Summer weekends in Washington are made for exploring, and this one offers plenty of opportunities to stumble onto something memorable. Catch a free performance, discover a new play at Capital Fringe, enjoy an outdoor movie under the stars, spend the afternoon at a Smithsonian museum, see who wins the World Cup with other soccer fanatics at the FIFA Fan Zone, or cap off the evening with a concert at Wolf Trap, The Anthem or Jiffy Lube Live.
Below are 71 highlights for the weekend. Be sure to check the weather forecast before heading outside. For a complete look at what’s on in and around Washington, visit the Washington Times DC Events Calendar.
Theater & Performing Arts
Signature Theatre: Pippin — Bob Fosse’s iconic Tony Award–winning musical returns at Arlington’s Signature Theatre. More Info →
Through July 26, 2026 | Signature Theatre | From $47
CrazySexyCool: The TLC Musical — World premiere directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, this new musical tells the story of TLC — the most successful female group of all time — featuring hits including Waterfalls, No Scrubs, Creep, and Unpretty. Get Tickets →
Through August 9, 2026 | Arena Stage — Kreeger Theater | From $83
Signature Theatre: What Became of Us — Washington, DC premiere of Shayan Lotfi’s new play — a sharp, funny, and poignant look at identity, family, and belonging. More Info →
Through July 26, 2026 | Signature Theatre | Tickets Required
Fraggle Rock: Back to the Rock LIVE — A live stage adaptation of Jim Henson’s beloved Fraggle Rock characters, reimagined for families. Get Tickets →
Through July 26, 2026 | Kennedy Center Terrace Theater | Tickets Required
Shakespeare Free For All — Shakespeare Theatre Company — The Shakespeare Theatre Company annual free Shakespeare production, performed outdoors. Free Ticket Info →
Through August 31, 2026 | Sidney Harman Hall / Carter Barron | Free (same-day tickets)
My Joy Is Heavy — From Obie Award-winning duo The Bengsons and Tony-winning director Rachel Chavkin, this new musical work explores grief from pregnancy loss through intimate song and storytelling. Get Tickets →
Through September 1, 2026 | Arena Stage, Kogod Cradle | Tickets Required
Back to the Future: The Musical — The beloved 1985 film comes to life on stage as Marty McFly and Doc Brown race through time in this Tony-nominated musical at the Kennedy Center Opera House. Get Tickets →
Through July 19, 2026 | Kennedy Center Opera House | Tickets Vary
Capital Fringe Festival — The capital independent arts festival presents 150+ performances over three weeks — experimental theater, dance, comedy, and performance art at affordable prices across dozens of DC venues. Get Tickets →
Through July 26, 2026 | Various DC Venues | From $15
Mrs. Doubtfire — The smash-hit Broadway musical based on the beloved film, featuring Daniel Hillard disguising himself as a Scottish nanny to be closer to his kids. Get Tickets →
Through August 2, 2026 | Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater | Tickets Vary
STC Academy Summer Repertory: Twelfth Night — The Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy’s Summer Repertory presents Shakespeare’s beloved comedy of shipwrecked twins, mistaken identity, and cross-dressing romance. More Info →
Through July 25, 2026 | Shakespeare Theatre Company — Klein Theatre | Tickets Required
STC Academy Summer Repertory: Macbeth — The Shakespeare Theatre Company Academy’s Summer Repertory stages Shakespeare’s dark tragedy of ambition, power, and prophecy in 11th-century Scotland. More Info →
Through July 25, 2026 | Shakespeare Theatre Company — Klein Theatre | Tickets Required
Music & Concerts
Kennedy Center: Free Millennium Stage — The Kennedy Center Millennium Stage offers free performances Wednesday through Saturday at 6 PM in the Grand Foyer — music, dance, and theater from local and national artists. Performance Schedule →
Through December 31, 2026 | Kennedy Center Grand Foyer | Free
Jazz in the Garden — Free outdoor jazz concerts every Friday evening, May 22 through Aug 14, 2026. Event Info →
Through August 14, 2026 | NGA Sculpture Garden | Free (lottery entry)
Rock the Dock Free Summer Concerts — Free Friday night concerts on the waterfront at The Wharf Transit Pier, kicking off Memorial Day weekend. Concert Schedule →
Through September 19, 2026 | The Wharf — Transit Pier | Free
Carter Barron Amphitheatre Summer Series — Carter Barron Amphitheatre in Rock Creek Park is undergoing a major NPS restoration and is targeted to reopen in summer 2026 with a free concert series as part of America’s 250th anniversary programming. Summer Schedule →
Through August 31, 2026 | Carter Barron Amphitheatre | Free to low-cost
Wolf Trap: Summer Opera Festival — Wolf Trap Opera presents fully staged operas under the stars at the Filene Center, featuring emerging opera stars. Get Tickets →
Through August 7, 2026 | Wolf Trap — The Filene Center | From $20
Alison Krauss & Union Station — Multi-Grammy-winning bluegrass legend Alison Krauss and Union Station perform two nights at Wolf Trap. More Info →
Through July 17, 2026 | Wolf Trap — The Filene Center
NE-YO & Akon — NE-YO and Akon co-headline at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA. More Info →
Fri, Jul 17, 2026 | Jiffy Lube Live | Tickets Required
Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue with Mavis Staples & The War & Treaty — New Orleans funk and soul powerhouse Trombone Shorty headlines with gospel legend Mavis Staples and The War & Treaty. More Info →
Sat, Jul 18, 2026 | Wolf Trap — The Filene Center
Taste of the South — A black-tie charity gala hosted by the nonprofit Taste of the South at The Anthem, celebrating food, music, and traditions from 13 Southern states, with proceeds benefiting charities throughout the South. More Info →
Jul 18, 2026 | The Anthem | Tickets Required
Motionless In White — Motionless In White performs at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow, VA. More Info →
Sat, Jul 18, 2026 | Jiffy Lube Live | Tickets Required
Sports
FIFA World Cup 2026 Fan Zone — A free, open-to-the-public FIFA World Cup Fan Zone on the National Mall runs through the entire tournament (Jun 11–Jul 19), featuring live match screenings, interactive exhibits, cultural showcases, food, music, and family-friendly activities. More Info →
Through July 19, 2026 | National Mall | Free (timed passes required)
Festivals & Free Events
Artomatic — Artomatic is DC’s celebrated open, unjuried, multi-week arts festival where hundreds of artists take over a large building for weeks at a time. Artomatic Info →
Through July 31, 2026 | 2100 M Street NW, Washington DC | Free
Smithsonian Folklife Festival — For America’s 250th anniversary, the Smithsonian Folklife Festival is reimagined as “Of the People — the Smithsonian Festival of Festivals,” partnering with more than 30 festivals across 27 states and two territories. Festival Info →
Through July 18, 2026 | Arts and Industries Building, National Mall | Free
Screen on the Green — The beloved free outdoor movie series returns to the National Mall for four summer evenings. More Info →
Through August 6, 2026 | National Mall | Free
Museums & Exhibitions
Adam Pendleton: Love, Queen — A major solo exhibition by celebrated American artist Adam Pendleton at the Hirshhorn Museum, exploring themes of Blackness, abstraction, and language through paintings, videos, and installations. Museum Info →
Through January 3, 2027 | Hirshhorn Museum | Free
Capilla de Maíz & State Fairs: Growing American Craft — Two concurrent shows at the Renwick Gallery: a site-specific installation by Justin Favela featuring gold-fringed walls and piñata corncobs celebrating maize in North American visual culture, alongside “State Fairs: Growing American Craft,” organized with Craft in America. Gallery Info →
Through September 7, 2026 | Renwick Gallery, Smithsonian American Art Museum | Free
National Museum of African American History: Power of Place — The newest Smithsonian museum presents Power of Place — a landmark exhibition exploring how African American communities have shaped and been shaped by the places they call home. Reserve Passes →
Through December 31, 2026 | National Museum of African American History and Culture | Free (timed passes required)
America’s Presidents — The National Portrait Gallery’s signature exhibition of presidential portraits, tracing American leadership from George Washington to the present. Gallery Hours →
Through December 31, 2026 | National Portrait Gallery | Free
Mary Cassatt: An American in Paris — Roughly 40 paintings, drawings, and prints examining how Mary Cassatt created her radically modern impressionist works. Gallery Info →
Through August 30, 2026 | National Gallery of Art | Free
International Spy Museum — The world most visited spy museum explores the real world of espionage through immersive exhibitions, artifact-packed galleries, and hands-on experiences across 140,000 square feet. Get Tickets →
Through December 31, 2026 | International Spy Museum | From $24.95
Holocaust Museum: Americans and the Holocaust — A powerful permanent exhibition examining the American response to Nazism and the refugee crisis of the 1930s and 1940s. More Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | United States Holocaust Memorial Museum | Free (timed passes recommended)
NMAAHC: At the Vanguard — Making and Saving History at HBCUs — A special exhibition spotlighting groundbreaking collections from five HBCU museums and archives, bringing lesser-known stories of African American history and achievement to the National Mall before the show embarks on a national tour. More Info →
Through July 19, 2026 | National Museum of African American History and Culture | Free (timed passes required)
Clifford Ross: Digital Waves — Installed on a 23-foot-high screen in the West Building’s Rotunda, this immersive digital work builds waves from millions of glowing pixels, juxtaposing virtual water with the neoclassical space and its iconic fountain. More Info →
Through October 18, 2026 | National Gallery of Art | Free
The Outwin 2025: American Portraiture Today — The Smithsonian’s triennial juried portraiture competition showcasing 35 contemporary American portrait artists working across painting, photography, sculpture, and new media. Learn More →
Through August 30, 2026 | National Portrait Gallery | Free
Nick Cave: Mammoth — Internationally renowned artist Nick Cave explores the entanglement of land and race in American consciousness. Museum Info →
Through January 3, 2027 | Smithsonian American Art Museum | Free
Star Power: Hollywood Photographs by George Hurrell (A Sequel) — Following the success of the first installment, the National Portrait Gallery presents a sequel exhibition of George Hurrell’s iconic Hollywood glamour photographs from the Golden Age of cinema. Gallery Info →
Through January 10, 2027 | National Portrait Gallery | Free
A Better Life for Their Children — Chronicles the extraordinary partnership between Sears Roebuck founder Julius Rosenwald and Booker T. Museum Info →
Through January 31, 2027 | National Building Museum | Admission Required
Be Curious: Art Links to Learning — A community exhibition at the Phillips Collection connecting art to learning through the Art Links program, open free to the public through July 26, 2026. More Info →
Through July 26, 2026 | The Phillips Collection | Free
Into the Waters: Senju and Bingyi — Two contemporary painters — Japanese artist Hiroshi Senju and Chinese artist Bingyi — explore water through dramatically different lenses in this Smithsonian Asian Art Museum exhibition. Learn More →
Through September 27, 2026 | Smithsonian Asian Art Museum | Free
America’s State Flowers — The U.S. Garden Info →
Through October 12, 2026 | U.S. Botanic Garden | Free
Dear America — A landmark exhibition at the National Gallery of Art featuring works by American artists responding to the nation’s history, ideals, and ongoing story. Gallery Info →
Through September 20, 2026 | National Gallery of Art | Free
Sky Hopinka: Kicking the Clouds — Through photographs, poems, and film, Indigenous artist Sky Hopinka connects family, language, place, and lived Native American experience in this solo presentation at the National Gallery. More Info →
Through December 6, 2026 | National Gallery of Art | Free
¡Puro Ritmo! The Musical Journey of Salsa — A new exhibition at the National Museum of the American Latino tracing the origins and cultural journey of salsa music and dance across Latin America, New York, and beyond. Museum Info →
Through October 18, 2028 | National Museum of the American Latino (in NMAH building) | Free
Free and Independent: A Celebration of the Declaration — A major special exhibition at the National Archives Museum explores the story behind the Declaration of Independence — how it came to be, how it has been preserved for 250 years, and how the U.S. More Info →
Through July 5, 2027 | National Archives Museum | Free
Hirshhorn: Basquiat × Banksy — Two landmark paintings in direct dialogue: Basquiat’s Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump (1982) and Banksy’s Banksquiat: Boy and Dog in Stop and Search (2018) — the first time either artist’s work has been shown at the nation’s museum of modern art. More Info →
Through September 7, 2026 | Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden | Free
Niagara Falls: Mist and Majesty — About 20 works probe how the layered histories and meanings of Niagara Falls have evolved from the early 19th century to today, tracing the iconic site’s shifting role in American imagination and visual culture. More Info →
Through September 20, 2026 | National Gallery of Art | Free
Bison: Standing Strong — A major Smithsonian exhibition on the American bison with an immersive prairie soundscape and three larger-than-life bronze bison sculptures outside. Museum Info →
Through May 1, 2029 | National Museum of Natural History | Free
In Pursuit of Life, Liberty & Happiness — The Smithsonian’s America250 centerpiece: 250 objects spanning the nation’s full 250-year history across all three floors, including the original Star-Spangled Banner and Thomas Jefferson’s writing desk (note: on display at the Smithsonian Castle Jun 2–Jul 26; a reproduction shown in its place during that period). More Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | National Museum of American History | Free
American Aspirations — Smithsonian Castle — The iconic Smithsonian Castle reopens with this landmark exhibition featuring Thomas Jefferson desk used to draft the Declaration, Harriet Tubman hymnal, and gold from Sutter Mill — exploring 250 years of American aspiration. Visit Info →
Through July 26, 2026 | Smithsonian Institution Building | Free
American Icon: The US Flag in Art — Over 30 works from the late 1800s through today illustrating changing American interpretations of the flag, opening as part of the NGA’s America 250 programming on the same day as the gallery’s massive Block Party event. Gallery Info →
Through December 6, 2026 | National Gallery of Art, East Building | Free
Fashion at the Library of Congress: The Threads That Connect Us — Displayed in the Great Hall mezzanine, this exhibition explores how fashion has served as a powerful symbol of American identity and culture throughout the nation’s history, drawing on the Library’s Vogue magazine and photography collections. More Info →
Through July 20, 2026 | Library of Congress | Free
The Spirit of Invention: Patent Office and Patentees — Timed with the U.S. More Info →
Through June 6, 2027 | National Portrait Gallery | Free
The Declaration’s Promise — Opening in the David M. More Info →
Through January 8, 2027 | Library of Congress | Free
National Air & Space Museum: 50th Anniversary Galleries — Five major new galleries open simultaneously on the museum’s 50th birthday, including the Flight and the Arts Center — whose inaugural exhibition features 30 works by Robert Rauschenberg (on his centennial) exploring the artist’s relationship with NASA and aviation. Museum Info →
Through June 1, 2027 | National Air and Space Museum | Free
The Playground — National Building Museum Summer Installation — The National Building Museum’s annual immersive summer installation returns as The Playground — a space for play, exploration, and community programming. More Info →
Through August 30, 2026 | National Building Museum | From $16
Special Events
DC250 Programming — DC serves as the epicenter for America’s semiquincentennial celebration with special programming, exhibitions, and events. DC250 Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | Various Locations | Varies
Stars, Stripes, and Stadiums: America’s 250th & FIFA 2026 — A festival event celebrating America’s 250th and the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the National Museum of African Art, featuring a moderated panel discussion, drop-in artmaking, a slideshow featuring soccer photography, and an evening Sounds of Africa concert. More Info →
Jul 18, 2026, 3–10 PM | National Museum of African Art | Free
Tidal Basin & Cherry Trees — Nearly 4,000 cherry trees surround the Tidal Basin near the Jefferson, FDR, and MLK Memorials. NPS Cherry Blossom Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | Tidal Basin | Free
Meridian Hill Park Drum Circle — Every Sunday afternoon, Meridian Hill Park hosts one of DC most enduring community traditions — a spontaneous drum circle drawing dozens of drummers and hundreds of participants. Park Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | Meridian Hill Park (Malcolm X Park) | Free
DC Farmers Markets — DC vibrant farmers market scene runs year-round. Market Locations →
Through December 31, 2026 | Various DC Neighborhoods | Free Entry
Eastern Market — Historic public market with local farmers, artisans, and crafters. Market Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | Eastern Market, Capitol Hill | Free Entry
Georgetown Waterfront — Stroll the C&O Canal towpath, explore boutique shopping, and dine at waterfront restaurants with Potomac River views. Georgetown Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | Georgetown | Free
Drive-In at Union Market — DC’s beloved outdoor drive-in returns for its 13th year — one screening per month, $20 per car (up to 170 cars), free to watch on foot from Neal Place. Event Info →
Through October 3, 2026 | Union Market | $20/car or free on foot
Kennedy Center Outdoor Film Series — Free outdoor film screenings on the Kennedy Center REACH campus video wall, held most Friday evenings through late August. Event Info →
Through August 29, 2026 | Kennedy Center REACH Campus | Free
Sunset Cinema at The Wharf — Outdoor waterfront movie screenings at The Wharf, with views of the Potomac. Event Info →
Through September 30, 2026 | Transit Pier, The Wharf | Free
National Geographic Museum of Exploration — Grand Opening — The brand-new 100,000-square-foot National Geographic Museum of Exploration opens June 26 at the organization’s historic DC campus. More Info →
Through December 31, 2026 | National Geographic Society HQ, 1600 M St NW | From $22.99
Event dates, times, and prices are subject to change. Please verify details directly with venues before attending.
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