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Thursday, February 25: You’ll hear the twang of banjos, mandolins, and guitars when the Port Tobacco Pickers play at the Torpedo Factory Art Center from 7 to 9. The seven-piece band from Maryland has a repertoire that includes traditional bluegrass, Southern rock, and train songs. For more details, click here.
BrightestYoungThings.com sponsors a night of local musicians, such as Matt Hemerlein, and standup comics at the Arts Club of Washington. $15; 8:30.
The National Museum of Women in the Arts opens its doors to a slew of sassy celebrities and wedding enthusiasts Thursday for Weddzilla.com’s National Launch Party from 6 to 9. Host Steve Kemble (a member of Us Weekly’s Fashion Police) teams up with celebrity cake artist Ron Ben-Israel, Bride Guide editor-in-chief Diane Forden, and others for a night of cocktails, cuisine, celebrity meet-and-greets, and a silent auction benefiting Children’s National Medical Center. To RSVP for the free event, click here.
Friday, February 26: This year’s Dance Bethesda festival, going on today and tomorrow, includes free dance lessons at Bethesda studios, a free dance party, and a performance by six area dance companies at Round House Theatre. Tickets for the performance are $20 for adults and $10 for children under 13. For more information, click here.
The Alliance Française hosts a Cognac tasting starting at 6:30, with presenter Guillaume Lamy offering a variety of aged Pierre Ferrand products. Tickets are $50 for the public and $40 for Alliance members, and there are just 40 spaces. For more information and to purchase your ticket, call 202-234-7911 or click here.
A group of local bands—including Middle Distance Runner, Deleted Scenes, and Typefighter—perform at Alexandria’s Austin Grill tonight. Sales from tickets ($5 at the door) will go toward the bands’ expenses for the famed South by Southwest musical festival in Austin, Texas. 9 PM.
Foreign-film enthusiasts should plant themselves at the National Geographic Society this weekend, as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents a screening of the five films nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign-language film a week before the Oscars. Tickets for each (El Secreto de Sus Ojos, Ajami, The White Ribbon, Un Prophete, and The Milk of Sorrow) cost $8, or $35 for all five. For a complete schedule and to learn more, click here.
Saturday, February 27: Art Enables (411 New York Ave., NE; 202-554-9455), a studio and gallery for artists with developmental and mental disabilities, is celebrating its eighth birthday with raffles, exhibits, music, and a silent auction. DJ Uncle Eric will spin. Some of the items you can snag at the raffle include handmade coffee mugs, coaster sets, and birdhouses. The event starts at 5. For details and a preview of raffle items, click here.
When in Vienna . . . waltz, of course! The International Club of DC is hosting Viennese Ball at the National Museum of Women in the Arts tonight. General-admission tickets ($90) include dancing, wines, Champagne, and a dessert buffet, and gala-patron ($160) and gala-benefactor ($145) ticket holders will also have access to a dinner buffet. Dress is white- or black-tie optional, and period costumes are encouraged. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.
Sunday, February 28: Head to Evening Star Cafe to celebrate the end of the Olympics with the second annual Oyster Roast. Starting at noon, guests can nosh on grilled local oysters; hot dogs from the local charcuterie maker Red Apron; vegetarian roasted-cashew chili; macaroni-and-cheese; mini cupcakes and brownies from Buzz; and a variety of American craft beers, wines, and ciders. There’ll be a Nintendo Wii until 3, at which time the gold-medal men’s ice-hockey game will be televised on an outdoor screen. Admission is free, and most food and drink items cost $4 to $10. The event takes place in the parking lot.
Kick back, sip some beer, and enjoy some, um, classic wrestling on TV at Rustico in Alexandria. The popular beer-and-pizza spot is hosting a wrestling-viewing party with “stadium food.” 9 PM.
