It's a week jam-packed with openings, receptions, talks, films, and art markets, where small is the new big. more ›

Nationals Park is now three-and-a-half years old, but outside of hosting 81 games of baseball every year, the place kind of sits there, mostly unused. Aside from its main tenants, the stadium has hosted a mass by Pope Benedict XVI, a few opera simulcasts, and a couple of rock concerts. But shouldn't a building that cost the city over $600 million be in use year-round? more ›

Now here's a sight you don't see every day: hundreds of skateboarders making their way down 14th Street in mid-afternoon. more ›

It's 10 a.m. on a Thursday and you've got a beer in hand, a fake green beard on your face, and The Dropkick Murphys in your head. Must be St. Patrick's Day! But even though it's the norm, you don't have to celebrate St. Paddy's at a vaguely Irish frat party-like event. While our roundup below does include plenty of opportunities for boozing (including all-day parties), there are also sporty challenges, Irish meals, a movie with Irish accents, some Irish-themed comedy, and more. more ›

>> On Jaunary 13, the Museum of the American Indian opens R.C. Gorman: Early Prints and Drawings, 1966-1974. This exhibit features Gorman's early work with nude forms, highlighting 28 drawings and lithographs, including a rare self portrait. more ›

Deciding where to ring in the New Year is an annual dilemma. Finding something fun and fabulous that sets the right tone for the impending twelve months can be stressful. But don't despair! Whether your priorities are good food, entertainment, music, dancing or just spending time with the one you want to kiss, we've rounded up a number of picks to guide you. We've separated out a few especially intriguing options, and neatly categorized the rest. Our best advice, regardless of where you decide to party down: buy tickets soon -- these events tend to sell out. more ›

This Friday, December 3, the National Zoo kicks off its annual Zoo Lights, which fills the Zoo's exhibits with holiday lights and decorations. As a holiday gift to the city, admission to the event is free (although parking is $8 for FONZ members and $15 for nonmembers). The lights come on between 6:30 and 8:30 p.m., Friday through Sunday until December 12, and daily from December 17-January 1 (except December 24, 25, and 31). more ›

FRIDAY

HALLOWEEN PARTY: Night of the Living Zoo, sponsored by Magic Hat, is an adults-only night of costumes, performances (palm readers, fire eaters, and illusionists) and food and drink at the National Zoo (3001 Connecticut Avenue NW). There will be a costume contest with prizes including "a Magic Hat Happy Hour with the Giant Pandas, a Breakfast with the Birds, or an exclusive tour of the Zoo." 8 p.m.-midnight. Costume judging begins at 9:30 p.m. $40. more ›

>> Likely the biggest dance event of the month is Velocity DC, a sampler of some the area's best known companies, including the Liz Lerman Dance Exchange, CityDance Ensemble, Furia Flamenca and Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co. Four shows are spread over three days at the Harman Center, with a couple different programs to choose from (October 7-8, 8 p.m.; October 9, 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; $18). more ›

If you're reading this, you most likely didn't make plans to go to Munich for Oktoberfest. Fret not meine freunden! There are events all over the DMV that let you party like it's 1810 again. Festivals? Ja! Keg parties? Ja! Beer breakfast? Ja, got that covered too. So grab your lederhosen and dirndl and go out to some of these fantastic fall events. more ›

By tomorrow, it'll all be over -- no more stump speeches, no more barbed attacks on opponents, no more candidate forums or straw polls. But before you go and vote (or even if you're one of the 22,000 people that already voted), attend just one more forum -- only this one won't have any candidates on hand. The folks from Defeat Poverty D.C. and OnDC are hosting The People's Forum tonight, in which policy experts and community leaders will touch on issues such as poverty, food access, job creation, affordable housing, and the tax burden on low-income families -- in essence, much of the stuff that has been lost in the back-and-forth between dueling candidates. The forum runs from 6-8 p.m. and will take place at the Busboys and Poets at 5th and K Streets NW. RSVP to Liz at kendig (at) cbpp (dot) org if you'd like to attend. more ›

DCist photo contributor Steve Goldenberg found himself in the middle of a surreal scene at the Capitol Skyline Hotel pool yesterday. SynchroSwim 2010, the second annual amateur synchronized-swimming competition for local artists organized by the Washington Project for the Arts, featured teams aquatically busting a move to David Lee Roth and Phillip Glass recordings -- we'll let you guess who in these images belongs to which team. (Hint: the guy in the Hooters shirt and the Los Angeles hot pants? Yeah, he's with the DLR crew.) more ›

Who doesn't like a fair? There's little better than that first time you make your way onto the grounds of the festival -- scents of fried food and pie hit your nose, the ubiquitous laughter of children a wonderful aural prelude to a day spent scarfing cotton candy and funnel cake while riding the Ferris wheel as the sun goes down. We're big fans of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair that takes place every summer (and is but eight days away), but wouldn't it be nice if the District had its own version of this summertime tradition? more ›

How's everybody enjoying this weekend's Metro delays? Oh, what's that? You say that you laugh in the face of mass transit delays because you have an automobile? No worries, that can be fixed. Tomorrow -- just like any normal Sunday -- the District will feature several delays on select patches of heavily-trafficked pavement. Bike for the Heart, a fundraiser for heart disease prevention, will close F Street between 6th and 7th from 4 a.m. to 5 p.m. and will also feature rolling closures along Pennsylvania and Constitution Avenues and First, 7th and 15th Streets NW. The National Equality March will also force delays along its route between McPherson Square and the west side of the U.S. Capitol tomorrow afternoon. March participants will maneuver south on 15th Street, NW, West on H Street, south on 17th Street, and east on Pennsylvania Avenue to 3rd Street, NW between noon and 2 p.m. Plan your Sunday travels accordingly. more ›

Have you signed up to participate in Car Free Day yet? The big day is tomorrow, but as of this writing only 4,759 people have pledged to reduce or eliminate their car use for one day, well short of the 5,445 the event logged last year. You can find the Car Free Day online pledge form here. And don't forget that from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., F Street NW between 7th and 8th will play host to the big Car Free Day celebration, which will feature, among other things, a free outdoor yoga class from Yoga District at 1:30 p.m., a lesson on bicycle repair at noon, and a special bonus for Penn Quarter office workers: the Fojol Bros., the Spy Diner sidewalk food cart, and On the Fly will all be at the event to sell tasty food cart lunches to all comers. more ›

Tuesday, Sept. 22 will mark this year's Car Free Day, and organizers in the D.C. Metro area are hoping to exceed the number of pledges they get from last year's total number of participants, which came in at 5,445. more ›

FRIDAY more ›

November 9: If any place is set to throw the followup party to the street celebrations that greeted Election Day in the U.S., it's Cambodia. Today, Cambodia celebrates the 55th anniversary of its declaration of independence from French colonial rule. Good on you, Cambodia! more ›

At this point in December, holiday concerts and Handel's Messiah have completely hijacked the classical music schedule. Here are a few other events, not all of which avoid the spirit of the season. After this post, the Classical Music Agenda will take its end-of-the-year hiatus, to return in the New Year. more ›

Over the last two weeks, Todd Kliman's chatters have gotten riled up over CityZen's Parker House rolls. A chatter wrote in about his/her experience at CityZen a few months ago with pleasant servers and delicious food. But then he/she complained that his/her party of seven requested a second serving of the Parker House rolls. Apparently the server hesitated and seemed uncomfortable, but said he would check with the kitchen. The chatter said that they did not receive more bread or more information, and as such, the individual expressed that he/she felt ripped off, and had written a letter of complaint that was ignored. This prompted him/her to decide never to return and tell friends not to dine there. more ›

Living in the Nation's Capital, with so many free events going on year-round, it might seem silly to spend a princely sum of money for the privilege of becoming a Member of a local arts organization. But there are a number of good reasons to think about becoming a member -- maybe you're interested in a particular subject that's only shown at a pay-for museum, maybe you're an artist looking to grab a foothold in... more ›

This week the big news is the appointment (PDF) of Dorothy Kosinski as the new Director of The Phillips Collection. She's currently the Senior Curator of Painting and Sculpture at the Dallas Musuem of Art, and comes with an impressive résumé that include extensive curating, acquisitions, and teaching experience. Kosinski will officially take over next spring, to replace retiring Director Jay Gates, just in time to take the reins on a five-year strategy the... more ›

It is truly the most wonderful time of year — for caterers, that is. D.C. knows how to feast. Between all the holiday/non-denominational/winter solstice parties for every single nonprofit/government/lobby/press room in town and our own personal holiday events, the humble art of bringing a homemade dish to any event has fallen by the wayside. Personally, I’ll be bringing a dozen Krispy Kreme jelly doughnuts to a Hanukkah party this weekend. On the other hand, there... more ›

Last year we were blown away by how many folks participated in our very first DCist Exposed Photography Show. What we hoped would be a fun event for our faithful photography contributors turned into a full-blown gallery event packed to the gills with supporters. Many of the selected 2007 photographers -- most of whom had never even framed their work prior to the show -- have continued to sell their prints and some even... more ›

We were taken aback by this beautiful photo by Samer Farha in the DCist Flickr pool this morning. After only a quick glance at the tag "Library of Congress," I was trying to place this building somewhere in the city, but then realized this is a shot of the gorgeous architecture of the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center, out in Culpeper, Va. Tucked in the Blue Ridge Mountains, both American and international film, television, and... more ›

After yesterday's preview of the endless list of holiday concerts in the area in December, it is time to discuss the piece that must not be named, Georg Friedrich Händel's Messiah (1742). Yes, it is a masterpiece of music history, but the lamentable annual round of weary performances at Christmas time (in spite of the fact that Messiah is an Easter work), makes me want to run screaming for anything else this time of... more ›

If you're down on the National Mall this weekend and see, oh, 12,000 flags stuck in the ground, don't be alarmed. The Federal Government hasn't started an experimental flag farm, nor is the display an effort of the area's squirrels to show their patriotism. The flags have been planted to represent the 12,000 members of the United States military who have been discharged under the practice of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The policy, which governs... more ›

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and several vigils and protests are planned in D.C. today and through the weekend to mark the occasion. In the wake of the recent report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration calling the HIV infection rate in the city "a modern epidemic," over 40 protesters are planning to drape themselves in red tape and stage a sit-in on the White House sidewalk by Lafayette Square at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon.... more ›

>> One of the funniest comedic performers out there today, Amy Sedaris is at the Historic Sixth and I Synagogue tonight to promote her recent book, I Like You, at 8 p.m. Advance tickets are no longer available, but a few seats can apparently still be had at the door for $25 -- a small price to pay to be entertained by the woman who brought us the wonder that is Jerri Blank. >>... more ›

Most of this week looks sleepy as far as classical music goes. However, by the end of the week, there will be three events, all of which are high on our December list and all happening simultaneously. How to choose? SUNDAY, SUNDAY, SUNDAY: >> Wagnerian tenor Ben Heppner is scheduled to give a recital on Sunday afternoon (December 2, 5:30 p.m.) at Baltimore's Shriver Hall. It will be Heppner's first appearance in Baltimore and his... more ›