What's happening, updated every Wednesday.
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On sale now! Events in the ~ future ~ that you may want to buy tickets for before they sell out:
tunes: Cobrah (5/7), tunes: Courtney Barnett (5/10), Bike to Work Day (5/15), my body my festival w/ Yaya Bey & Nourished by Time (5/28), Pattie Gonia (5/31), Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso (6/17), St. Vincent with the NSO at Wolf Trap (6/25), tiny desk contest on the road (7/11), tunes: Death Cab for Cutie (7/21), tunes: Robyn, night 2 (9/9)
Wednesday, April 29
Poetree
Pluck your rosemary (for remembrance) and pansies (that’s for thoughts) — it’s time for floral symbolism. This poetry workshop at the Folger provides you with the context and materials to make an artistic collage inspired by Ophelia’s famous speech. (4:30pm)
Jazz in the garden minus the million people and bugs
Does the idea of Jazz in the Garden excite you? But when you actually go it’s a million degrees, you’re getting bitten by mosquitos, and the drunk interns around you are so annoying? Well, let’s fix that! Join Hillwood Estate for their jazz in the garden. Head over early to explore the estate, the museum (all the faberge eggs!), and then enjoy Jazz in weather that could be naughty or nice. (5:30-8pm)
Also || tunes: Peni Candra Rini, profs & pints: Exploring the Deep Sea (sold out), movies in milian park, workshop: secondhand shopping, green drinks dc happy hour, hiit happy hour, tunes: Michael Nau, landscape architecture: Terremoto, film: Waste Land
Thursday, April 30
Finally a game of trivia I can win
The more you give, the more you get to cheat. That’s the spirit at 826DC’s Trivia for Cheaters fundraiser, where teams compete to prove they know the most. The catch? As you donate to support 826DC’s writing programs, you unlock perks and advantages to win. (5:30pm)
Deepfaking Sam Altman
The creators of the award winning comedy documentary “Deepfaking Sam Altman” are doing a screening and Q&A. The film follows a filmmaker who can’t get an interview with Sam Altman, so he makes a deepfake… and gets unexpectedly attached to the the bot. (6-9pm)
Also || short film showcase: black light, plant workshop: snake, songwriter showcase at pocket, wine and card games, Collector's View 2026, tunes: Yumi Zouma, We Deserve to Party, Virginia Tech talk: Helmet Lab, comedy without the hangover, tunes: Daya, cocktails & conversations about the future of food waste, talk about where congress is headed, poets laureate at LOC
Friday, May 1
Proletariat or Pro Literate?
Everyone deserves the right to write, regardless of their economic status. Bol Co-op hosts DC’s very first Working Class Literature Festival, bringing together authors from all backgrounds to organize and create together. (6pm)
Bump, Set, Spike Lee
The man, the myth, the legend himself will be in Chocolate City for a special anniversary screening of “School Daze” at Lincoln Theatre, plus tickets are discounted with a valid student ID. (8pm)
“When Moms feel good, everyone wins”
A celebration of motherhood and self expression, with a little needed catharsis in community. Sounds like just what the moms need in a dance party. (7pm)
Also || rhythms of the world: classical indian dance, DMV tunes: Ugly Pageant, LUSH (dc lesbian club night), hill family biking, DC History Conference, flower mart 2026, first friday art walk, AANHPI heritage month kickoff, grand opening: WE MAKE DC, queering sound, Flower Mart, Madams of DC walking tour, city wildlife budget hearing support, savor the flavors
Saturday, May 2
On your marks, get set, CHIHUAHUAS!
I bet you’ve never seen over 150 six-pound dogs race against each other in groups of 8 on a 60ft racetrack. Or maybe you’re special. The Annual Running of the Chihuahuas is back for its fourteenth(!) iteration, all to benefit a non-profit that saves dogs from high-kill rural shelters. (2pm)
Sounds cool! I’m all ears
For one-weekend-only the Hirshhorn is hosting museum-wide art installations. Explore interactive sound installations, audiovisual diaries, 10-feet tall sculptures, and more! (all day Sat and Sun)
Get outside: guided garden tour at Tudor Place, Hill Family Biking goes adults-only, weekend weeders at Tudor Place, scenic Rock Creek Park nature walk, noobie night with dc bike polo, district of punk walking tour
Tunes n’ more: local punk at rhizome, dc girl punk, DMV tunes at pocket, iheartdc, OBSESSED dance party, spooky electronic music, tunes: Sarod Trilogy
Comedy: comedy: Meet Cute, comedy: Green Card!
Shopping & art: queer clothing and cosmetics swap, rockville arts fest, exhibit at rhizome: 500 miles out, MaMe Market at Thip Khao
Other highlights: survivor talk with RHAP, book talk w/ Luke Goebel, Project Poetic Justice with DC Jail, world embassy tours (non-european!),
Sunday, May 3
Nopales? No problem!
Pique your interest (and not your fingers) at this workshop on handling, preparing, and growing prickly pears. For only $5, you’ll get to try cacti-based dishes and root your very own cactus pad that you get to take home. (5:30pm)
Reading & relaxing
MLK Library is hosting yoga & a bookclub. Spend 30 minutes discussing a book, then do some mindful yoga. Since this is the first meeting, no need to read anything in advance! Just bring yourself, your mat, and your ideas on what the club should read this summer. (4pm)
Also || plant swap, georgetown walking tour, play at keegan: The Minutes, dc noir at the bar, writing workshop/fundraiser for Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid, noise is a riot, sinta quartet, where poetry meets wellness, eugenics then and now, sunday night rest at rhizome, crochet 101, tunes: Drugdealer, Logan Circle creative & vintage market, free concert at Tregaron meadow
Monday, May 4
Is this illegal?
It feels illegal. In case you missed your chance to see PinkPantheress for her sold out show last night, she takes the Anthem stage again tonight. Maybe you can be her American ha ha ha ha? (8pm)
Don’t worry, be happy fr
If you want to know everything about being happy, then head to Profs & Pints “Happiness Workshop.” Learn about what research & centuries of wisdom tell us about bringing more joy into our lives and get some happiness tips of your own. (pro tip, I’m pretty sure going out to an event not in your house is one of the tips.) (6-8:30pm)
Also || teacher appreciation celebration, tunes at rhizome, tunes: Nina Lane, intro to crochet class, book talk: The Evolution of Fire, cookie Swap + conversation: ITALIAN COOKIES, tunes: John-Robert / nickname Jos, tunes: Gelli Haha, you me we yoga
Tuesday, May 5
Should we be bad?
Tuesdays are a drag. Some could even say torture. Put your modern day misery into perspective at this lecture on medieval torture devices, where Professor Larissa “Kat” Tracy teaches you about the rack, the wheel, and the more nuanced history behind them. (6pm)
A big event for all the NPR-tote girlies
NPR’s beloved Weekend Edition host Scott Simon is out with a new book, Ulysses S. Cat and other animals I have known. Hear Simon philosophize on the unforgettable and utterly ordinary moments between species with other NPR icon Scott Simon. (7pm)
Also || pressed floral art, vadym kholodenko at 6th&I, tunes: Unprocessed, book talk: A Better Life for Their Children, cinco de mayo @ surfside, tunes: Sun of Goldfinger, tunes: Spy, tunes: Niko Rubio, tunes: AMPERS&ONE, commemorating 1991 uprisings, tunes: Vadym Kholodenko
MAY
5/6: book talk: Birth Vibes, fundraiser for local literacy non-profit, webinar: know your tenant rights, reading performance at rhizome, root to rise yoga, book talk: Kill Dick, work out in Milian Park, space talk
5/7: tunes: Cobrah, fundraise for food justice, stories we didn't see coming, local tunes: Dorinda, poetry open mic, weekly thursday trivia, DJ: retro 60s surf, screening at rhizome: Polari & Carry On, Mac Barnett at LOC, trivia thursday
5/8: walking tour of Columbia Heights, baltimore tunes at the pocket, pop up trivia, woodworking workshop, project blackbird gala, learn to play frisbee, if these walls could joke, interior design open house
5/9: The Messthetics / James Brandon Lewis, musical improvisation at rhizome, walking tour of U St NW, performance at rhizome, dc tunes at the pocket, pet rescue comedy night, mandalas art class at rhizome, memory keepers club, barre3 at Commons Park, story time at East City Bookshop, family day at LOC (feat comics!), EU Open House, moms day out,
5/10: modern calligraphy at museum of illusions, tunes at pocket, tunes at rhizome, Black Mothers March 2026, brunchtime burlesque, mothers day bike ride with DC abortion fund
5/11: co-op film fest: food for change, terrors of irish fairylore, small biz showcase
5/12: tunes at rhizome, nightmares and creativity
5/13: iona senior services celebration, work out in Milian Park
5/12: history talk: pop culture in 1970s
5/14: standing with immigrants, tunes at rhizome, comedy in takoma, game night at DCPL, when washington burned, funny farm, blue note burlesque, Annual Taste of the Garden, producers open mic at The Pocket, tunes: Frail Talk
5/15: Bike to Work Day, local experimental rock at rhizome, rock raise, learn to play frisbee, give pottery a try
5/16: 11-mile guided hike, petworth yard sale, tunes at pocket, guided wine and charcuterie experience, Wangari Gardens Spring Festival, workshop: ode to the gardens, 2026 Fiesta Asia Street Fair, Julia Hamos (piano) at WPA, yard sale extravaganza, yoga in the sculpture garden, jazz at kreeger, new art at Gallery Neptune & Brown, spring pottery sale, columbia heights day, Hawaiian celebration at NMAI
5/17: walking tour along Penn Ave, dc tunes at pocket, birdhouse workshop, cathedral choral society, doc screening of FIFA 1995 World Cup, profs & pints in VA talking AI and thinking
5/18: book talk: Tears From the Mother of the Sun, co-op film fest: We The Owners, DC profs & pints on AI and thinking,
5/19: tunes at Pie Shop, poetry series finale at folger, local rock: Knave
5/20: bike ride of silence, spring garden party at Tudor Place, popstar playbook dc, interfaith couples workshop, burlesque benefit, work out in Milian Park
5/21: JAM the revue, book club: KIN
5/22: doom and dinos, dmv rap at pocket, queer magic dance party at black cat
5/23: natural dye workshop, walking whiskey tour in mt. pleasant, alice in wonderland burlesque, heaux in wonderland, tunes at rhizome, tunes: femi and the foundation + rock creek kings, honoring Indigenous service members, bowl arts workshop at Kreeger, meditation in the galleries, tunes: Lesson Zero
5/24: live karaoke at pocket, yogis for Janeese
5/25: punk at rhizome
5/26: experimental introduction to Judaism, sax et al at rhizome
5/27: tunes at rhizome, Crisis of the Common Good, work out in Milian Park
5/28: advocacy in action
5/29: punk benefit at black cat, pottery workshop, WPA children of the gospel choir
5/30: accessory swap, improv at WIT, tunes at Pocket, tunes at rhizome, film workshop at rhizome
5/31: Act of Serviceberry Day, Washington Men's Camerata, bouquet crafting workshop, big cake exchange
JUNE
6/1: tunes at rhizome
6/3: tunes: Andrew Bird (with national philharmonic), 1960s comedy at Tudor Place, tunes: Penanggalan / Crows Foot, Dr. Jill Biden at 6th&I
6/4: tunes: Andrew Bird (with national philharmonic)
6/5: 1960s comedy night at Tudor Place, pottery workshop
6/6: guided garden tour at Tudor Place, weekend weeders at Tudor Place, beer bourbon and bbq fest, alt pop at the pocket, flea market at library, pottery class: coil building
6/7: elevation yoga
6/8: tunes at rhizome
6/9: tunes: Michael Foster's Ghost
6/11: tunes: Cécile McLorin Salvant: Book of Ayres
6/13: Sing Democracy 250
6/14: podcast recording: MS NOW
6/16: Lisa See at the Montgomery College Cultural Arts Center
6/21: dad noise at rhizome, Duanwu DIY at Rhizome, yacht race
6/23: local singer-songwriter at Rhizome
6/27: local tunes: Spark Isle Spark Isle, tunes at rhizome, yoga & tarot workshop
JULY
7/11: tunes at rhizome
7/14: How to Wield Power in a Post-Trump World
7/19: local tunes at Pocket
7/25: Cafe Love on the Clock
AUGUST
8/14: local tunes at DC9
OCTOBER
10/8: cookbook talk at 6th&I
10/15: comedy at Sixth & I
