Events/Things To Do

DATE:  Wednesday, August 22^nd

TIME:  11:00AM- 3:00PM – PRESS CONFERENCE followed by BEN’S BLOCK PARTY

PLACE:  BEN’S CHILI BOWL, 1213 U St, NW

At 7:30PM the celebration continues at the Lincoln Theater with Ben’s Chili Bowl’s 60^th Anniversary Celebration Gala, “A Tribute To Virginia Ali” benefitting theBen’s Chili Bowl Foundation (www.benschilibowlfoundation.org), whose mission is to positively impact and provide service to our community by giving back to the neighborhoods where we live and work.  All proceeds from all Ben’s Chili Bowl’s on Wednesday, August 22^nd will go to the Ben’s Chili Bowl Foundation.

Visitors to Washington, DC have usually heard about Ben’s Chili Bowl long before their arrival. Many remember the news of President Obama stopping by to enjoy a Chili Half Smoke. Ben’s has been seen on The Steve Harvey Show, The Daily Show, Man vs. Food, CNN, Oprah, Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CBS This Morning, Larry King Live, Larry the Cable Guy, and countless other local, national and international shows, newspapers and magazines.

Ben’s Chili Bowl has also been seen in films like Russell Crowe’s State of Play, Denzel Washington’s The Pelican Brief, and Don Cheadle’s Talk to Me. In the old days, guests included Duke Ellington, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Cab Calloway, Nat King Cole, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and many other luminaries. More recently, French President Sarkozy, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, members of the US Congress, and many other noteworthy political and sports figures have stopped by to sample the world famous Ben’s cuisine.  Other recent visitors include Dave Chappelle, Bruno Mars, Serena Williams, Taraji P Henson, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart, George Lopez, Terrence Howard, Jimmy Fallon, Usher, Bono, Nick Cannon, Sara Jessica Parker, Tyrese, Lance Gross, George Clinton, Chaka Khan, Joe Mantegna, Rachel Ray, Chris Tucker, Tommy Davidson, Pauly Shore, Harry Belafonte, and Danny Glover to name a few.

In addition to being known as the place in DC where everyday people brush shoulders with celebrities, Ben’s Chili Bowl has also been honored to receive numerous awards and accolades, including the prestigious “America’s Classics” award from the James Beard Foundation.  In 2008, Ben and Virginia Ali were given the Key to the City by DC Mayor Adrian Fenty, and in 2009 Ben’s was honored by the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington. In 2010, the George Washington University enshrined Ben’s Chili Bowl’s historic papers, documents and photos into its main Gelman Library, and all documents have been digitized for students and scholars throughout the world to examine.

Yet, in spite of all the world recognition and fame, local residents of DC, Maryland and Virginia know the real truth about Ben’s Chili Bowl, and that truth is simple.  They know that Ben’s is first and foremost about FAMILY and COMMUNITY.  For 60 years, Ben’s has graciously served the people, and every guest has always been embraced as family. When segregation was still alive, Ben’s offered a peaceful gathering place and safe haven for ALL people, regardless of any differences in background or perspective. Society has grown and changed, but Ben’s remains the same and continues to celebrate people from all walks of life as they come together to eat, laugh, and discuss life as they see it. On Wednesday, August 22^nd, please join everyone at Ben’s Chili Bowl as they celebrate 60 years.

Help send Allison Farris off to Atlantic City – purchase your tickets to the Miss America Send Off Party!

Each ticket includes a buffet dinner catered by Tony Cheng’s Restaurant and free wine and beer!

Please join us to celebrate
Miss DC 2018 Allison Farris
as she leaves for the Miss America Competition
and
Judy Mabone as she leaves for the National Miss Sweetheart Competition

Date: Thursday, August 23
Time: 6:00-8:00 pm
Location: 777 7th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001
Cost: $40 

Crystal City’s summertime happy hour is back, opening a month early and announcing a new partnership with The Stand  bringing food and beverage from local restaurants and an exciting live music lineup. Starting on May 4, each Friday from 5-9 pm, attendees can listen to live music from a variety of bands while enjoying local bites and drink.

Crystal City’s summertime happy hour is back, opening a month early and announcing a new partnership with The Stand  bringing food and beverage from local restaurants and an exciting live music lineup. Starting on May 4, each Friday from 5-9 pm, attendees can listen to live music from a variety of bands while enjoying local bites and drink.

“Wear Your Whites” Party at DNV Rooftop – Sunday, September 2

DNV Rooftop will round out the holiday weekend fun with a Sunday night “Wear Your Whites” party on Sunday, September 2. Guests are encouraged to don their finest summer whites for an evening filled with delicious food and drink, summertime beats, and sunset photo ops.

While the rooftop party goes until 1:00 a.m., guests arriving at the start of celebration may take advantage of food deals from 7:00-9:00 p.m.The DNV Rooftop team will be offering favorite brunch and dinner dishes from the season including the Avocado Toast, Shrimp & Grits,Wagyu Burger, Rosemary Fries, Superfood Nachos, and Grilled Veggie Wrap. Lead Bartender Justin Golash will serve a variety of themed drinks including white sangria, special selection of white wines, and frozen drinks made with white tequila or white rum. Live music from DJ 215, photo booth entertainment, and an evening of dancing will ease any end-of-summer blues.

DNV Rooftop’s “Wear Your Whites” Party will take place on Sunday, September 2 from 7:00 p.m. until 1:00 a.m., weather permitting. Entry is free. Guests must be 21+ to attend.

The National Symphony Orchestra (NSO), led by guest conductor JoAnn Falletta, performs its annual free Labor Day weekend concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol, Sunday, September 2, at 8:00 p.m. The concert will feature two NSO Principal musicians and former Washington National Opera Domingo-Cafritz Young Artist, Leah Hawkins, as soloists. No tickets are required. Gates open to the public at 3:00 p.m. with an open rehearsal at 3:30 p.m.

The NSO’s Labor Day Weekend Concert has been a NSO tradition since 1979. This year’s program features works by living American composers, including Libby Larsen and Jonathan Bailey Holland, and Americana-themed works, such as Aaron Copland’s Rodeo. Full program details can be found below.

In case of inclement weather, please call the NSO’s Summer Concert Hotline at (202) 416-8114 after 2:30 p.m. on the day of the concert to find out whether the performance will take place at the Capitol, or whether it will move indoors to the Kennedy Center Concert Hall. If the concert moves indoors, there will be no open rehearsal.  The concert will be approximately 90 minutes long, with no intermission, at 8 p.m.

Sunday Evening, September 2 at 8:00 p.m.

FREE ADMISSION, NO TICKETS REQUIRED

West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol

Rain Location:  Kennedy Center Concert Hall

JoAnn Falletta, conductor

Aaron Goldman, NSO Principal Flute

Craig Mulcahy, NSO Principal Trombone

Leah Hawkins, narrator & vocalist

John Stafford SMITH “The Star-Spangled Banner”

Adolphus HAILSTORK “Fanfare on Amazing Grace”

Libby LARSEN “Deep Summer Music”

Jonathan Bailey HOLLAND  “Equality”

Leah Hawkins, narrator

Arturo MÁRQUEZ Danzon No. 2

William BOLCOM “Waltz Clogg” from Lyric Concerto for Flute

Aaron Goldman, flute

Aaron COPLAND  Three Dances from Rodeo

Arthur PRYOR “Blue Bells of Scotland”

Craig Mulcahy, trombone

arr. Carmen DRAGON “Shenandoah”

arr. John WILLIAMS “Hooray for Hollywood”

arr. James KESSLER “Service Medley”

arr. Carmen DRAGON “America, the Beautiful”

Crystal City’s summertime happy hour is back, opening a month early and announcing a new partnership with The Stand  bringing food and beverage from local restaurants and an exciting live music lineup. Starting on May 4, each Friday from 5-9 pm, attendees can listen to live music from a variety of bands while enjoying local bites and drink.

Crystal City’s summertime happy hour is back, opening a month early and announcing a new partnership with The Stand  bringing food and beverage from local restaurants and an exciting live music lineup. Starting on May 4, each Friday from 5-9 pm, attendees can listen to live music from a variety of bands while enjoying local bites and drink.

The 9^th Annual Cosmo Couture will take place on Thursday, September 20^th in D.C. at its new location the Washington National Cathedral.

Recognized as a top charity events in the DC region, the event fosters a direct collaboration between local Interior Design and Architecture firms and their product manufacturing partners in the Washington D.C. area, and ultimately leads to creating garments reflecting a given theme. Garments are constructed out of interior materials such as tile, carpet, wood, vinyl, glass and rubber –  materials used in the built interior environment. Finding ways to apply them to haute couture fashion, the design teams create, a bridge between fashion and architecture.

Each year the show theme changes with past themes ranging from focusing on D.C. area landmarks such as the Smithsonian Museums, Embassies, American Presidents, and the National Zoo, to an Under the Big Top Circus theme, and Exploring Natural Environments.  IIDA MAC is pleased to announce that the 2018 Cosmo Couture theme is ‘Lore’ – A body of traditions and knowledge on a subject or held by a particular group, typically passed from person to person by word of mouth. This year’s event will be co-emceed by 94.7FM The Tommy Show radio hosts Tommy McFly and Kelly Collis.

Twenty-four design teams will participate in this year’s event. Designs will be judged by an elite panel of judges, to be announced, and awards will be given in various categories such as:

Best Performance

·       Best Performance

·       Best Use of Materials

·       Best Interpretation of Theme

·       Best Red Carpet Look

·       Best Sketch

·       Audience Favorite (People’s Choice)

A Design Community Rallying to Support a Colleague: Love 4 Livi.  Each year Cosmo Couture selects a charity beneficiary and donates a portion of the event proceeds to their cause. Past recipients have included Rebuilding Together of Washington, DC and My Sisters Place. When an IIDA member and talented DC interior designer Livi Pejo suffered a catastrophic accident in late 2017 that severely injured her spinal cord, the organization decided that the funds from this year’s event should go towards helping her family with her medical expenses. After completing her first triathlon in Dewey Beach, DE, Livi was struck by an inebriated driver while walking along the sidewalk and ultimately left her paralyzed from the neck down. IIDA MAC WMCC is eager to support the Pejo family and hopes to ease the financial burden of her recovery journey moving forward.

Over the past eight years, the IIDA Mid-Atlantic Chapter has donated over $100,000 to previously selected charities from Cosmo Couture proceeds.

Attracting over 800 attendees each year, this year’s Cosmo Couture event is helped made possible by our Chapter’s Visionary Sponsors: Cenero, Mohawk Group and Teknion.

Event tickets range from $125-225 and value packages of tickets are available. Event tickets can be purchased online at www.cosmocouture.org.

EVENT DETAILS
What:  Cosmo Couture 2018 – Fashion & Interior Design Event (9^th Annual)
Presented by:  Washington Metro City Center of the International Interior Design Association – Mid Atlantic Chapter
Beneficiary: Love4Livi

When: Thursday, September 20, 2018
Where:  Washington National Cathedral
Time:  5:30-10:00PM
Cocktails 5:30-7:30PM

Runway Show 7:30-9:00PM

Desserts 9:00-10:00PM

Website: www.cosmocouture.org 

Crystal City’s summertime happy hour is back, opening a month early and announcing a new partnership with The Stand  bringing food and beverage from local restaurants and an exciting live music lineup. Starting on May 4, each Friday from 5-9 pm, attendees can listen to live music from a variety of bands while enjoying local bites and drink.