THURSDAY, APRIL 20
MUSIC To celebrate 4/20, Jamaican reggae artist Chronixx is performing at the Fillmore Silver Spring with Kelissa and Max Glazer. His singles, such as “Start a Fyah” and “Light It Up,” highlight his reggae revival sound, which was influenced in his youth by his father, dancehall artist Chronicle. $26, 9 PM.
DISCUSSION Penn State University professor Heather Stuckey will lead the talk “Motivation for Managing Chronic Illness” at Strathmore on Thursday night. She will share strategies for incorporating the arts into the patient experience and how the arts can be used in interventions for chronic illness. The talk is particularly relevant to those affected by chronic illness (patients or family members) as well as artists looking to provide services in health care. $25, 7:30 PM.
BOOKS Novelist Elizabeth Strout will be at Arlington’s Central Library discussing her belief that readers find “the truest things” in good fiction, can gain compassion through reading the experience of others. Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for Olive Kitteridge, and her new novel, Anything is Possible, is due out later this month. Free, 7 PM.
FRIDAY, APRIL 21
MUSIC/FILM The American Art Museum is hosting a collaboration called /’entrǝpē/, between artist/filmmaker Mickalene Thomas and Grammy Award-winning drummer/composer Terri Lyne Carrington, at the SAAM’s McEvoy Auditorium. Carrington will perform original music to accompany several of Thomas’s videos, followed by a conversation and Q&A. May not be appropriate for all ages. $30, 6:30 PM.
BOOKS Author Meredith Wadman will be at East City Books to read from and discuss her new book, The Vaccine Race: Science, Politics, and the Human Costs of Defeating Disease. In it, she describes the development of vaccines for rubella in the 1960s as well as the political roadblocks that nearly stopped this scientific progress. Free, 6:30 PM.
MUSIC The 1997 radio hit “Tubthumping” might have just been an annoying earworm, but British rock band Chumbawamba often shared its political viewpoints in its music. The band broke up in 2012, but the band’s vocalist Danbert Nobacon will headline a night of punk-folk music at St. Stephen’s in Columbia Heights on Friday night alongside locals Ryan Harvey, David Dondero, and Olivia Mancini. The show, presented by Positive Force, benefits HacDC, a non-profit dedicated to technical, artistic, and social collaboration. $5 to $10, 7 PM.
SATURDAY, APRIL 22
KIDS The 2017 National Math Festival takes place on Saturday at the Convention Center. Featuring lectures, hands-on demos, puzzles, games, and children’s book readings, the festival brings out the fun of mathematics for all ages, from toddlers to adults. Free, 10 AM.
RALLY In honor of Earth Day, there will be a March for Science rally and teach-in on the National Mall, in an effort to defend the public service role science plays in our world. The program will include speeches and trainings with scientists and civic organizers as well as a march to the Capitol; special guests include Derek Muller, creator of the YouTube channel Veritasium, as well as Bill Nye and the first female U.S. Chief Technology Officer Megan Smith. Free, 9 AM.
RUN The third annual Oral Cancer Awareness Walk & Run will take place at the Sligo-Dennis Avenue Park in Silver Spring. The event is in memory of Peter McGee Hoffman, who died in his early 20s seven months after being diagnosed with tongue cancer. He had started planning a fundraising 5k from his hospital bed, and his family and friends have continued Hoffman’s vision with this event. $25 to walk or $30 to run, 7:30 AM.
SHOPPING Saturday is Record Store Day, a day when record stores nationwide offer special releases to encourage shoppers. This year’s list of releases includes a Ramones singles box as well as tons and tons of vinyl. Participating DC stores are Smash!, Joint Custody, Red Onion, Som, and Hill & Dale, and there are many others in the Virginia and Maryland suburbs as well—but note that stores will not receive all releases. Hours and prices vary by location.
FESTIVAL For those more interested in 4/20 than Earth Day, the National Cannabis Festival is taking place at the Festival Grounds at RFK Stadium. Featuring performances by Talib Kweli and The Pharcyde, the event also includes a vendor fair, a grower’s corner, and information for those interested in local advocacy. $35 (21+ only), 12 PM.
KIDS The National Zoo is hosting a ton of family-friendly events to celebrate Earth Day, including a Conservation Scavenger Hunt, reintroduction success stories, and education stations for many different animals. Free, 10 AM.
SUNDAY, APRIL 23
FILM The 2015 Romanian animated drama The Magic Mountain will be screened on Sunday afternoon at the National Gallery of Art’s East Building Auditorium. The film tells the story of Adam Jacek Winkler, a Polish anti-communist who fought against the Soviet Union in the Soviet-Afghan War in the 1980s. The images from the film are derived from Winkler’s own paintings. Marcin Giżycki, the artistic director of Anìmator, the largest animation festival in central Europe, will be in person at the screening. Free, 4 PM.
ART DC-based performance artist and storyteller Sheldon Scott has partnered with the City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts for an immersive performance and art installation called The Finest Amenities. Scott uses the history of harvesting ice from the Potomac and the storage of this ice at Gadsby’s Tavern as a starting point to explore the relationship of the people of Alexandria to the contemporary utility of the river as a resource. His performance on Sunday will begin at the Potomac waterfront at King Street and head towards Gadsby’s Tavern Museum. Free (with registration), 1 PM.
IMPORTANT NOTE! The 2nd Annual Barley & Music Fest in Old Town Alexandria, included in an earlier version of this post, has been postponed. It will take place the following weekend, and organizers say they’ll honor all tickets for this weekend’s event.
