February Culture Guide: 55 Things to Do in the DC Area

Happy February, DC!

Take your Valentine to a romantic R&B concert this month, or groove to the beats of local musician Bartees Strange at 9:30 Club. There’s also a ton of author talks, new art exhibits, and Black History Month events to keep you entertained this month.

10 Best Things to Do in DC

by Pat Padua

Books

Geraldine Brooks

February 10

Geraldine Brooks and her husband, Tony Horwitz, both spent time as journalists covering war-torn regions, so their later life together on Martha’s Vineyard was a welcome idyll. But this period was cut short when Horwitz died suddenly in 2019. Brooks’s new book, Memorial Days, movingly recounts their life together.

Music

Mdou Moctar

February 11

At the 9:30 Club with his band last year, the Tuareg guitarist walked into the crowd to play solos–an electrifying performance of songs from his album Funeral for Justice. He has since reworked that material for an acoustic album; the change of venue and vibe should result in a more subdued experience, but with equally mesmerizing musicianship.

Music

Bartees Strange

February 15

As a follow-up to his breakthrough 2022 album, Farm to Table, the DC-area musician and producer celebrates Valentine’s Day with a new record called Horror. It deftly conveys love and fear in a versatile musical template that man­ages to honor both Fleetwood Mac and Parliament Funkadelic.

Music

Seong-Jin Cho

February 18

This highly touted young Korean pianist is releasing recordings of all of Maurice Ravel’s solo piano works, which he’ll perform in their entirety at this concert.

Books

Rebecca Romney

February 19

Everyone knows Jane Austen’s novels, but what about those of Elizabeth Inchbald and Frances Burney? They’re among the authors who inspired Austen but have been mostly lost to time. In Jane Austen’s Bookshelf, Romney–cofounder of the local rare-book company Type Punch Matrix–chronicles her efforts to uncover Austen’s influences.

Museums

“We Gather at the Edge”

February 21–June 22

This vibrant exhibit tells the story of Black history via intricate, wall-size textiles, including Marion Coleman’s 2014 quilt “Tender Gardens,” above. The idea was hatched after Carolyn Mazloomi, an aerospace engineer who founded the Women of Color Quilters Network, donated 35 pieces from her collection to the museum in 2023.

Museums

“Timeless Mucha”

February 22–May 18

Czech artist Alphonse Mucha (1860–1939) was a key player in the Art Nouveau movement. This exhibit explores how his distinctly elegant graphic art had an impact long after his death, inspiring psychedelic designs in the 1960s and even contemporary Japanese manga.

Theater

The Scenarios

February 26–April 6

A world premiere from playwright Matthew Capodicasa, this play looks at what happens when an out-of-work actor gets an unusual improv gig: A police department hires her to create fictional crisis situations that will train law enforcement to deal with the mentally ill. Things don’t go smoothly.

Edith Wharton’s classic novel has been adapted repeatedly for stage and screen. The latest effort comes from DC playwright Karen Zacarías, who workshopped the play-in-progress last year through Arena’s Kogod Cradle series and now presents the finished product.

Museums

“Uncanny”

February 28–August 10

An unsettling collection of dreamlike and nightmarish depictions of women, the pieces here were created by artists who work with varieties of surrealism–from Remedios Varo’s ethereal figures, below, to Laurie Simmons’s absurd ventriloquist dummies.

Want More Things to Do?

by Briana Thomas

Arts and culture:

• Browse items from makers and artisans at the Lunar New Year Market at Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building (February 1, free, National Mall).
• Watch artists battle it out in an entertaining Super Art Fight at Black Cat (February 1, $20, Shaw).
• Watch a documentary screening of Who in the Hell is Regina Jones? to learn about the co-founder of historic Black publication Soul magazine (February 2, free, National Gallery of Art).
• Opera fans will have the rare opportunity to see the recently recovered Morgiane by 19th-century Black composer and conductor Edmond Dédé (February 3, $30+, U Street Corridor).
• The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum’s first after-hours art party of the year opens with the theme “Bold & Beautiful: After Dark” (February 6, free, but waitlist tickets available, Anacostia).
• Browse mixed-media artist Jabari Jefferson’s new Black history exhibition “Sacred Spaces,” a tribute to local African American historic figures Harriet Tubman and Benjamin Banneker (February 8 through December 30, free, Annapolis).
• Tour gardens around the world with botanical horticulturist Keith Tomlinson (February 9, $30, virtual).
• Binge-watch a mix of short and feature films at DC Independent Forum (February 12-17, $13, multiple DC locations).
• Attend a book signing with authors of Radical Paper Lynn Sures and Michelle Samour at Phillips Collection (February 14, $20, Dupont).
• Create your own cacao-inspired codex, and learn about the history of chocolate (February 15, free, Smithsonian American Indian Museum).
• NMWA Nights is back for after-hours museum fun including hands-on crafts, live music, and cocktails (February 19, $25, Northwest DC).

Community and heritage:

• Join an online lecture about “Capital Brutalism,” currently on view at the National Building Museum (February 3, $25, virtual).
• Ring in the Lunar New Year with bites from local food trucks, and live cultural performances at Twin Lakes Golf Course (February 8, free, Fairfax).
• Commemorate George Washington’s Birthday at the first president’s historic estate (February 17, free, Mount Vernon).
• Attend the annual George Washington Birthday Parade in Old Town (February 15, free, Alexandria).
• The DC Black History Film Festival celebrates Black culture through art and film at the Lincoln Theatre (February 28, free, U Street Corridor).

Theater:

• DC’s Scena Theatre recreates Ajax at Atlas Performing Arts Center (through February 9, $50, H Street Corridor).
• A talking puppet brings comedic relief to a play about faith and morality in Hand to God at Keegan Theatre (February 1 through March 2, $54, Dupont).
• Actress Sarah Silverman’s co-written production The Bedwetter: The Musical opens at Arena Stage (February 4 through March 16, $69+, Southwest DC).
• Clap along to folk-rock hits in the new musical adaptation of Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel’s career (February 5, $100+, Downtown).
• Signature Theatre takes on an upbeat production of the Latin New York City phenomenon In the Heights (February 11 through May 4, $40+, Arlington).
• Take your Valentine to Je’Caryous Johnson’s Games Women Play (February 13, $44+, National Theatre).
• Don’t miss the US premiere of playwright John Kani’s Kunene and The King (February 16 through March 16, $39+, Penn Quarter).
• Corn-filled musical comedy Shucked arrives at National Theatre (February 25 through March 2, $69+, National Theatre).

Shows and performances:

• Mega comedian Kathy Griffin does standup at Warner Theatre (February 1, $75+, Warner Theatre).
• Sam Morril brings his funny The Errors Tour to DC (February 7, $35+, Warner Theatre).
• NPR’s All Things Considered host Ari Shapiro leads a solo cabaret-style show at Wolf Trap (February 7, $58+, Vienna).
• The novel Crime and Punishment is brought to life on stage by the American Ballet Theatre (February 12-16, $50+, Kennedy Center).
• Comedian and filmmaker W. Kamau Bell is sure to have audiences laughing out loud at Kennedy Center (February 13, $35+, Kennedy Center).
• Get tickets to Step Afrika!’s high-energy step show (February 16, $39+, Warner Theatre).
• The Second City improv troupe celebrates 65 years of comedy at Wolf Trap; tickets are going fast (February 19-22, $48+, Vienna).
• Comedian Jo Koy makes a tour stop at Capital One Arena (February 22, $38+, Capital One Arena).

Music:

• Washington Wizards’ Friday Night Concert Series returns with headliners Backyard Band and Junkyard Band, and rapper T.I. (February 7, 21, $12+, Capital One Arena).
• National Symphony Orchestra plays Mozart and Beethoven hymns at Mount Vernon (February 11, $68+, Mount Vernon).
• Listen to the Peabody Institute’s Songs from Inside concert—a collection of narrations from prisoners (February 13-14, free, virtual, Baltimore, Penn Quarter).
• R&B singers Joe, Musiq Soulchild, and Eric Benét perform a soulful concert (February 15, $135+, Downtown).
• You can spend Valentine’s Day weekend with R&B stars Trey Songz and Tamar Braxton (February 16, $59+, Congress Heights).
• You can see five orchestras in one night at the Kennedy Center (February 17, free with ticket, Kennedy Center).
• Indie duo Toro y Moi & Panda Bear are live at 9:30 Club (February 17, $46, Shaw).
• Have an intimate folk music evening with singer-songwriter Jason Isbell (February 27, $91+, Warner Theatre).
• Rap stars and R&B vocalists Latto, Bryson Tiller, Hunxho, Jacquees, Skilla Baby, and Big Boogie share the DMV Winter Fest stage (February 28, $59+, Capital One Arena).

Bites and beverages:

• Satisfy your sweet tooth at Virginia’s three-day Chocolate Lovers Festival where you can sip hot cocoa, make your own chocolate bars, and taste treats from vendors (January 31 through February 2, free admission, $1 for treat tokens, Fairfax).
• Raise a glass to Black History Month at Metrobar’s Cheers and Beers tasting (February 8, $32, Brentwood).

Things to do with kids:

• The favorite children’s  TV show Paw Patrol is live at EagleBank Arena featuring characters Marshall, Skye, Chase, and more pups (February 1-2, $25+, Fairfax).
• Kids can go on a Navajo-inspired exploration at The Other Children of the Sun (February 22 through March 9, $25+, Kennedy Center).

A version of this article appears in the Feruary 2025 issue of Washingtonian.