June Culture Guide: 48 Things to Do in the DC Area

Happy June, DC!

Summer ushers in World Pride celebrations across town, a Kendrick Lamar and SZA stadium concert, and new art exhibit openings.
 

10 Best Things to Do in DC

by Pat Padua

Theater

The Untitled Unauthorized Hunter S. Thompson Musical

June 3–July 13

If this were a titled, authorized Hunter S. Thompson musical, would it be called Fear and Loathing on Broadway? Tony-­winning director Christopher Ashley (Come From Away) transforms the gonzo journalist’s life of politics and peyote into a rock-and-roll songbook.

Books

Molly Jong-Fast

June 4

Erica Jong’s 1973 novel, Fear of Flying, was a feminist landmark–but one that left her daughter feeling like an afterthought. Molly Jong-Fast will discuss her own candid new book, How to Lose Your Mother, about growing up with her famous but distant parent.

Film

Amadeus With Live Orchestra

June 4

Miloš Forman’s 1984 film remains the standard-­bearer for classical-music bio­pics. There may be only one thing that can make Amadeus an even more rewarding big-screen experience: a live score accompanying it, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra.

Music

Jennifer Koh: Bach’s Complete Sonatas and Partitas for Solo Violin

June 8

In a testament to creative and athletic endurance, the Grammy Award–winning artistic director of Fortas Chamber Music Concerts will perform all of Johann Sebastian Bach’s works for solo violin in a single marathon night.

Dance

Coppélia

June 8

Reston’s Ravel Performing Company takes on this classic comic ballet, based on an E.T.A. Hoffmann short story about a young woman who impersonates the mechanical doll that has enchanted her fiancé.

Music

Kendrick Lamar and SZA

June 18

The superstar rapper has had a big year, with a Super Bowl halftime show and five more Grammy wins. He flows into town with SZA, his collaborator on the hit “Luther,” which pays homage to R&B great Luther Vandross.

Museums

“From Shadow to Substance”

June 20, 2025–June 7, 2026

The subject, artist, and year of the Civil War–era image above are unknown, but it’s fascinating to look at–one of many works from various darkroom trailblazers whose daguerreotypes and other early formats are part of the museum’s extensive photography collection.

Reruns of I Love Lucy convey the excitement and energy of early TV. But few viewers realize the extent to which Cuban-born Desi Arnaz, Lucille Ball’s husband and costar, revolutionized the medium. Journalist Todd S. Purdum, in conversation with Maureen Dowd, discusses his biography of a pivotal figure.

Museums

“Cut + Paste: Experimental Japanese Prints and Photographs”

June 21–November 20

In this new adaptation, British director Emily Burns–whose modernized Macbeth was all the rage at STC last spring–takes a deep look at the inner life of Mary Shelley’s gothic mad scientist.

Museums

“Vivian Browne: My Kind of Protest”

June 28–September 28

African American artist, activist, and educator Browne (1929–93) was a champion of Black women in the arts. This is the first comprehensive retrospective of her work, which blended abstract figures with inspirations from nature as well as her extensive travels around the world.

Want More Things to Do?

by Briana Thomas

Arts and culture:

• Play word-themed puzzles and sing karaoke at Planet Word’s Wordplay Wednesday museum parties (June 4, $5+, Downtown).
• For a drag performance, gallery talks about LGBTQIA+ artists, and refreshments, you can spend a Thursday evening at Phillips After 5  (June 5, $20, Dupont Circle).
• Explore more than 60 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and prints by Black artists in the new collection “With Passion and Purpose” (June 7 through October 5, free, National Gallery of Art).
• Watch four days worth of documentaries at DC/DOX Film Festival (June 12-15, $200 for festival pass, various participating DC locations).
• Ring in the first day of summer at Solstice Saturday. Museum visitors can attend a number of Smithsonian after-hour activations (June 21, free, various participating locations).
• Tour through Anderson House, Dumbarton House, Dupont Underground, the National Museum of American Jewish Military History, and other attractions during Dupont Kalorama Museum Walk Weekend (June 21-22, free, Dupont Circle, Kalorama).

Community and heritage:

• Take a guided tour to learn about Washington’s gay-rights movement at Congressional Cemetery (June 2, $11, Capitol Hill).
• This year’s Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier presents the first-ever World Pride Boat Parade (June 6-7, free, Wharf).
• Watch drag performances and play games at the WorldPride 17th Street Block Party (June 6-7, free, Dupont Circle).
• Hundreds of participants will march down the 14th Street corridor to Freedom Plaza alongside elaborate floats and grand marshals at WorldPride Parade (June 7, free, Downtown).
• WorldPride Street Festival and Concert serves up frozen desserts, pizza, and a concert headlined by Wicked actress Cynthia Erivo and rapper Doechii (June 7-8, free+, Downtown).
• The Georgetown neighborhood will host several live acts and music concerts on Fête de la Musique as an ode to the French holiday (June 21, free, Georgetown).
• Take a guided tour, watch Caribbean dance, and listen to go-go music at the Smithsonian’s Juneteenth Community Day (June 21, free, but registration required, Smithsonian African American History and Culture Museum).
• Devour finger-licking samples from America’s top pit masters at Barbecue Battle; there’s live music, too (June 21-22, $10, Penn Quarter).

Theater:

• Attend six in-development Pride Plays based on LGBTQIA+ experiences at Woolly Mammoth (June 3-6, free, donations welcome, Penn Quarter).
• Mystical time-travel novel A Wrinkle in Time comes to life at Arena Stage (June 12 through July 20, $80+, Southwest DC).
• DC, I Love You: Ready or Not is a new immersive experience that takes visitors through a series of live storytelling performances along a guided tour of Folger Shakespeare Library (June 14-22, $30 single ticket, $50 with a date, Capitol Hill). (You can read more here.)
• Relive the soulful sounds of The Temptations at the musical Ain’t Too Proud (June 17-22, $90+, National Theatre).

Shows and performances:

• Birmingham Royal Ballet debuts a heavy metal ballet experience (June 4-8, $59+, Kennedy Center).
• Don’t miss the return of one of opera’s most popular dramas Les Misérables to the Kennedy Center (June 11 through July 13, $49+, Kennedy Center).
• Signature Theatre and Wolf Trap come together for the fifth annual Broadway in the Park headlined by Lindsay Mendez and Jessie Mueller (June 28, $45+, Vienna).

Music:

• Post Malone’s biggest headlining tour to date includes a set by Jelly Roll at Maryland’s Northwest Stadium (June 2, $81+, Landover).
• Music duo Tennis plays a farewell tour show at the Anthem (June 3, $57+, Wharf).
• Twirl all night to the femme-positive tunes of three of pop’s biggest recording artists: Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX, and Chappell Roan (June 5, $36+, Howard Theatre).
• For Pride month, out-of-this-world duo Grace Jones and Janelle Monáe team up for a three-city tour, kicking off at the Anthem (June 5, $170+, Wharf).
• The International Pride Orchestra—composed of LGBTQ+ instrumentalists and allies from around the globe—performs in support of the District’s Whitman-Walker health center (June 5, $35+, Bethesda).
• Pop stars Jennifer Lopez and Troye Sivan headline World Pride Music Festival, collaborating with major artists including Zedd, Kim Petras, Sofi Tukker, and Tinashe (June 6-7, $119+ for single-day pass, $259+ for two-day pass, RFK Festival Grounds).
• Visit the National Gallery of Art’s Sculpture Garden throughout June to listen to jazz, Latin fusion, and zydeco concerts (every Fri in June, free with lottery registration, National Gallery of Art).
• Commemorate WorldPride across three stages of live, curated beats, featuring a variety of genres including disco and house at Fabric of Freedom (June 7, $120+, Northeast DC).
• Punk rock group Civic plays live at Pearl Street Warehouse (June 11, $26+, Wharf).
• Share a blanket and a picnic at Jazz in the Parks at the Parks at Walter Reed to listen to local band The Blues Alley Youth Quartet  (June 14, free, Takoma Park).
• After a six-year hiatus, the Warped Tour returns to DC to commemorate the touring rock music festival’s 30th anniversary (June 14-15, $259+, tickets sold out but resale tickets available, RFK Festival Grounds).
• Snap your fingers to a tribute to DC legend Roberta Flack by Imani-Grace Cooper, followed by sets from Farafina Kan Ensemble and go-go group New Impressionz at Home Rule Music Festival (June 21, free, Takoma Park).
• Snag a ticket to folk-rock band Caamp’s concert at the Anthem soon; the first show sold out (June 21, $69+, Wharf).
• South Korean boy band Stray Kids are ready to “dominATE” Nationals Park (June 23, $100+, Nationals Park).

Things to do with kids:

• Watch a movie screening of Wonka with the family on The REACH lawn (June 6, free, Kennedy Center).
• Kids and adults can walk, run, bike, and play safely at the first Open Streets Capitol Hill (June 28, free, Capitol Hill).

Plan ahead:

• Savor bites from more than 50 local eateries, and sip unlimited drinks at Washingtonian’s Best of Washington culinary bash; tickets are on sale now (July 24, $195+, promo code BOW for 15% off, Penn Quarter).

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