August Culture Guide: 57 Things to Do in the DC Area

Happy August, DC!

Summer break is closing out with a bang this month. August adventurers can celebrate 20 years of DC Jazz Fest, see actress Rachel Bloom live, and rap along with Future and Metro Boomin at Capital One Arena.

10 Best Things to Do in DC

by Pat Padua

Books

Evan Friss

August 14

Friss’s new book, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, surveys the tangled saga of our country’s book business, from Benjamin Franklin’s Philadelphia emporium to fabled volume slingers like the Strand and the Gotham Book Mart.

Comedy

Rachel Bloom: Death, Let Me Do My Show

August 11

Bloom’s musical collaborator Adam Schlesinger died of Covid in the early days of the pandemic; around the same time, her daughter was born. In this new one-woman show, the creator and star of TV’s Crazy Ex-Girlfriend explores what that profoundly disorienting period was like.

Theater

Soft Power

August 6–September 15

What if Hillary Clinton fell in love with a Chinese theater producer and the couple debated their beliefs about American democracy through song and dance? That’s what Tony winners David Henry Hwang (M. Butterfly) and Jeanine Tesori (Kimberly Akimbo) have conceived in this wild political satire.

Atlanta rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin bring their brooding beats and rhymes to town to support two recent collaborative albums, We Don’t Trust You and We Still Don’t Trust You.

Theater

Nine

August 2–11

Tony winner Andy Blankenbuehler directed and choreographed this revival of the hit musical adapted from Federico Fellini’s movie fable about the creative process, 8½. Steven Pasquale stars as Guido, a seasoned film director facing writer’s block and the wrath of past lovers.

Museums

“Voting By Mail: Civil War to COVID-19”

August 24, 2024–February 23, 2025

The coronavirus pandemic required voters to follow what seemed like unheard-of absentee protocols, but democracy by postal service was not unprecedented. This exhibit includes such historical artifacts as a tally sheet mailed to record the votes of Ohio soldiers in 1864, an Alabama soldier’s request for an absentee ballot during World War II, and an instruction sheet from the 2020 election.

Books

Dinaw Mengestu

August 6

The journalist and author left war-torn Ethiopia as a child, and since his 2007 debut novel, The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, he has regularly written about Washington’s thriving community of immigrants from his home country. In his fourth novel, Someone Like Us, Mengestu tells the story of a journalist who investigates his own father’s death.

Music

Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra

August 4

Orchestra founder Keri-Lynn Wilson con­ducts Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony–in Ukrainian. The program, performed by musicians who are either based in Ukraine or exiled from their homeland, opens with “Freedom,” a piece by Ukrainian artist Victoria Poleva composed in response to the invasion.

This year’s iteration of the 20-year-old staple includes fresh talent such as singer Samara Joy, as well as veterans like David Murray, whose saxophone has shouted through gospel and the avant-garde for nearly 50 years, and Baltimore-born guitar great Bill Frisell.

Opera

Silent Night

August 9, 11, 15, and 17

Christmas in August? This Pulitzer-winning work by composer Kevin Puts and librettist Mark Campbell is based on the 2005 film Joyeux Noël, which dramatizes a Christmas truce during World War I. The opera’s multilingual book–sung in English, German, French, Italian, and Latin–offers a message of world peace that’s welcome every day of the year.W

Want More Things to Do?

by Briana Thomas

Arts and culture:

• To commemorate the centennial of James Baldwin, Strathmore is screening James Baldwin: The Price of the Ticket at AFI Silver Theatre (August 2, $10, Silver Spring).
• Artscape marks 40 years of showing off Charm City’s creativity (August 2-4, free, Baltimore).
• Swap books by local authors at MahoganyBooks’ Black Books Matter Fest in honor of James Baldwin’s 100th birthday (August 3, free, National Harbor).
• YouTuber Brian Tyler Cohen visits Sixth & I with his debut book, Shameless: Republicans’ Deliberate Dysfunction and the Battle to Preserve Democracy (August 14, $20+ for in-person, $12+ for virtual, Downtown).
• Artist Tuan Andrew Nguyen makes a DC debut with the multimedia installation “The Island” (August 16-May 4, 2025,  free, Smithsonian American Art Museum).
• To mark the 25th  anniversary of  The West Wing, cast members Melissa Fitzgerald and Mary McCormack will discuss the show’s impact at Sixth & I (August 17, $40 for ticket and signed book, $12+ for virtual, Downtown).
• The National Book Festival returns with author talks and signings from award-winning writers like James Patterson and Candace Fleming (August 24, free, Library of Congress).

Community and heritage:

• Fiesta Asia Silver Spring highlights the traditions and cultures of Asia. (August 3, free, Silver Spring)
• DCBX16 brings Latin dance, fitness, food, and live music to the city (August 22-26, $50+, Downtown).
• Don your best 16th-century attire and stroll Revel Grove’s 27-acre village at the Maryland Renaissance Festival (August 24 through October 20, $23+ for adults, $13+ for children, Crownsville).

Theater:

• See comic play Noises Off at Keegan Theatre (August 1 through September 1, $50, Dupont).
• Watch a variety of movies and documentaries at African Diaspora International Film Festival (August 2-4, $30+, George Washington University).
• Get tickets to Nine—a musical adaptation of the film 8½. (August 2 through August 11, $59+, Kennedy Center).
• Explore the themes of music, family, and Greece in this revival of MAMMA MIA! (August 13 through September 1, $49+, Kennedy Center).
• The highly-anticipated MJ the Musical arrives at National Theatre (August 13-September 8, $45+, Downtown).
• View short documentaries and narrative films from local producers and creatives at DC Black Film Festival at Miracle Theatre (August 15-25, $15+, Eastern Market).

Shows and performances:

• Comedian Tom Papa performs his stand-up live at Maryland Hall (August 2, $60+, Annapolis).
• Comedian Jordan Klepper arrives at the Kennedy Center. (August 3, $39+, Kennedy Center)
• Get tickets to comedian Tony Rock’s DC Improv show before it sells out (August 8-11, $35+, Downtown).
• This lively event invites concertgoers to sing-along to a movie screening of The Sound of Music (August 16, $29+, Vienna).
• Jerry Seinfield arrives at Wolf Trap to perform two shows (August 19-20, $55+, Vienna).
• This summer’s Opera in the Outfield broadcast is a screening of Turandot (August 24, free, Nationals Park).

Music:

• Rapper Missy Elliott headlines her first-ever tour. You can groove to her upbeat hits alongside Ciara and Busta Rhymes (August 8, $80+, Capital One Arena).
• Mayday Parade, Maine, and Wonder Years headline Sad Summer Festival at Merriweather Post Pavilion (August 9, $59+, Columbia).
• Watch the Nats play against the Los Angeles Angels, and stick around for the Teddy Swims post-baseball concert (August 9, $23+, Nationals Park).
• Pop-rock star Grace Potter and renowned jazz-fusion band Snarky Puppy are the main acts at Maryland’s Hot August Music Festival (August 10, $89+, Cockeysville).
• Rock out to AFI’s hardcore-punk rhythms at Merriweather Post Pavilion (August 15, $25+, Columbia).
• Listen to New Found Glory play their entire Catalyst album live (August 19, $42+, Silver Spring).
• Punk-rockers The Gaslight Anthem perform live at the Anthem (August 20, $45+, Wharf).
• R&B superstar Usher arrives in DC to promote his latest album (August 20-21, $174+, Capital One Arena).
• Korchfest celebrates musician Brandon Korch’s 40th birthday with live music collaborations at Black Cat (August 23, $15+, Shaw).
• This dance party tribute to Sophie includes pop-up drag performances (August 23, $15, U Street Corridor).
• If you couldn’t snag a ticket to local group All Time Low’s DC shows, then catch the rock group perform at Merriweather Post Pavilion (August 24, $45+, Columbia).
• Rapper Ohgeesy takes the Howard Theatre stage (August 24, $25+, U Street Corridor).
• Sing-along to all your Avril Lavigne favorites from the ’00s at Jiffy Lube Live (August 31, $78+, Bristow).
• Pack your tent and spend Labor Day weekend with fellow roots-music fans at Appaloosa Festival (August 31 through September 1, $60+, Front Royal).

Bites and beverages:

• Taste of Leesburg has break-dancing performances, celebrity impersonators, and, new this year, an arcade (August 10, free, $40+ for taste tickets, Leesburg).
• Catch brunch, lunch, and dinner deals during DC Summer Restaurant Week (August 12-18, $25+, various participating locations).
• Bourbon connoisseurs and beer aficionados can sample drinks at Virginia Bourbon and Beer Festival (August 17, $40+, Fredericksburg).
• Old Town’s Oronoco Bay Park offers a chance to try cuisine from around the globe, including Japan, Malaysia, Peru, and Lebanon at Around the World Cultural Food Festival (August 24, free, Alexandria).

Things to do with kids:

• The family-friendly Howard County Fair is back this month carnival rides and fair food (August 3-10, $10, West Friendship).
• It’s the 75th Montgomery County Fair; don’t miss the pig races (August 9-17, $12+ for adultes, free for ages 11 and under, Gaithersburg).
• There’s horse shows, kid attractions, and more fun at Prince William County Fair (August 9-17, $25 for adults, $15 for children, Manassas).
• Youngsters can ride a ferris wheel at Clarke County Fair (August 11-18, $10 for adults, free+ for children, Berryville).
• Kids can exercise and venture through obstacle courses on Kids Court at Arlington County Fair (August 14-18, free, Arlington).
• The whole family can take part in carnival ride, live concerts, and farming fun at Maryland State Fair (select dates August 22 through September 8, $15 for adults, free for children under 5, Lutherville-Timonium).
• Kids can venture through a 12-acre play area, ride a cow-themed train, and roast marshmallows at Great Country Farms (August 31 through September 30, $16+ for adults, $14+ for children, Bluemont).

A version of this article appears in the August 2024 issue of Washingtonian.