Happy Monday, everyone!
If you’re a pop culture fan you can enjoy the 10th year of Awesome Con this week. If music and movies are your preference, then attend Re:Set DMV, or check out the launch of the first-ever DC/DOX Film Festival.
Best Things to Do This Week
June 12-18
- Re:Set DMV Festival. A brand new concert series arrives in town for three days of live music, outdoor fan fun, food, and drinks at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Re:SET DMV presents full sets from major artists Boygenius, Steve Lacy, LCD Soundsystem, Bartees Strange, Clairo, and a ton more (Fri-Sun, $99+, Columbia).
- Awesome Con. Comic enthusiasts will celebrate 10 years of Awesome Con fun at the Washington Convention Center this weekend. The local geek culture takeover features cosplay fashion shows, light-saber battles, superhero yoga, and celebrity appearances by actors such as Power Ranger Amy Jo Johnson (Fri-Sun, $50+, Mount Vernon Square).
- Home Rule Music Festival. The Home Rule Music Festival this week features a loaded lineup of local talent. Music lovers can see rapper Kassa Overall live at Songbyrd on opening night, and then party at Saturday’s family-friendly main event at the Parks at Walter Reed; special guests include go-go groups EU and The Experience Band and Show and pianist Mark G. Meadows. The closing event will take place at Black Cat next week (Fri-Sat, June 24, free, $50+ for VIP, Takoma).
- Juneteenth Community Day. Tour the gardens of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, take a drumming lesson, learn about the museum’s architecture on a guided tour, and hear culinary arts stories at the Smithsonian’s Juneteenth Community Day (Sat, free, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture).
- DC/DOX Film Festival. This new film festival specializes in showcasing non-fiction documentaries. Over a span of four days, moviegoers can view full-length documentaries and short films, and sit in on conversations with filmmakers at the first-ever DC/DOX Film Festival (Thurs-Sat, $175 for festival pass, various locations).
Want More Things to Do?
Budget-friendly. Practice your DJ skills at The Pocket’s vinyl spinning masterclass (Mon, free, Union Market). Play music trivia at Songbyrd (Mon, free, Northeast DC).
Arts and culture. Actor Elliot Page talks about his new memoir Pageboy at Sixth and I (Wed, $12+, virtual). Explore the group photography exhibition “Bridging the Disconnect” at Stimson Center (closes July 6, free, Northwest DC). Paint a tropical flower at Shop Made in DC (Tues, $35, Wharf). Japanese film Late Spring is showing at Freer Gallery of Art (Wed, free, Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art). See a live sumo wrestling match while dining on sushi at W.E.G. Studios (Fri-Sun, $95+, Northeast DC). Creative panelists discuss their Crafting Process at Shinola (Tues, free, Logan Circle). View the clay sculptures of Antonio Canova in the new “Canova: Sketching in Clay” exhibition (closes October 9, free, National Gallery of Art).
Community and history. Join a lecture on ’40s fashion trends at City Ridge (Thurs, free, Northwest DC). Georgetown University history scholar Amy Leonard discusses The Six Wives of Henry VIII (Mon, $14+, Penn Quarter). Discover dinosaurs with paleontologist Lindsay Zanno at Nat Geo Live (Tues, $25+, Lincoln Theatre). Take a kayak journey across the Potomac River in recognition of Pride (Wed, $35, Northwest DC). Attend the Library of Congress Festival of Film and Sound to view rare silent films and join panels with archivists and historians (Thurs-Sun, $150 for all-access pass, Silver Spring).
Theater and shows. Story District celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride with Out Spoken storytelling (Tues, $25, Wharf). See the new stage play August Wilson’s Radio Golf, about 20th-century Black life, at Round House Theatre (through July 2, $46+, Bethesda). Attend a free screening of the movie Loving at Avalon Theatre (Tues, free, Northwest DC). Signature Theatre and Wolf Trap team up for a production of theater show tunes at Broadway in the Park (Fri, $33+, Vienna).
Music and concerts. Five-man band Phony Ppl perform at Union Stage (Mon, $30, Wharf). Experience a multi-sensory candlelight tribute to Beyoncé (Thurs, $40+, Capitol Hill). See local artists Rex Pax and Gabbo at the The Runaway (Wed, $15, Northeast DC). Go to a high-energy Drag Party at Diablo’s Cantina (Sat, free, National Harbor). Listen to alternative Latino music played by Las Cafeteras at Color Burst Park (Tues, free, Columbia). Get tickets to the closing concert of Queering Sound at Rhizome DC (Sat, $10+, Takoma). Rockers Toad the Wet Sprocket are in concert at Capital One Hall (Thurs, $39+, Tysons). Sway your hips to reggae sounds played by FeelFree at Rock The Dock (Wed, free, Wharf). Travel to multiple embassies and Blues Alley to experience live performances at the Nordic Jazz Festival (Tues-Thurs, June 25, $25, various locations).
Exercise and wellness. Work your core in a dynamic yoga class (Tues, free, Columbia). Luther Vandross tunes will guide you through yoga stretches at Eaton DC (Mon, $10+, Downtown). Participate in boxing and mindfulness with your family on Father’s Day (Sun, free, Kenilworth). Break a sweat at a fitness crawl in Old Town (Sat, $30, Alexandria).
Bites and beverages. Eat and drink at an array of neighborhood bars and restaurants in celebration of Shaw Main Streets turning 20 years old (Wed, $100, Shaw).
Sports. Cheer on DC Shadow as they compete in the Ultimate Frisbee Championship at at Carlini Field (Sat-Sun, $20+, Northeast DC).
Things to do with kids. Your tiny tots can have a morning playtime at NASA Goddard (Thurs, free, Greenbelt). Create Father’s Day crafts and jump in a bounce house at Shipgarten (Sun, free, McLean).
Get involved. Don’t miss the return of Pups on the Patio Adoption Event at Commentary Social House; a portion of the proceeds will support Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation (Sat, free, Arlington).
If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.
Briana A. Thomas is a local journalist, historian, and tour guide who specializes in the research of D.C. history and culture. She is the author of the Black history book, Black Broadway in Washington, D.C., a story that was first published in Washingtonian in 2016.
