MONDAY, JAN. 30
BOARDS AND BEES: Head to the recently opened ode-to-Montreal bar, Le Mont Royal, for a night of “the boards and the bees.” The board game night will offer a wide variety of games in house, but attendees are also encouraged to bring their own. Enjoy drink specials on Barr Hill gins on the upper level of the restaurant. (Le Mont Royal; 8 p.m.; FREE admission)
CURATOR TOUR: Explore an exhibit about the Black Lives Matter memorial fence outside the White House, the newest exhibit at MLK Library. Curators and guardians Nadine Seiler and Karen Irwin will lead tours of the exhibit in honor of the two-year anniversary of when the signs were taken down for preservation. Tours will start every half hour. (MLK Jr. Memorial Library; 5 p.m.; FREE)
PANDA STORY: Celebrate the stars of the Smithsonian National Zoo, giant pandas, after the 50th anniversary of their arrival in 2022. Zoo director Brandie Smith discusses the history of giant panda care and what might happen to the program in the future with David Rubenstein, who donated much of the money for the panda program at the D.C. zoo. Tune in virtually or join in person. (S. Dillon Ripley Center; 6:45 p.m.; $25)
MORE: Remora House donation drive (Old City Market & Oven; 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; FREE), DoubleXXComedy Presents: Monday Open-Mic (Detour Coffee; 7 p.m.; FREE admission), Stage Fright Presents: Attack of the Guest Host Late Night Comedy Show (Sudhouse; 9:45 p.m.; FREE), Musical Mondays (Crazy Aunt Helen’s; 7 p.m.; FREE), January 6th film screening (La Maison Française; 7 p.m.; $10), Ben Thornewill / Dan Mills (DC9 Nightclub; 8 p.m.; $18), D.C. Mondays: The lost history of Frederick Douglass and D.C. higher education (George Washington University Museum; virtual; 12 p.m.; FREE)
TUESDAY, JAN. 31
PORTRAITS AND SLAVERY: Explore the approaches to portraiture made during slavery and about slavery and race in a conversation with Drs. Adrienne L. Childs, John Stauffer, and Jennifer Van Horn. This virtual National Portrait Gallery talk will look at photography, prints, material culture, and paintings and how they varied across the U.S. (National Portrait Gallery; virtual; 5 p.m.; FREE)
BOOK TALK: Author Mai Abdul Rahman discusses her research and subsequent book on W.E.B Du Bois on stage for Busboys and Poets. Learn more about DuBois’s theoretical frameworks around race, social status, and education while the author contextualizes it to today’s education system. (Busboys and Poets Hyattsville; 6:30 p.m.; FREE)
MORE: Stewart Udall: The Politics of Beauty screening (Sidney Yates Auditorium; 2 p.m.; FREE), Sphinx Symphony Orchestra anniversary concert (Kennedy Center Concert Hall; 8 p.m.; $20), Galápagos Islands: Darwin’s Smoking Gun (Smithsonian Associates; virtual; 6:45 p.m.; $25), ECUSA Washington DC Seminar Series II: Aging, Longevity and Cancer (Former Residence of the Ambassadors of Spain; 6 p.m.; FREE), Promise Boys author Jason Reynolds in conversation with Nick Brooks (MLK Jr. Memorial Library; 6 p.m.; FREE), Buds Night Out Workshop (PlantHouse Alexandria; 6:30 p.m.; $26), Creating the Legacy: Women in American Cryptology (MER Events; virtual; 7 p.m.; $10), The Simpsons paint and sip (Wunder Garten; 7 p.m.; $27)
WEDNESDAY, FEB. 1
GOSPEL CONCERT: St. John’s Church in Lafayette Square kicks off Black History Month with a midweek gospel concert. The Howard Gospel Choir, which says it is the first collegiate gospel choir in the world, will perform at the church. (St. John’s Church; 12:15 p.m.; FREE)
COOKBOOK TALK: Learn what goes on behind the line in a restaurant with a book talk led by podcast host Emmanuel Larouche, author of Conversations Behind the Kitchen Door. Joined by Matt Conroy, owner of Lutece, and Opie Crooks of The Dabney, Larouche will discuss the compiled lessons and methods he learned in his new book. (Bold Fork Books; 7 p.m.; FREE)
BIRTHDAY PARTY: Celebrate Inca Social’s four-year anniversary with food and drink specials. The first 200 guests will receive a complimentary dish of Concha a la Parmesana — scallops gratin — with their order, alongside $6 Peruvian chilcano drink specials. Don’t forget to say hi to live alpacas on hand from 5 to 7 p.m. before Peruvian dancing from 7 to 9 p.m. (Inca Social; 5 p.m.-9 p.m.; $6)
MORE: Love is Everywhere Hunt (O Museum at the Mansion; 9 a.m.; $40), Mi Adulto y Yo! (Joe’s Movement Emporium; 10:30 a.m.; FREE), Profs & Pints DC: Dolphins of the Potomac (Little Penn Coffeehouse; 6 p.m.; $14.31), Perfect Liars Club (Bier Baron Tavern; 7 p.m.; $15), Art Crimes: International Art Heists (Smithsonian Associates; virtual; 6:45 p.m.; $25), 2023 Tuba-Euphonium Workshop (Brucker Hall; 9 a.m.; FREE), “Interwoven” opening reception (Betty Mae Kramer Gallery and Music Room; 6 p.m.; FREE), CulturalDC’s Bundlehouse: Ancient Future Memory (The Yards; 12 p.m.; FREE)
THURSDAY, FEB. 2
FASHION ON FILM: Join the D.C. premiere of the short film “After Migration: Calabria,” followed by a discussion with the director Walé Oyéjidé. The film tells the stories of a boy who left his home in The Gambia and a Nigerian single mother learning to live in southern Italy. Combining fashion design with storytelling, the After Migration project celebrates the lives of refugees in ways that dispel tropes. Explore an exhibit of head coverings on display at the museum before the screening. (The George Washington University Museum and Textile Museum; 5:30 p.m.; $30)
GEORGE WASHINGTON EXHIBIT: Discover Nepenthe Gallery’s latest exhibit on Mount Vernon and its owner, George Washington. Gallery curator Patty Owens will host a discussion of Thomas Sully’s Athenaeum portrait of George Washington alongside a wine and cheese event. (Nepenthe Gallery; 6 p.m.; FREE admission)
FILM FESTIVAL: Witness nationally touring film festival Lunafest when it stops in Bethesda. Proceeds from the event will benefit Girls on the Run Montgomery County, a nonprofit dedicated to funding girls’ dreams. Join a happy hour, big on auction items like Nationals, DC United, and Washington Spirit tickets, and watch a film by and about women. Tickets include a drink and a sweet treat. (Suburban Hospital Auditorium; 6:30 p.m.; $30)
STAGE FESTIVAL: Ford’s Theatre launches a three-day festival of readings previewing plays in development with members of its first cohort of BIPOC playwrights in their Legacy Commissions initiative. On its first night, get a glimpse of Pearl Cleage’s play that explores the election of Maynard Jackson, Atlanta’s first Black mayor, and his legacy. (Ford’s Theatre; 7:30 p.m.; FREE)
MORE: Friends Trivia (Atlas Brew Works Ivy City; 7 p.m.; FREE), Is Cupid stupid? A dating talk show (Bier Baron Tavern; 7:30 p.m.; $25), Dvořák Cello Concerto (The Music Center at Strathmore; 8 p.m.; $35), Crafts & Cocktails: Pressed Flower Frame Workshop with Wildry (Shop Made in DC Union Market; 5 p.m.; $60), Lincoln and Black Futures (President Lincoln’s Cottage; 6:30 p.m.; $10), Black History Month “Africa for the Africans” Historic Social Justice Panel (Justin Hansford-Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center; 12:30 p.m.; FREE), Arming a New Navy: The Naval Gun Factory talk (Hill Center at the Old Naval Hospital; 7 p.m.; FREE), Double Rainbow: Future Archives Artist Talk (Eaton DC; 6:30 p.m.; FREE), Drink the District’s Black Wines Matter (National Union Building; 7 p.m.; $49), Capitol Riverfront Community Skate Night (Canal Park Outdoor Ice Skating; 6 p.m.; FREE), Go-Go City: Displacement & Protest in Washington, D.C. screening (National Community Reinvestment Coalition; 3 p.m.; FREE)
