Keli by Katy Grannan, on view at National Portrait Gallery. Collection of the artist, courtesy Greenberg Van Doren Gallery, New York City; Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; Salon 94, New York City © Katy Grannan

Washington's museums are atwitter with the season, offering many holiday themed events great for visiting family and friends in among other non-holiday themed exhibits.

>> We missed this opening in November, so stay tuned for our review of Portraiture Now: Feature Photography at the National Portrait Gallery. Six photographers who, by working on assignment for publications such as the New Yorker, Esquire, and The New York Times Magazine, bring their distinctive “take” on contemporary portraiture to a broad audience in this exhibit.

>> Get in the holiday spirit with the American History Museum and sing along to songs in Happy Holidays! American Popular Holiday Songs, 1941-1945, weekends at the museum starting December 13. Also at the American History Museum, the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra performs Duke Ellington and Billy Strayhorn’s 1960 adaptations of Tchaikovsky’s "Nutcracker" and Grieg's "Peer Gynt," in Swingin' in the Holidays! December 13 at 7:30 p.m. in the Voice of America Auditorium. Performance is free, but tickets are required.

>> At the Natural History Museum, follow Iggy the Iguana on the Evolution Trail throughout the Museum and find the answers to evolution questions. This new permanent exhibit opens this month. Also at the Natural History Museum, the winners of the Coastal America Ocean Art Contest will open December 8 in the Sant Ocean Hall. View winning paintings, drawings, photographs and collages by kindergartners through college students.

>> Zoo Lights is back again this December, at the National Zoo starting up again on Friday the 5th at 6 p.m. For a special treat for you and that certain someone, snag some tickets to Date Night at Zoo Lights on the 6th. A pair of tickets gets you in 30 minutes before opening to the public, hot chocolate, gingerbread men, and a plush animal gift. $30 for FONZ members $40 for non-members.

>> For more holiday fun, the Newseum presents Terrence Currier who will read the famous editorial that first appeared in the New York Sun in 1897, "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." December 6, 2:30 p.m.

>> At the Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, view new media pieces that comment on two war time experiences in Moving Perspectives: Lida Abdul and Dinh Q Lé. Abdul presents "Bricksellers of Kabul" (2006) and "In Transit" (2008), both explore hope amidst the destruction in Afghanistan. Lé presents "The Farmers and the Helicopters" (2006), an exploration of his memories of war in Vietnam. December 6 through March 1, 2009

>> Magnetic Movie, in the Black Box Theater at the Hirshhorn closes December 14. The "documentary" shows VLF (very low frequency) audio recordings that reveal recurrent “whistlers” produced by fleeting electrons, while space scientists describe their discoveries.

>> Celebrate Kwanzaa with the African Art Museum this Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Enjoy arts, craft, storytelling and films.

>> At the DAR Museum see early American Christmas decorations on a tour of the decorated period rooms. December 11 and 18 at 1 p.m. Tickets are $3.