Thursday, June 26
SOCCER: Skip out of work like basically everyone else in the entire country, and go watch Team USA take on Germany in the World Cup. The game is huge, and the team has looked great so far—Dupont Circle Park is screening the game outside for nearly 4,000 fans, and lots of other places have specials. Noon.
DANCE: Goldroom is a deejay, a drummer, and a singer from LA who make bouncy disco music you can dance to. If the US wins today, go celebrate at U Street Music Hall. If they lose, maybe their music can pick you up a bit. Tickets ($15) are available online. 9 PM.
Friday, June 27
JAZZ: CapitalBop hosts the Jazz Block Party at a parking lot off Florida Avenue (across from 9:30 Club, where District Flea used to be) as part of the DC Jazz Festival, which is going on this weekend. There’ll be food and drink from Union Kitchen, plus three jazz bands, sun, and good vibes. Happy hour starts at 4; the first band goes on at 7. Tickets ($15) are available online. 4 PM.
STORYTELLING: Every couple of months, Story League hosts its All-Stars tournament, with $300 on the line. The event features, as you’d expect, the winners of the past few storytelling competitions. The competitors have to come up with something completely new, and there’s no theme, so anything goes. Tickets ($15) are available online. 7:30 PM.
DANCE: Oddly enough, during the week of Jazz Fest, Jazz in the Garden is hosting a salsa band. But hey, salsa is perfect for summer—bring your dancing shoes and have a little sangria to loosen you up. Free. 5 PM.
Saturday, June 28
STORYTELLING: SpeakeasyDC is hosting Story Showdown: a Storytelling Game Show, which I suppose is the next evolution in the explosive popularity of the format. It’s unclear exactly how storytelling is going to be incorporated into Price Is Right-style games, but you can bet that it’ll be a blast watching them figure out how. The show’s at Dance Place, and you can sort of participate if you manage to sit in Contestants Row. Tickets ($20) are available online. 7 and 9:30 PM.
FOLK: The Smithsonian Folklife Festival is back on the Mall this weekend. As it does every year, the festival focuses on all aspects of a couple of indigenous and folk cultures—in this case, ones from China and Kenya. Expect food, art, music, performance, movies, and lectures. There are events all day, so check out the schedule online. Free. 11 AM to 8 PM.
DANCE: You can pop on some Third Eye Blind and Notorious B.I.G. in your living room and call it a ’90s party, but you haven’t really seen retro cool until you’ve checked out No Scrubs, the city’s biggest and best homage to the decade, spun by U Street Music Hall owner Will Eastman and his partner in flannel, Brian Billion. You know the music—get to 9:30 Club and dance like you just bought your first car phone. Tickets ($15) are available online. 9 PM. UPDATE 6/27: No Scrubs has sold out.
WINE: Union Market hosts Vinofest, which is exactly what it sounds like: a wine fest featuring tastings, art, and music. Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation will deejay, and there are seven other musical acts. Entry gets you a free glass of wine. Tickets ($35) are available online. 2 to 10 PM.
Sunday, June 29
THEATER: After hosting a bunch of ten-minute plays about the downers of mortality and revenge, Source Festival gets epic, with six short plays about quests. The plays were selected from a pool of hundreds, so you’re bound to enjoy at least some of them. Tickets ($20) are available online. 4 PM.
COMEDY: Adams Morgan’s Grand Central turns into a comedy club on Sunday nights when Underground Comedy takes over the space, offering local comics the chance to break into the business, or at least the chance to think they’re funny for a minute or two. Free. 7:30 PM.
FILM: Black Cat is screening Out of the Basement, a documentary short about Greg Newby, an up-and-coming boxer from Columbia Heights. You probably didn’t know DC had a boxing scene—learn all about it with a beer and the film. $5. 8 PM.
Know of something cool going on around town? E-mail Jason Koebler at jasontpkoebler@gmail.com, or find him on Twitter.
