This Saturday marks the 26th iteration of the Kennedy Center‘s Annual Open House, a community and family-oriented event in which the Center opens the doors to all of its venues and spaces for an afternoon of free performances. As usual, the top level of the building will be home to a book fair tied into the theme of the overall event. This year, the Open House will also serve as the launch to Celebrate Mexico 2010, a festival running through October 1 that celebrates traditional and contemporary Mexican arts.

Photo by Kevin H. The Kennedy Center kicks off its fall season with its annual Open House Arts Festival, a highlight of its performance calendar. Every year, as part of its Performing Arts for Everyone initiative, the Center opens its doors to the public and folks can see cutting edge artists from around the world in nearly every performance space the venue has to offer. This Saturday marks the 25th installment of the festival,…

For the past seven years, the Kennedy Center has launched its season with Prelude, a month-long series of events that are available to the public for free or at a low cost. Prelude gives a chance for new patrons to see the range of performances the Kennedy Center offers, while regular patrons have a chance to experience more contemporary and innovative works. This year’s Prelude is titled Arts Across America, and is a multi-disciplinary program…

Mark your calendars: WMATA put out a release earlier today announcing the dates of a series of six public meetings at which you can voice your opinions about the proposed Metro fare hikes, which would go into effect in January. The full set of proposed increases is here, but the basics include raising the base fare of Metrorail from $1.35 to $1.65, keep bus fares the same as long as you use SmarTrip cards (add…

City Paper really needs to pay employees more This blog post from City Paper’s Jessica Gould seems to imply that perhaps City Paper is not paying its employees quite enough. Recalling The Simpsons episode, “Lisa Gets an A”, Gould discusses going to Whole Foods with the purpose of compiling a lunch entirely from the free samples. As she went for a sample, one of the employees “caught her in the act.” I’m all about…

Instead of drooling over more astrophotograpy (you mean you missed this gorgeous sight on Saturday night?), let’s bring the lens in a little and admire this shot by Flickr user Joshua Davis (articnomad). He stopped by the Joint Services Open House, an annual air show at Andrews Air Force base, and caught this guy, part of the U.S. Army’s Golden Knight jump team, floating his way back to land. EXIF….

>> At the the Guy Mason Recreation Center tonight there will be an open house to discuss DDOT’s Glover Park Transportation Study. 6:30 to 8 p.m. [via FreeRide] >> Trippy Japanese instrumentalists Mono stop by the Rock and Roll Hotel with Grails and World’s End Girlfriend. $10/$12, 8 p.m. doors. >> The American City Diner & Cafe hosts a special screening of the still great Mike Nichols film Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring…

FRIDAY: >> What, you mean you don’t already see enough of Ian Svenonius around town? The DJ, Internet talk show host and former head of Nation of Ulysses and The Make-Up is giving you another chance to eyeball his annoying multitalentedness with a slide show presentation in conjunction with the release of “The Psychic Soviet”, a collection of essays he’s recently published. 7 p.m. tonight at Crooked Beat Records. SATURDAY: >> There is an open…

>> Looks like this morning’s hellish Red Line delays were caused by an electrical malfunction involving the much-storied third rail. Sparks and smoke were first reported on the tracks between Dupont Circle and Woodley Park Stations at 7:15 a.m., forcing both north and southbound trains to share one track for two hours. Delays continued after the issue was resolved, as backed-up passengers filtered onto inbound trains. [Washington Post] >> One blogger tells the harrowing tale…

It’s that time of the year again, when people make resolutions they do not plan on keeping. Join DCist in resolving to see more art in 2007, but let’s mean it. You could get started this week. >> Studio Gallery will have an invitational show featuring artists from the greater D.C. metropolitan area (January 3 to 28). This will include Suzanne Quinlan, whose work is shown at right. Open Wednesdays to Sundays, 2108 R St….