28 Things to Do in the DC Area This Week and Weekend

Hello, 2025!

Bid farewell to 2024 at a New Year’s Eve dance party or family-friendly fireworks show. Then, catch local musicals and light shows before they close for the season this weekend.

Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend

December 30–January 5

1. 1. First Night Alexandria. One of the area’s beloved New Year’s Eve traditions is Alexandria’s family-friendly fireworks show. Leading up to the First Night illuminations, Old Town museums, churches, hotels, and other institutions will host performing arts, live music, and dance parties (Tues, $10+ for adults, free for ages under 2, Alexandria).
   2. Noon Yards Eve. Families can celebrate the holiday together at Noon Yards Eve. Kids can enjoy a balloon drop, trackless train rides, bounce houses, glitter tattoos, carnival games, and a magic show at the Sundeck at The Yards DC (Tues, free, but registration required, Navy Yard).
   3. “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” concert. Here’s a way to jazz up your holiday, and end the night early if you choose. Two Kennedy Center concerts—one at 7 PM, one at 9 PM—feature the funk, jazz, and R&B vibes of Grammy-winning vocalist Kurt Elling and guitarist Charlie Hunter (Tues, $79+, Kennedy Center).
   4. ZooLights. It’s the final week to experience the Smithsonian’s National Zoo glittering light show, ZooLights. You can walk through lantern illumination displays of rainforest, desert, ocean, and other animal habitats, and watch nightly live musical performances. Also, visitors can ride the Conservation Carousel and buy sweet and savory treats (closes Sat, $6, National Zoo).
   5. Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club. The 14th Annual Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club is a bizarre local tradition featuring Elvis-themed burlesque and staged fights at Gala Hispanic Theater and Baltimore’s Creative Alliance; tickets are selling fast (Fri-Sat, January 17-18, $34+, Columbia Heights, Baltimore).

Want More Things to Do?

Arts and culture:

• Board the Midnight Train to New Year’s Party at Metrobar (Tues, $15, Brentwood).
• It’s the last chance to see some of your favorite DC landmarks in floral form at “Season’s Greenings” (closes Sun, free, US Botanic Garden).
• Check out “Tingle Bells: An ASMR Inspired Holiday Special” before the  digital experience closes at Artechouse (closes Sun, $25+ for adults, free for ages 4 and under, Southwest DC).
• Start Fresh at Phillips after 5 with mocktails, art, and music (Thurs, $20, Dupont).
• Have a laugh at art at the opening reception of the “Visual Humor” exhibit at Del Ray Artisans (Fri, free, Alexandria).
• Attend the National Museum of Women in the Arts first Community Day of 2025 to see exhibitions such as “Suchitra Mattai” (Sun, free, Downtown).
• Watch The Adventures of Prince Achmed accompanied by a live score of the soundtrack performed by Anvil Orchestra (Sun, free, but registration encouraged, National Gallery of Art).

Community and heritage:

• Close out Kwanzaa with a Mime & Spiritual Dance Workshop at the museum (Wed, free, but registration encouraged, Smithsonian’s Anacostia Community Museum).
• Gather with neighbors for music, prayer, and a Shabbat dinner at Capital Jewish Museum (Fri, $18, Penn Quarter).

Theater and shows:

• Comedian Sheryl Underwood does standup with some of her comic friends (Fri-Sun, $42+, Downtown).
• Keegan Theatre’s Irish Carol is an homage to Dickens’ winter classic (through Tues, $64, Dupont).
• Best-selling book Life of Pi comes to life on the Kennedy Center stage (closes Sun, $49+, Kennedy Center).
• The & Juliet musical tells Shakespeare’s classic love story from Juliet’s point of view (closes Sun, $45+, Kennedy Center).

Music and concerts:

• Sugar Bear and his Experience Unlimited band are back at Bethesda Theater for another cranking New Year’s Eve go-go show (Tues, $40+, Bethesda).
• This DJ NYE party—hosted by actor Mario Lopez— is set to run for six hours across several dance floors (Tues, $118+, National Harbor).
• Have one more 2024 dance at DC9 Nightclub (Tues, $55+, Shaw).
• Two-step to Afro beats at Decades DC (Wed, free, Downtown).
• Hardcore bands Massa Nera, Dim, Expiration Date, and Bodied play live at Rhizome (Thurs, $15, Takoma).
• If you’re a fan of Sabrina Carpenter’s pop hits, you’ll love this themed-dance party at 9:30 Club (Sat, $20, U Street Corridor).
• Get moving with a dance partner at a salsa and bachata social (Sun, $10+, Columbia Heights).

Bites and beverages:

• Kick off Dry January at the opening of Plant Magic Bottle Shop (Thurs, $25, Union Market).

Things to do with kids:

• The entire family can venture through two-and-a-half miles of fairytale vignettes, leaping reindeer, LED archways, and more at Bull Run Festival of Lights (closes Sun, $30, Centreville).
• Go ice skating at Cameron Run Regional Park (through January 6, $13, Alexandria).

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 Thomas

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.