, National Theatre).
3. European Union Film Showcase. The AFI’s annual showcase highlights new and contemporary films. This year’s lineup screens 54 flicks, including the Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton drama The Room Next Door, and the movie adaptation of the ’70s novel The Summer Book (Wed through December 22, $15, Silver Spring).
4. Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights. This vivid waterfront parade has been running for nearly 25 years. View the decorated sailboats and powerboats from any spot on the Old Town waterfront, or head to Waterfront Park for crafts and a Port City Brewing Company pop-up beer garden (Sat, free, Alexandria).
5. Rigoletto. Opera admirers can see Verdi’s mid-career masterpiece as part of InSeries’ revival at the Goldman Theater DCJCC. The playful production is set under the big top, with a circus band, and a ribald new libretto by Bari Biern (Sat-sun, December 14-15, $42+, Northwest DC).
6. Georgetown Jingle. Georgetown Glow isn’t returning this year, but there’s a new holiday event taking over the neighborhood this month. Georgetown Jingle debuts this weekend boasting 10 live holiday, jazz, pop, a cappella, and DJ music performances throughout the neighborhood. After the pop-up concerts, you can watch the St. Lucia Choir procession and sip non-alcoholic Glögg (Sat, free, Georgetown).
7. Salaam Bombay! screening with Mira Nair. Veteran film director and activist Mira Nair delivers a lecture at National Gallery of Art ahead of a screening of her breakout Indian crime drama Salaam Bombay! (Sun, free, National Gallery of Art).

Want More Things to Do?

Arts and culture:

Gilmore Girls’ Kelly Bishop chats with Dana Bash at Sixth & I about her memoir Third Gilmore Girl (Wed, $40+ for in-person ticket and book, $12 for virtual, $37 for virtual ticket and book, Downtown, virtual).
Clear Harmonies Carolers, art, and wintry cocktails are highlights of Phillips after 5’s Winter Wonderland (Thurs, $20, Dupont).
Find deals on your next read at the White House Historical Association’s Holiday Book Festival (Fri, free, Downtown).
Author Jessica B. Harris of High on the Hog discusses her new Kwanzaa project at the Smithsonian (Sat, free, but registration required, Smithsonian NMAAHC).
Browse jewelry, gourd art, and textiles at African Art Holiday Marketplace (Sat, free, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art).
Attend the opening reception of “Journey to Self” to see visual art about self-discovery from seven artists at Homme Gallery (Sat, free, Downtown).
Create a flower arrangement with fellow plant enthusiasts at MoCA Arlington (Sat, $45, Arlington).

Community and heritage:

Delight in cultural cuisine, art, and goods from more than 50 embassies at The Winternational Embassy Showcase (Thurs, free, Downtown).
Sip hot cocoa with neighbors at the Columbia Heights Tree Lighting (Fri, free, Columbia Heights).
Celebrate Kwanzaa at the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture Community Day (Sat, free, but registration required, Smithsonian NMAAHC).
Meet Native artists and browse their handmade jewelry and beadwork at Native Art Market (Sat-Sun, free, Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian).

Theater and shows:

Keegan Theatre’s An Irish Carol puts a modern Dublin twist on Dickens’s classic holiday tale (Wed through December 31, $64, Dupont).
A Swingin’ Little Christmas is a comedy-cabaret packed with musical classics from the ’50s and ’60s (Wed, $28+, Bethesda).
Philadelphia’s BalletX arrives in DC for a four-day contemporary dance showcase (Wed-Sat, $40+, Kennedy Center).
Grammy Award-winner Patrick Page stars in All the Devils Are Here: How Shakespeare Invented the Villain (Fri through December 29, $39+, Downtown).
Join a live Hamilton Sing-Along at Penn Social (Sat, $17+, Penn Quarter).

Music and concerts:

Don your ugly holiday sweater and listen to National Symphony Orchestra play seasonal tunes at the Anthem (Wed, $25+, Wharf).
Veterans and service members can snag tickets to a complimentary holiday concert featuring the National Symphony Orchestra and Broadway’s Jessica Vosk (Thurs, free, Kennedy Center).
EDM DJ Tiësto spins electric hits at Echostage (Thurs-Fri, $65+, Langdon).
Underground Richmond rapper Nettspend brings his hype rhymes to the Fillmore (Fri, $41+, Silver Spring).
The Folger Consort performs carols in A Mass for Christmas Eve (Fri through December 15, $20+, Capitol Hill).
DC native Billy Woods raps live at Union Stage (Sun, $25+, Wharf).

Get involved:

Shop books on DC housing at Solid State Books to help raise funds for Everyone Home DC (Tues, free, H Street Corridor).
Put your barista skills to the test for a good cause. Proceeds from this latte art-making competition will support the Sexual Violence Protection Association (Tues, free to attend, $5 for participants, Columbia Heights).

Budget-friendly:

Things to do with kids:

See outdoor illuminations and zoom down the eight-lane Penguin Plunge at Winter City Lights (through December 29, $27 for adults, $23 for seniors $18 for ages 4-12, Olney).
Kids can take a train ride through Met Park, and capture memories with Santa at The Lodge (Sat, free, Arlington).
Youngsters can play in a bounce house, drink hot chocolate, and decorate stockings at Jingle Bell Bash (Sat, free, Tysons).

If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.

Briana A. Thomas is a local journalist, historian, and tour guide who specializes in the research of D.C. history and culture. She is the author of the Black history book, Black Broadway in Washington, D.C., a story that was first published in Washingtonian in 2016.

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Washington, D.C

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Published

7 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Pop-up museum in DC features the scandal that changed American history – WTOP News

Among the liquor store, barber shop and dry cleaners at the Watergate Complex’s retail plaza, there is a new pop-up museum dedicated to the scene of the crime that toppled Richard Nixon’s presidency.

The temporary exhibit features the work of artist Laurie Munn — portraits of members of the Nixon administration and those connected to the Watergate break-in. The exhibit features members of Congress, the media and some who were on President Nixon’s enemies list.(WTOP/Jimmy Alexander)

Keith Krom, chair of the Board of Directors of the Watergate Museum, told WTOP the exhibit was first featured in the gallery in 2012 for the 40th anniversary of the break-in at the Democratic National Committee.

“When she (Munn) learned about our museum effort, she offered to reassemble them as a way for us to expand awareness of the museum,” Krom said.

Krom, who lives in the Watergate, said his favorite portrait is of one of the special prosecutors, whose firing sparked the “Saturday Night Massacre” in 1973.

“I had the pleasure of being a student of Archibald Cox,” Krom said. “He served as my mentor for my third-year writing project.”

Krom said during this time, at the Boston University School of Law, he spent a great deal of time with him.

“I didn’t realize how much he must have gone through. Here he was, this one man, who was challenging the president of the United States over something pretty serious,” Krom said.

The pop-up opened in October and was recently extended to stay open until April 25. Krom said the hope is to find it a permanent location within the Watergate Complex, where they can “present the history of Watergate, but with two perspectives.”

The first would be on the building’s “architectural significance to D.C.,” he said.

“You may not like the design, you actually may hate it,” Krom said. “But you cannot deny that it changed D.C.’s skyline.”

The secondary focus would, of course, be on the mother of all presidential scandals that changed the course of American history.

“That’s where that suffix ‘-gate’ started and continues to be used for almost every scandal that comes out today,” Krom said.

The inspiration for the museum spawned from an interaction from a tourist outside the Watergate.

“He says, ‘This is the Watergate, right?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah, it’s one of the buildings,’” Krom recalled.

The tourist then asked Krom, “So where’s the museum?”

“I was like, ‘Oh, we don’t have a museum.’ And he literally just looked at me and said, ‘That’s so sad.’ And he got on his bike and rode away,” Krom said.

While the self-proclaimed political history nerd said he “still gets goose bumps” when he drives by the Capitol at night, Krom hopes that when people leave the museum, “they’ll walk away with a new appreciation for how our government works, the guardrails that are in place.”

“Maybe an understanding that those guardrails themselves are kind of frail, and they probably need our collective help in making sure they last — that’s what we hope to accomplish,” Krom said.

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Washington, D.C

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Published

19 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Press Room

Cherry Blossoms Hit Peak Bloom in Washington DC

Almost at peak! A view of the cherry trees in Washington DC show they’re about to burst into peak bloom very soon. Image: NPS

According to the National Park Service at the National Mall, famous cherry blossoms around the nation’s capital have hit peak bloom conditions. The National Park Service X account for the National Mall proclaimed this morning, “PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM! PEAK BLOOM!”

It became apparent yesterday that the bloom would be at peak today. “Despite a sunny afternoon and patches of blue sky, the cherry blossoms remain at Stage 5: Puffy White,” the Park Service wrote on X yesterday. Stage 5, “Puffy White”, is the final stage blossoms go through before being in full bloom. They start at Stage 1 as a “Green Bud”, grow into Stage 2 with “Florets Visible”, and then florets become extended at Stage 3. In Stage 4, there is “Peduncle Elongation” which sets the stage for the puffy blossoms to appear in Stage 5. Puffy White and Peak Bloom are defined as when 70% of the blossoms on the trees reach that stage.

An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC's parks. Image: NPS — An explosion of blooming flowers is about to hit Washington DC’s parks. Image: NPS

Peak bloom varies annually depending on weather conditions; the most likely time to reach peak bloom is between the last week of March and the first week of April. According to the Park Service, extraordinary warm or cool temperatures have resulted in peak bloom as early as March 15 in 1990 and as late as April 18 in 1958.

Cherry blossom in Washington DC. Image: Weatherboy

The planting of cherry trees in Washington DC originated in 1912 as a gift of friendship to the People of the United States from the People of Japan. In Japan, the flowering cherry tree, or “Sakura,” is an important flowering plant. The beauty of the cherry blossom is a symbol with rich meaning in Japanese culture.

Dr. David Fairchild, plant explorer and U.S. Department of Agriculture official, imported seventy-five flowering cherry trees and twenty-five single-flowered weeping types from the Yokohama Nursery Company in Japan. After experimenting with growing them on his own property in Maryland, he deemed that the cherry tree would be perfect to plant around the Washington DC area. This triggered an interest by a variety of individuals to plant the tree around Washington. In 1909 the Mayor of Tokyo, Yukio Ozaki, donated 2,000 trees to the United States on behalf of his city. When the trees arrived, they were riddled with disease and insects and to protect other agriculture, they were burned. The Tokyo Mayor made a second donation of trees in 1910, this time amounting to 3,020 trees. This started the forest of cherry trees that now line the Potomac basin around Washington DC. In a gesture of gratitude back to Japan, President Taft sent a gift in 1915 of flowering dogwood trees to the people of Japan. Thousands of trees have been added since, including another gift of 3,800 trees from Japan in 1965.

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Washington, D.C

BREAKING | MPD officer struck by hit-and-run driver in Southwest DC

Published

1 day ago

March 25, 2026

Press Room

BREAKING | MPD officer struck by hit-and-run driver in Southwest DC

WASHINGTON (7NEWS) — Authorities are searching for an SUV after an officer with the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Southwest D.C. on Wednesday night.

The crash happened just before 10 p.m. at Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue and Forrester Street, SW.

Police confirmed the officer, an adult man, was conscious and breathing when he was rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment of his injuries. There is no word on his condition.

The driver involved fled the scene, and investigators are looking for a white Range Rover with a partial South Carolina tag of “403.”

Anyone with information is urged to call 202-727-9099 or text tips at 50411.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.

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