Related:
Labor Day in Washington: What to Do This Weekend
Restaurant Week Extensions
Happy Hour Finder
Thursday, September 3: The Freer and Sackler Galleries’ Asia After Dark is an after-hours party that combines gallery tours with food, drinks, and performances. Tonight’s theme is “Come Rock at Peacock Shock,” and guests are encouraged to dress in peacock-inspired attire. The dance troupe Boogie Bots from MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew will perform, and Brian Liu of the DJ collaborative Yellow Fever will emcee the event. A limited number of tickets will be distributed at the door at 6:15 ($20, cash only and limited to one per person). Doors open at 6:30.
Local musician Benjy Feree brings his rollicking, foot-stomping folk-rock to a free show tonight at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage. 6 PM.
Friday, September 4: Sad news for outdoor-film lovers: Rosslyn’s I Love the ’80s festival ends today. But the good news is that the last movie in the series is the classic Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. It starts at dusk at the Gateway Park.
Saturday, September 5: Fatback, the monthly funk-and-soul dance party thrown by a collective of local DJs, is throwing a party at the 9:30 Club. The Fatback nights are some of the best dancing and tunes you’ll find in Washington. 9 PM; $10. You can preview the sort of tunes you’ll hear from Fatback here.
The DC Blues Festival, a free annual festival at Carter Barron Amphitheater, celebrates DC Blues Society founder John Cephas. The festival will feature performers Teeny Tucker, Eugene “Hideaway” Bridges, Eddie Turner, and more. There’ll also be an instrument “petting zoo” as well as vocal and instrument workshops. Festivities start at noon.
Start the long weekend off right at Old Ebbitt Grill’s first annual block party. Tickets—$75 when purchased online, $85 at the door—get you five food and five beverage vouchers, but if you bring a canned food item, you’ll get another free drink ticket. Fare for the evening includes burgers, crabcake sandwiches, mixed-berry shortcake, beer, wine, and frozen cocktails. The party, which also features a Bruce Springsteen cover band, runs from 6 to 11. Click here for more information.
Get your Scot on by heading out to Great Meadow in The Plains for the Virginia Scottish Games, which feature traditional Scottish athletics—such as the Braemar stone toss and the heavy-hammer throw—as well as dancing, music, crafts, food, fashion, and more. Today and Sunday, $18 for a one-day ticket; children ages 5 to 12 $5; under 5 free.
Sunday, September 6: More than 40 Washington theater companies present free readings and open rehearsals of upcoming plays and musicals in the Kennedy Center’s Page-to-Stage Festival. On our list: Eat Me or What Will You, a consumer conspiracy comedy; excerpts from the winners of Baltimore’s playwrights festival; and It Closed on Opening Night, which revives the 1977 Broadway tale of a musical set to fail from the start. Saturday through Monday; no tickets required. Click here for a complete schedule.
Live music, great DJs, watermelon mojitos—Georgetown’s Maté has us sold on its “Labour Day” party tonight. No cover; things get started at 9.
Monday, September 7: Today’s the last day of the Maryland State Fair, held at the racetrack in Timonium. Check out pig races, the milk-it-yourself station, rides, and more. Admission is $8, and there’s a Labor Day special: $20 for an unlimited-rides wristband valid from 10 to 10.
Live jazz, wines from several Virginia vineyards, a fine-arts show, and food are the main attractions of the Labor Day Jazz & Wine Festival in Herndon’s historic downtown. Admission is $5, or $15 including winetasting. Noon to 6.
The US Navy Band concludes its free summer concert series with a special Labor Day show. Head to the US Navy Memorial at 1 to hear the group play.
Sarah is the Editor-in-Chief of Washingtonian Bride & Groom, and writes about weddings, fashion, and shopping. Her work has also appeared in Refinery29, Bethesda Magazine, and Washington City Paper, among others. She is a Georgetown University graduate, lives in Columbia Heights, and you can find her on Instagram at @washbridegroom and @sarahzlot.
