Happy Earth Day, DC!
You can spend your week celebrating Earth Day at environmental talks and family-friendly events. Later in the week, dance outdoors to live music at Project Glow and Petworth PorchFest.
Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend
April 22-April 28
- Project Glow. Here’s a chance to see all of your favorite electronic and dance music artists live. Project Glow is celebrating 20 years of dance culture across three stages with more than 50 artists, DJs, and producers sharing the lineup. DC’s own house music DJ Baby Weight is splitting the bill with other major creators like ILLENIUM, Zedd, Rezz, and Elderbrook (Sat-Sun, $215+ for two-day pass, RFK Festival Grounds).
- Georgetown French Market. Take a weekend trip to France—or Georgetown. The highly-anticipated Georgetown French Market returns this weekend with sidewalk sales and deals from area boutiques, restaurants, galleries, and cafes. Indulge in French culture along Wisconsin Avenue from O Street to Reservoir Road as stilt-walkers, musicians, and face painters fill Book Hill. There’s also French cuisine to taste at the three-day open-air market (Fri-Sun, free, Georgetown).
- Petworth PorchFest. One of our favorite local music festivals returns to Petworth for a day full of outdoor performances on front porches and in front of local businesses. Folk, rock, hip-hop, pop, punk, and other music genres will be performed by area bands, singers, and musicians at the spring PorchFest (Sat, free, Petworth).
- “Brilliant Exiles” exhibit at the National Portrait Gallery. “Brilliant Exiles: American Women in Paris, 1900–1939” highlights Paris in the early 20th century when American artists flocked to Europe to explore unconventional careers in art, literature, and music. The new exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery features portraits of Josephine Baker, Zelda Fitzgerald, Gertrude Stein, Peggy Guggenheim, and other talented women (opens Fri, free, Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery).
- Terence Blanchard’s “Fire Shut Up in My Bones.” The Grammy-winning musician Terence Blanchard developed this opera based on Charles M. Blow’s candid memoir of abuse. Fire Shut Up in My Bones is being presented by Strathmore in conjunction with Washington Performing Arts, and will feature Blanchard accompanied by the E-Collective and the Turtle Island Quartet (Fri, $28+, Bethesda).
- DC Chocolate Festival. Secure a ticket to the seventh annual sweet tooth soirée at La Maison Française to taste samples of fine chocolates from the Mid-Atlantic region and beyond. The DC Chocolate Festival brings more than 30 chocolate vendors to the Embassy of France, where snackers can learn to make chocolate at guided workshops and listen to chocolatiers discuss an array of treats (Sat, $25, Northwest DC).
Want More Things to Do?
Arts and culture:
- Author Stênio Gardel leads a virtual conversation about his award-winning debut novel The Words That Remain (Mon, free, virtual).
- Explore Maureen Minehan’s watercolor-painted photographs in “There and Back” at Multiple Exposures Gallery (closes May 19, free, Alexandria).
- Novelist David Baldacci discusses A Calamity of Souls at Politics and Prose (Tues, free, Northwest DC).
- Former White House social secretary Deesha Dyer discusses her new book, Undiplomatic (Wed, free, Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, virtual).
- Plant lovers can shop cacti and succulents at REWILD West Cactus Fair (Sat-Sun, free, Hyattsville).
- Browse photographs, paintings, pottery, jewelry, and more at the Spring Arts and Crafts Market (Sun, free, Mount Pleasant).
Community and heritage:
- This Earth Day talk explores the biological origins of friendship (Mon, $14, Penn Quarter).
- Heurich House not only celebrates its 130-year anniversary this week, but its Biergarten 1921 turns five. You can commemorate the occasion with cupcake decorating, beer, and birthday card crafts (Wed, free, but rsvp encouraged, Dupont).
- Join a neighborhood discussion about combating plastic pollution at The Washington Informer BRIDGE’s Earth Day Creative Salon (Thurs, free, donations welcome, H Street Corridor).
- Learn ways to support DC’s environmental health at Environmental Justice Summit (Sat, free, Downtown).
- Go on a guided Off The Mall Tours adventure through the U Street Corridor to learn the area’s jazz history in celebration of Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday (Sun, $30, Shaw).
Exercise and wellness:
- Race an Earth Day 5K with Pacer’s Run Club (Mon, free, Northwest DC).
- Relax and stretch at an Earth Day Yoga workout (Mon, free, $5 donations welcome, Navy Yard).
- Get fit at Met Park. The instructor-led sunrise workout series begins this week (every Wed through May 29, free, Arlington).
- Celebrate Hill Family Biking’s one-year anniversary with a 4.3-mile ride, and family-friendly block party (Sat, free, Northeast DC).
Theater and shows:
- It’s the last chance to see local and international films at Filmfest DC (closes Sun, $45+, various locations).
- Local comics perform short standup sets at Whitlow’s DC (every Wed, donations welcome, U Street Corridor).
- Snag a last-minute ticket to Trevor Noah’s “Off the Record” appearance at DAR Constitution Hall (Wed-Sun, $147, Downtown).
- A Dance With Death is a ’50s-style murder mystery performance at Le Fantome Food Hall (Thurs, $28+, Riverdale Park).
- Actor and comedian Jordan Rock—younger sibling of A-list comedian Chris Rock—makes a tour stop at DC Improv (Thurs-Sun, $25+, Downtown).
- Comedian Ilana Glazer will have you rolling into the Warner Theatre aisles with laughter (Thurs, $48+, Downtown).
- Watch beauty pageant contestants strut down the runway in Mr., Mx, & Miss Capital Pride 2024 Pageant (Fri, $10+, Penn Quarter).
- Playwright August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean is being performed at Arena Players (Fri-Sun, $30+, Baltimore).
Music and concerts:
- Relive your millennial childhood at Jesse McCartney’s sold-out show (Mon, $335+, tickets available from third-party sellers, Howard Theatre).
- Local jazz vocalist Lena Seikaly sings Duke Ellington melodies at Blues Alley (Wed, $35, Georgetown).
- Electro-folk duo Moontricks performs at Pearl Street Warehouse (Wed, $18+, Wharf).
- Composer Oneohtrix Point Never arrives at Howard Theater to promote his 2023 album, Again (Thurs, $35+, U Street Corridor).
Bites and beverages:
- Attend Zeppelin’s 5th birthday party to dine on free sushi and sip discounted cocktails (Wed, free, Shaw).
Sports:
- Bring your four-legged friends to Pups in the Park; dog ticket proceeds from the Nats game benefit Humane Rescue Alliance (Tues, $10 for dogs, $35 for adults, Nationals Park).
- Cheer on your favorite derby team at DC Roller Derby Cherry Blossom Brawl (Sun, $7+, Rockville).
Get involved:
- Play, or watch, the Paddlestar ping-pong competition to help raise funds for 826DC’s youth writing programs (Sat, donations welcome, Northwest DC).
- Attend Friendship Place Walk to End Homelessness on the National Mall. The event features music, kids activities, and fitness sessions (Sat, free, donations welcome, National Mall).
Things to do with kids:
- Celebrate Earth Day with USDA. The family-friendly event includes a scavenger hunt, forest therapy, food, seed packet decorating, Zumba, and much more (Mon, free, Southwest DC).
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.
