Astro Pop Events returns with an interactive game show. (Photo by Stereo Vision Photography)
FRIDAY, AUGUST 26
GAME SHOW: Astro Pop Events, the team behind Elvis’ Birthday Fight Club and Countdown to Yuri Night (and our pick for one of the best small theatre companies in D.C.) brings you an all-new interactive show inspired by game shows of the 70’s and 80’s. America the Game Show. F*ck Yeah! will feature a “Price is Right-style call down from the audience,” so you better be ready to play! The Silver Spring Black Box Theatre. 8 p.m. $20 *Saturday show also available
DANCE PARTY: You might not be able to go up to the top of the Washington Monument, but you can certainly still dance with abandon around it. Grab your phones and mp3 players, make sure they are fully charged, and head to the monument for the latest Silent Dance Party hosted by WithLoveDC. Passersby will see hundreds of people dancing, but hear no music, while all participants dance to this playlist that they’ve downloaded to their personal devices. 7:30-8:30 p.m. FREE
NAKED GIRLS: Exercise your right to vote—for the best naked reader. Audience votes determine the winner of the 2016 So You Wanna Be a Naked Girl competition. The chosen woman gets to perform at the Naked Girls Reading Poetry show on September 23rd. DC Arts Center 10:30 p.m. $20
Photo by Donna Headlee for the 2015 Maryland Renaissance Festival Photo Contest.
SATURDAY, AUGUST 27
RENAISSANCE: The Maryland Renaissance Festival is back. Your opportunity to experience “King Henry VIII’s magical kingdom” will take place every Saturday and Sunday (plus Labor Day) from August 27-October 23. Highlights of the festival include the 3,00-seat jousting arena hosting combat three times a day, more than 200 performers filling the village streets, taverns, and ten stages. Check out our beginner’s guide. 10 a.m.-7 p.m. $19 (ticket prices increase September 17)
BAR CRAWL: This high brow bar crawl organized by The Writer’s Center and Barrelhouse magazine features nine local authors reading selections of their works as you take advantage of drinks specials at Walters Sports Bar, The Twisted Horn and Upshur Street Books. 4-7 p.m. $10
VIDEO GAMES: Play new games from local video game developers at The District Arcade. Featured games include a Wild West shootout, space shootouts, a zombie survivial game in the style of The Oregon Trail, a “sandbox growing game where you shape the evolution of an alien ecosystem,” and a biochemistry strategy game where you “use cells and proteins to defend against real, evolving pathogens.” Bravo! Bravo! 12-5 p.m. FREE (registration requested)
17TH STREET: Where can you find a dog parade, wagon brigade, a mariachi band, a Chinese dragon dancer, and more than 50 artists selling their fine art, jewelry, and crafts? At the 17th Street Festival, of course! 12-6 p.m. A $5 Taste Pass will get you access to food and drink specials.
Photo via Facebook.
SUNDAY, AUGUST 28
FAIR: Find out who in D.C. has the tastiest tomato, funkiest looking vegetable, best bud, the ugliest, but cutest pet, and more. The DC State Fair is back with more than two dozen contests, including sloppy joe eating, hula hooping, and dance contests where no advanced registration is required. If contests aren’t enough to entertain you, there will also be step dancers, drummers, a ska band, and more. NoMa Junction at Storey Park. 11 a.m.-8 p.m. FREE; donations encouraged.
MUSEUM: It’s the last Sunday in August, which means it’s your last chance to enjoy free admission to the National Museum of Women in the Arts (until free community day on September 4…). The featured exhibition is Alison Saar In Print, , a showcase of Saar’s “deep interest in history, identity, and cultures of the African diaspora.” 12-5 p.m. FREE
CARNIVAL: At Arena Stage’s Season Kickoff Carnival, you’ll be entertained by aerialists, acrobats, and jugglers, play carnival games that aren’t rigged (we think/hope), enjoy carnival inspired food and drink, receive exclusive discounts on the entire season, and more. 12-6 p.m. FREE
