THURSDAY, OCTOBER 5
FILM The seventh annual DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival features 11 films, along with as storytelling and dance programs. The diverse program of events will be screened at E Street Cinemas and the Studio Theatre. Through October 8.
MUSIC The owners of Vienna’s Jammin’ Java are opening a new music venue at the DC Wharf called Union Stage later this month. But before Union Stage opens, Jammin’ Java will host a few shows at the Miracle Theatre on Barracks Row, starting with Sun Kil Moon, which released its eighth studio album, Common as Light and Love Are Red Valleys of Blood, in February. With the Magik*Magik Orchestra, Steve Shelley, and Josh Haden. Tickets $25-$30, 8 PM.
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 6
MUSEUMS The Smithsonian American Art Museum‘s new exhibit, Lumia: Thomas Wilfred and the Art of Light, presents 15 light compositions by the late modern artist Thomas Wilfred, shown together for the first time in nearly 50 years. Wilfred began experimenting with light as an artistic medium as early as 1919, but museums have struggled to maintain these kinetic sculptures. For this exhibit, conservators at the Yale University Art Gallery and the Museum of Modern Art have brought Wilfred’s compositions back to life. Through January 7.
MUSIC The fourth annual All Things Go Fall Classic music festival spans three days at Union Market. The festival features headliners Galantis (Friday), Young Thug (Saturday), and Foster the People (Sunday) alongside other hip-hop, electronic, and alternative music acts. Food from local eateries will also be available on site. Tickets $74 for one day, $169 for a weekend pass.
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 7
HOCKEY The Washington Capitals’ season starts Thursday night with a game in Ottawa, but the team’s home opener is Saturday night against the Montreal Canadiens at Capital One Arena. Prior to the game, fans can gather outside the arena for a free Rock the Red Carpet event, during which players will sign autographs and take photos with fans as they enter through the F Street entrance. Tickets $36-$371, 7 PM.
ANIMALS The Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Front Royal, Virginia, is usually closed to the public, but will be open on Saturday for Conservation Discovery Day. Smithsonian scientists and zookeepers will fill the day with animal demonstrations and talks, including live bird-banding demonstrations, a tour of the veterinary hospital, and a field excursion to set up camera traps. Tickets $30 per car, 9 AM.
FOOD The Taste of DC Festival brings food from more than 65 DC restaurants, plus local wine and beer to the Festival Grounds at RFK Stadium. The festival will also feature a DC Chili Cook-Off and culinary demonstrations. Entry is free, and food and drink tickets can be purchased in advance; Saturday 10 AM-10 PM, Sunday 11 AM-6 PM.
MUSEUMS The Phillips Collection opens another Renoir exhibit, featuring the French impressionist’s 1881 painting Luncheon of the Boating Party. The rest of the exhibit features another 40 works, including paintings, drawings, pastels, prints, and photographs, by Renoir and the circle of friends who inspired the artist. Through January 7.
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 8
FOOD Travel back in time to a 17th-century English tavern at the National Cathedral’s Navetoberfest! event. Norwegian musician Bjarte Eike will perform Henry Purcell’s overtures, English sea chanties, and Scandinavian folk songs while visitors enjoy food and drink in the Cathedral Nave. Tickets $75, 6 PM.
MUSEUMS Fourteen paintings by the French rococo artist Jean Honoré Fragonard will be on display at the National Gallery of Art’s new exhibit Fragonard: the Fantasy Figures. The series, which includes the NGA’s own “Young Girl Reading,” will cast light on the development of Fragonard’s career and of these “fantasy figures”—rapidly-executed, brightly-colored paintings of individuals in lavish costumes. Through December 3.
