Events/Things To Do

Native Art Market

Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2–3, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. 

National Mall

Make your holiday shopping special and support more than 30 award-winning Indigenous artists. Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and enjoy the museum’s annual Native Art Market.

This weekend event invites lovers of art and craftsmanship to meet Indigenous artists and learn about traditional arts and contemporary Native creativity. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to purchase handcrafted artworks, including beadwork, jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, and sculpture.

Enjoy an electrifying performance by QVLN playing his own brand of dynamic world music on his blue violin. Throughout the day, DJ Sunny Z soundtracks your shopping spree.

Native Art Market

Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 2–3, 10 a.m.–5:30 p.m. 

National Mall

Make your holiday shopping special and support more than 30 award-winning Indigenous artists. Visit the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian in Washington, D.C., and enjoy the museum’s annual Native Art Market.

This weekend event invites lovers of art and craftsmanship to meet Indigenous artists and learn about traditional arts and contemporary Native creativity. Visitors will have the unique opportunity to purchase handcrafted artworks, including beadwork, jewelry, paintings, photography, pottery, and sculpture.

Enjoy an electrifying performance by QVLN playing his own brand of dynamic world music on his blue violin. Throughout the day, DJ Sunny Z soundtracks your shopping spree.

The Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art has announced its 2024 family festival commemorating Lunar New Year, a celebration of the arrival of spring and the beginning of a new year on the lunisolar calendar. The event takes place Feb. 3, 11 a.m.–4 p.m. It is free and open to the public.

This year’s Lunar New Year festival will celebrate the year of the dragon. It will consist of performances, talks, tours, hands-on activities and more. The full schedule is available online. The museum also offers many resources to learn about Lunar New Year on its website such as virtual tours of related collections, lesson plans and webinars.

About Lunar New Year
Commonly known as the Spring Festival in China, Lunar New Year is a 15-day celebration marked by many traditions. The Lunar New Year’s Eve reunion dinner is the highlight that kicks off the holiday, a feast with a spread of symbolic dishes, such as a whole fish representing abundance, that bring good luck and fortune. The 15th and final day of the holiday is the Lantern Festival, during which people have tangyuan, or sweet glutinous rice balls, and children carry lanterns around the neighborhood at night to mark the end of the celebration.

In the Chinese zodiac, 2024 is the year of the dragon. Different regions across Asia celebrate Lunar New Year in many ways and may follow a different zodiac. Many Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders do not observe the Chinese/lunar zodiac.

Capital Harvest Market (CHoP), a weekly downtown market, opens for a 16th season. Explore a vibrant array of specialty foods, take a culinary tour around the world, and indulge in locally produced, small-batch and handcrafted products along with seasonal offerings from over 25 vendors. Visitors can also indulge in artistic expressions while enjoying delicious food and vibrant community spirit when the Capital Arts Collective joins CHoP on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

WHEN: Every Wednesday, May 1 to October 20, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

Capital Harvest Market (CHoP), a weekly downtown market, opens for a 16th season. Explore a vibrant array of specialty foods, take a culinary tour around the world, and indulge in locally produced, small-batch and handcrafted products along with seasonal offerings from over 25 vendors. Visitors can also indulge in artistic expressions while enjoying delicious food and vibrant community spirit when the Capital Arts Collective joins CHoP on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

WHEN: Every Wednesday, May 1 to October 20, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

You are invited for a special evening with David Baldacci, New York Times Best-Selling Author for a literary conversation on his new book, A Calamity of Souls, followed by a reception featuring passed hors d’oeuvres, wine, champagne, and book signing.

David Baldacci is a global #1 bestselling author, and one of the world’s favorite storytellers. 

His books are published in over 45 languages and in more than 80 countries, with 150 million copies sold worldwide. His works have been adapted for both feature film and television.

Along with his wife, David is also the cofounder of the Wish You Well Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to supporting literacy programs in the United States.

David is a graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University and the University of Virginia School of Law. David and his family live in Virginia.

(Books will be available for purchase and are not included in ticket price.)

Capital Harvest Market (CHoP), a weekly downtown market, opens for a 16th season. Explore a vibrant array of specialty foods, take a culinary tour around the world, and indulge in locally produced, small-batch and handcrafted products along with seasonal offerings from over 25 vendors. Visitors can also indulge in artistic expressions while enjoying delicious food and vibrant community spirit when the Capital Arts Collective joins CHoP on the Woodrow Wilson Plaza.

WHEN: Every Wednesday, May 1 to October 20, 2024 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

The 40th Helen Hayes Awards will take place on Monday, May 20, 2024 at The Anthem, on the District Wharf, with a celebratory party to follow. Esteemed Washington theatre artists Felicia Curry, Rayanne Gonzales, Maria Rizzo, and Tom Story will host an evening showcasing the vibrant and diverse community of professional theatre artists in the Washington region. They will be joined by an ensemble of DC-based performers, including Quadry Brown, Carolyn Burke, Victoria Gomez, Sarah Anne Sillers, and Wood Van Meter.

Tickets for the event are $75  for general admission seats and $350 for a seated dinner. Information on all tickets and sponsorships is available here.

“The contributions of DC-area theatre makers extend far beyond the stage. The Helen Hayes Awards recognize the impact theatre has on our region, country, and globe. Shared experience, understanding, empathy, and insight are some of the ways that theatre changes us and makes us better citizens,” said Amy Austin, Theatre Washington President and CEO. “This is a night to celebrate the expansive creative local industry professionals who create and produce plays and musicals on stages seven days a week, 365 days a year.”

The event will recognize work from 151 eligible productions presented in the 2023 calendar year, with nominations made in 41 categories. Productions under consideration in 2023 included 44 musicals, 107 plays, and 36 world premieres.

The 2024 Helen Hayes Tribute will honor Peter Marks, former Theater Critic at the Washington Post. Marks stepped down in late 2023 after serving in this role for 21 years. This award recognizes Marks’ decades of knowledgeable and thoughtful writing about the DC-area, national, and international theatre landscape. He offered nuanced theatre criticism and reporting and  he contributed immensely to the recognition of the artistic vibrancy of our region.

Named for actor Helen Hayes – a Washington native and legendary First Lady of the American Theatre – the Helen Hayes Awards has honored excellence in professional theatre throughout the Washington region, now celebrating forty years. Nominations are grouped in “Helen” or “Hayes” cohorts, depending on the number of Equity members involved in the production.