THURSDAY, JULY 26
FILM The 2009 Australian film Samson & Delilah follows two teenagers in a remote Aboriginal community who band together through tragedy and learn to look out for one another. Winner of the Caméra d’Or award at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, the film will screen at the Phillips Collection on Thursday night. $15, 6 PM.
BEER/FOOD The Kingbird Terrace at the Watergate Hotel is hosting its first beer dinner with central Pennsylvania’s Tröegs Independent Brewing. Five courses will be offered, each paired with a different Tröegs beer; taste the stout with some roasted peppers and burnt eggplant. $65, 6:30 PM.
BOOKS Author Arika Pierce has a handy guide for millennials in her new book, The Millennial’s Playbook to Adulting, and will be hosting a happy hour at HalfSmoke to talk about it. Get some advice on job-hunting, networking, and finances through a Q&A moderated by DC career and millennial blogger Tiffany Ingram. Free, 6 PM.
FRIDAY, JULY 27
CONVENTION The annual blerDCon—the name “blerd” comes from “black nerd”—celebrates minority nerds, from persons of color to folks with disabilities to those within the LGBTQ community. This inclusive event delves into sci-fi, comics, gaming, and anime with panels, celebrity guests, gaming tournaments, and cosplay contests at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport. $50 (weekend pass) or $15-$35 (daily passes). Through July 29.
BEER The Adams Morgan location of the Black Squirrel is shutting down at the end of July, so it’s throwing a final bash to say goodbye. With a nod to the local beer scene, the bar will have a tap takeover of Hellbender beers, including the new Panda Strike Force IPA, and local band Crush Funk Brass will jam in the basement tap room. Free to attend (beer prices vary), 8 PM.
RECEPTION Before the Citi Open Tennis Tournament kicks off this weekend, pop by the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center Players’ Lounge for an opening reception to celebrate the tournament’s 50th anniversary. Special guest stars include former Tournament champions Jimmy Connors (former World No. 1 and eight-time Grand Slam champion) and two-time Grand Slam champ Stan Smith, plus the 1968-1969 Davis Cup Team (Bob Lutz, Charlie Pasarell, Dennis Ralston, and Stan Smith). Food and drinks will be provided. $69.50, 7 PM.
SATURDAY, JULY 28
TENNIS The 50th anniversary Citi Open Tennis Tournament at the Rock Creek Park Tennis Center has some all-star athletes lined up to compete. Three-time Grand Slam champions Stan Wawrinka and Andy Murray will compete alongside ATP World top-ranked players Alexander Zverev and David Goffin. The women’s side features WTA Top Five-ranked players Caroline Wozniacki (2018 Australian Open Champion) and Sloane Stephens (2017 U.S. Open Champion) as well as defending Citi Open champ Ekaterina Makarova and two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. Keep an eye on the schedule for the order of play once the tournament kicks off. Through August 5. Weeklong Pass $200-$750 or single session $15-$120.
COMEDY Five comedians will share their most hilarious stories about sex and dating at the “Awkward Sex…and the City” shows at the Black Cat’s backstage. Hear Natalie Wall, Anita Flores, Bobby Hankinson, Jen Keefe, and Karolena Theresa share some of their most awkward relationship moments (and perhaps some of yours won’t seem so bad). $15, 8:30 PM and 10:30 PM.
BOOKS American sabre fencer Ibtihaj Muhammad is the first female Muslim American to medal at the Olympic Games, in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio. In her new memoir, Proud: My Fight for an Unlikely American Dream, Muhammad writes about how she overcame racial and religious stereotypes to compete at an elite level and ended up in a few surprising places: TIME magazine named her in its 100 Most Influential People and she was the inspiration for the first hijabi Barbie. Muhammad will speak about her book at Politics & Prose in conversation with Brittany Packnett, Vice President of national community alliances for Teach for America. Free, 3:30 PM.
TOUR DC is known for its influential punk scene in the 1980s and 1990s. Join historian/activist Mark Andersen for a walking tour through some of the key sites in Northwest DC that were important to bands such as Bad Brains, Minor Threat, and Bikini Kill. Tour starts outside the Columbia Heights Metro. Free, 2 PM.
SUNDAY, JULY 29
LECTURE/FILM The National Gallery of Art’s celebration of the centennial of Swedish filmmaker Ingmar Bergman’s life continues with a lecture and film screening on Sunday afternoon. At 2 PM, hear senior lecturer and Catholic University art history professor David Gariff speak about Ingmar Bergman and the Visual Arts. Then at 4 PM, the NGA will screen Bergman’s 1952 film Secrets of Women (Waiting Women), in which three women recount stories from their marriages. Free. Both events are in the East Building Auditorium.
MUSIC The Vans Warped Tour, the longest-running touring music festival in the US, is hanging up its sneakers after the 2018 tour. Started in 1995, the festival has typically spotlighted punk-rock bands, inclusive of other genres as well. See its “Final Full Cross Country Tour” at Merriweather Post Pavilion. The 50 bands on the lineup include the Interrupters, Every Time I Die, the Maine, Less Than Jake, Reel Big Fish, and Assuming We Survive. $39-$55, 11 AM.
