FRIDAY, FEB. 21
LOCAL FASHIONISTAS: Hear from some of the local business owners at the forefront of the D.C. fashion scene. This panel discussion, taking place right in the middle of DC Fashion Week, will feature makers from Capitol Hill Clothiers and Made In DC to speak on fashion entrepreneurship and the future of D.C. fashion. Their products will also be on sale, in addition to drinks. (Femme Fatale DC, 6:30 p.m., FREE)
GLOW-IN-THE-DARK: Create artwork you can see in the dark. ArtJamz Dupont will be holding a Neon Paint Party, inviting guests to paint their walls or their own canvases using neon paint under a blacklight. Tickets include an hour-and-a-half of studio time, paint and other art materials. Music will be playing and drinks will be for sale. (ArtJamz Dupont, 6 p.m., $20)
HOW POETIC: After a long, busy week take some time for you and taste teas with A Baked Joint. You’ll learn the properties of each tea as well as how brew time affects flavor—no more leaving your tea bag steeping indefinitely! After tasting some tea, participants will be invited to share poetry–their own or not—with the group for a discussion. (A Baked Joint, 6 p.m., $10)
MORE: $2 jello shots to support Revolution Rugby (A League of Her Own, 8:30 p.m., $2), Sisters & Spirits (Marvins DC, 5:30 p.m., $25-$45), Karneval at the Embassy of Germany (Embassy of Germany, 7:45 p.m., $89)
SATURDAY, FEB. 22
CELEBRATE MARDI GRAS: If you can’t get to New Orleans, at least get down to The Wharf for a huge Mardi Gras party. It will include an extravagant parade down Wharf Street, a dance party and—of course—fireworks. There will be special drinks and treats at nearby restaurants and kid-friendly activities. (The Wharf, 4 p.m., FREE)
CURTAINS UP: Have you ever rushed through an assignment? Six local theater companies will have to this weekend as they participate in the annual Play In A Day challenge. The groups will only have 24 hours this weekend to write, cast, direct, and perform an entirely new play. Check out their shows and see which ones win awards, from best writing to best use of a prop. (Imagination Stage, 8 p.m., $15)
CATS: THE MOVIE: Do you ever find yourself mindlessly scrolling through TikTok, Instagram, or YouTube in pursuit of cat videos? Don’t worry you’re not alone. CatVideoFest 2020 is back with a compilation reel of the latest and best cat videos, collected from submissions, music videos, animations, and the Internet. If you can’t get enough of the crazy things cats do, settle into AFI Silver Theater & Cultural Center for an 80-minute screening. Maybe it’ll cleanse the memory of last fall’s Cats from your memory. (AFI Silver Theater & Cultural Center, 1:30 p.m., $8-$13)
BABY, ARE YOU THE GREENHOUSE EFFECT? Let’s not finish that thought because for the fictional character Kamila, an environmentally-conscious activist and single young woman, climate change is no joke. In playwright Rozina Kanchwala’s debut comedy Love in the Time of Climate Change, (which debuted at Capital Fringe last summer) Kamila, played by a George Washington University student, grapples with her anxiety about climate change all while updating her social media and trying to find a date. What happens when she dates a climate denier? Find out this weekend at the Atlas Intersections Festival. (Atlas Performing Arts Center, 8:30 p.m., $20)
PAST AND PRESENT MOVEMENTS: Join Current Movements at Eaton Workshop for a screening of The First Rainbow Coalition, a documentary that looks at how the Chicago Black Panther Party in 1969 formed alliances with other community-based movements in the city, calling themselves the Rainbow Coalition. The movie will be followed by a panel discussion featuring activists who were part of the first Rainbow Coalition as well as organizing carrying on their legacy now. (Eaton Workshop, 7 p.m., FREE)
MORE: DC Queer Theatre reading series (The DC Center, 7 p.m., $10), George Washington’s birthday (Mount Vernon Estate, 9 a.m., FREE)
SUNDAY, FEB. 23
NATIONAL INSTRUMENT: On National Day of Marimba, hear Guatemala’s national instrument, christened in 1978, in a special performance at the Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian. The performance will future shows by several different musical groups using the large wooden instrument that is played with mallets. According to the museum, marimba music is a connection to Guatemalan culture for young Guatemalans living in the U.S. (Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, 2 p.m., FREE)
DANCE IT OUT: End your weekend the right away by dancing it all off. The REACH at the Kennedy Center is holding monthly instructor-led dance sessions focusing on dancing from the global south. This Sunday’s dance will be Second Line/Caribbean. The hour-long dance classes are totally free and take place four times throughout the day. (Studio F at The REACH at the Kennedy Center, starting 11 a.m., FREE)
BEHIND THE PORTRAIT: The portraits of Barack and Michelle Obama, the first commissioned by African American artists, caused a frenzy when they were first revealed as people raced to view them. Hear from National Portrait Gallery staff on their new volume that assesses the impact of the portraits on culture. Their new book on the portraits includes interviews with the artists and photos taken by then-White House photographer Pete Souza when the Obamas sat for the portraits. And remember: You’ve only got about 15 months left to see them before they head out on a year-long tour of the country. (Politics & Prose at 5015 Connecticut Ave NW, 5 p.m., FREE)
MORE: CatVideoFest 2020 second showing (AFI Silver Theater & Cultural Centre, 1:30 p.m., $8-$13), Profs & Pints: Monumental Controversies (Bier Baron Tavern, 6 p.m., $12-$15), Family Gras (Capitol Cider House, 10 a.m., $10)
