A showcase celebrating emerging and established artists– SQFT brings DC together for a two day pop-up exhibition featuring over 100 pieces of 1’x1′ art by 50+ local artists. Curated by Peter Chang, co-founder of No Kings Collective and REDEYE Night Market, and Jason Bowers, founder of JAB Arts, the exhibition will take place on August 18 and 19 at the Asian Fusion Gallery on L Street NW.
Featuring a diverse range of local artists, attendees can expect to see a wide range of contemporary art. Featured artists include Kelly Towles, Jamilla Okubo, Trap Bob, Brandon Hill, Charles Jean-Pierre, Mas Paz, Red Swan, and Emon Surakitkoson.
SQFT is open Friday, August 18 from 6-11pm and from Saturday, August 19 from 2-10pm. For more details, a full list of exhibiting artists, and to RSVP to the opening night event please visit:
Artist Lecture by Karen LaMonte | Shaping the Invisible
Tuesday, September 12, 2023, 5:30-8 p.m.
Contemporary artist Karen LaMonte will delve into her artistic process and share her approach to developing conceptual frameworks and translating them into mesmerizing sculptures.
Please note: This is the first program in Glass: Art. Beauty. Design. Lecture Series.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20008
Michelin-honored Cantonese restaurant Tiger Fork and its sister bar Hi-Lawn present the “Mid-Autumn Night Market” – a traditional Chinese festival celebration – from September 20-21. They will transform the 1000-person rooftop atop Union Market into a lively two-day Hong Kong night market, decked out with illuminated lanterns, food stalls from guest chefs, pop-up shops from local artisans, cultural performances, late-night DJs, baijiu and sake bars, mooncakes and more, all to help raise funds for Hawaii disaster relief through World Central Kitchen.
Tiger Fork’s brand new executive chef Simon Lam (formerly head chef at Chang Chang) will cook savory street food-inspired fare alongside guest chefs/restaurants such as China Chilcano; Love, Makoto and Toimoi Bakery (with more to be announced soon) at food stands throughout the open-air rooftop.
Also known as the “mooncake festival,” no celebration is complete without its namesame sweets, and Toimoi Bakery will serve symbolic, creative mooncakes, while Tiger Fork will serve topping-adorned bubble waffles, and Yume Asian Fusion will sell homemade cookies in unique flavors combinations like ube cookies & cream, black sesame peanut butter cup, and miso walnut chip.
Guests can peruse specialty gifts and wares from pop-up market stalls throughout the celebration.
Festival drinkers will enjoy a special Baijiu + Sake Bar, pouring China’s national spirit, plus an assortment of sake, and other liquor, cocktails, beer and wine.
At 6pm nightly, cultural performances such as lion, ribbon and fan dancing will take place live on the lawn.
And DJs will keep the spirited energy going all night long, spinning tunes from 9pm to midnight.
The two-night festival supports a fantastic cause, raising funds to benefit Hawaii disaster relief through the event’s charity partner World Central Kitchen.
Tiger Fork’s Mid-Autumn Night Market is free to attend and open to the public, but RSVPs are highly recommended on Eventbrite. Donations to World Central Kitchen are encouraged and accepted throughout the event. All food, beverage and artisan crafts will sold a la carte, first-come, first-served. For more information, please visit https://www.eventbrite.
WHO: Tiger Fork & Chef Simon Lam
Hi-Lawn
China Chilcano
Love, Makoto
Toimoi Bakery
Yume Asian Fusion
World Central Kitchen
WHEN: Wednesday, September 20 & Thursday, September 21, 2023
6pm-midnight
WHERE: Hi-Lawn (on the rooftop of Union Market)
1309 5th St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
Michelin-honored Cantonese restaurant Tiger Fork and its sister bar Hi-Lawn present the “Mid-Autumn Night Market” – a traditional Chinese festival celebration – from September 20-21. They will transform the 1000-person rooftop atop Union Market into a lively two-day Hong Kong night market, decked out with illuminated lanterns, food stalls from guest chefs, pop-up shops from local artisans, cultural performances, late-night DJs, baijiu and sake bars, mooncakes and more, all to help raise funds for Hawaii disaster relief through World Central Kitchen.
Tiger Fork’s brand new executive chef Simon Lam (formerly head chef at Chang Chang) will cook savory street food-inspired fare alongside guest chefs/restaurants such as China Chilcano; Love, Makoto and Toimoi Bakery (with more to be announced soon) at food stands throughout the open-air rooftop.
Also known as the “mooncake festival,” no celebration is complete without its namesame sweets, and Toimoi Bakery will serve symbolic, creative mooncakes, while Tiger Fork will serve topping-adorned bubble waffles, and Yume Asian Fusion will sell homemade cookies in unique flavors combinations like ube cookies & cream, black sesame peanut butter cup, and miso walnut chip.
Guests can peruse specialty gifts and wares from pop-up market stalls throughout the celebration.
Festival drinkers will enjoy a special Baijiu + Sake Bar, pouring China’s national spirit, plus an assortment of sake, and other liquor, cocktails, beer and wine.
At 6pm nightly, cultural performances such as lion, ribbon and fan dancing will take place live on the lawn.
And DJs will keep the spirited energy going all night long, spinning tunes from 9pm to midnight.
The two-night festival supports a fantastic cause, raising funds to benefit Hawaii disaster relief through the event’s charity partner World Central Kitchen.
Tiger Fork’s Mid-Autumn Night Market is free to attend and open to the public, but RSVPs are highly recommended on Eventbrite. Donations to World Central Kitchen are encouraged and accepted throughout the event. All food, beverage and artisan crafts will sold a la carte, first-come, first-served. For more information, please visit https://www.eventbrite.
WHO: Tiger Fork & Chef Simon Lam
Hi-Lawn
China Chilcano
Love, Makoto
Toimoi Bakery
Yume Asian Fusion
World Central Kitchen
WHEN: Wednesday, September 20 & Thursday, September 21, 2023
6pm-midnight
WHERE: Hi-Lawn (on the rooftop of Union Market)
1309 5th St. NE
Washington, DC 20002
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces that The West Wing’s Melissa Fitzgerald and Martin Sheen will reunite to perform A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters in celebration of Recovery Month. Directed by Cameron Watson, Love Letters will be performed September 28 at 7:30 p.m. and September 30 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Terrace Theater.
For more than two decades, Martin Sheen has been among the most ardent public champions of treatment courts, specialized programs that deliver treatment and recovery support to individuals in the justice system due to substance use and mental health disorders. In 2011, Sheen invited his former West Wing colleague and dear friend Melissa Fitzgerald—who had recently lost someone close to her to a substance use disorder—to Washington, D.C. to attend RISE, the annual training conference for treatment court professionals. The experience of being around thousands of dedicated public health and public safety leaders on the front lines of justice reform was transformative. A year later, Fitzgerald made the decision to leave Hollywood and move to Washington, D.C. to work for All Rise where she has spent the last decade championing treatment courts and fighting for justice reform.
In 2020, Fitzgerald and Sheen began work on a production of A.R. Gurney’s two-person play, Love Letters, to be performed at RISE. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person events, they pivoted and performed the play virtually during Recovery Month as a thank-you to public health and public safety professionals working in treatment courts. Now, the pair will reunite to perform the play in-person for the first time at the Kennedy Center.
“I was so honored when Martin asked me to perform Love Letters with him back in 2020. Then the pandemic happened, and we weren’t sure it would ever see the stage. Now, it’s the joy of a lifetime to be able to perform this play with Martin Sheen at the Kennedy Center,” said Melissa Fitzgerald. “For years, Martin and I have collaborated to advocate for expanding treatment and recovery for people with substance use and mental health disorders in the justice system and we continue to find resonance in the story of Love Letters. I am excited to finally share it with the public and so happy to do so during Recovery Month.”
“I’m thrilled to be returning to the Kennedy Center to reunite with my West Wing colleague and friend, Melissa. I can think of no better time for this performance than during Recovery Month. Love Letters is a poignant call to compassion, to empathy, to finding our common humanity through struggle and through love,” said Martin Sheen.
A unique and imaginative theater piece by A.R. Gurney, Love Letters is composed of letters exchanged over a lifetime between two people who grew up together, went their separate ways, but continued to share confidences. As the actors read the letters aloud, what is created is an evocative, touching, frequently funny but always telling pair of character studies in which what is implied is as revealing and meaningful as what is actually written down.
Taking over the National Mall Friday, September 29 through Sunday, October 1, the 2023 World Culture Festival is expected to be the largest gathering in the nation’s capital this year, featuring the largest stage area ever built on the historic National Park property.
Over 250,000 visitors from every corner of the globe are expected to travel to Washington, D.C. to be a part of the World Culture Festival. Today, organizers already report 184,513 registered attendees who will join in-person along with an estimated broadcast audience of over one billion worldwide. Registrants to date represent:
- 60% from the capital region
- 91% from the United States representing all 50 states
- 4% from India
- 5% from 121 other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Thailand and South Africa.
Free registration and full Festival information can be found at https://wcf.artofliving.org.
Program Schedule
*All schedules are subject to change
Friday, September 29
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Festival Village
- A one-mile stretch between 7th St and 14th St NW, featuring over 75 cultural pavilions, activities including fashion showcases, and 80+ food trucks serving international cuisines.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Saturday, September 30
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Festival Village
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Sunday, October 1
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Yoga Festival
10:00 am – 2:00 pm: Festival Village
10:00 am – 1:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Performances
An initial lineup was announced today including over 8,000 individual stage performers representing an array of human cultural art forms from around the globe. The program features all U.S.-based artists presenting music, dance, and performance art from diverse Native American and American immigrant cultures. Among them:
LOCAL
- The acclaimed Showtime Band from Howard University
- A melody performance from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC
- Pulsating beats and infectious energy of Washington’s iconic go-go bands including Junkyard Band, DJ Cool and Bela Dona Band.
- Traditional Gospel Choir with 1,000 singers – a performance by musicians from church and university choirs of 1KVoiceChoir
- Native American dance by 100 artists representing various tribes from the region perform to the powerful beats of live drums and other traditional instruments
- Traditional Mongolian Dance & Music with 100 Dancers – A vibrant and energetic dance highlighting the heritage and nomadic traditions of Mongolia
- Indonesian Dance by 100 Artists – A “wonderland dance of Indonesia” representing the country’s five main islands
- Irish Step Dance with 100 Dancers – Lively Irish dancers in traditional dress showcasing the rich traditions of the Emerald Isle
- Bolivian Folk Dance with 200 Dancers – Vibrant folk dancers of Bolivia present 4 kinds of traditional dances
- Nepalese dance with 150 artists in vibrant costumes, representing the spiritual traditions of Nepal
NATIONAL
- Global Guitar Ensemble with 1,000 guitarists playing popular sing-along classics with renowned lead guitarists, including Grammy-award winner Micki Free.
- Rhythms of reggae with Skip Marley, grandson of the legendary Bob Marley, and dancers representing the cultures of the Caribbean islands.
- One World Family Invocation – A 200-artists choir with Grammy nominated artist Chandrika Tandon
- Pop influencer Jini June performing alongside 200 children, spreading a message of harmony in song
- Amadou Kouyate and his djembe and kora orchestra, accompanied by 200 African dancers
- Kurtis Blow and other hip hop legends accompanied by 200 breakdancers, MCs, DJs and graffiti artists
- 10,000 Garba Dancers – representing a traditional folk dance of western India circle the National Mall in a spirit of celebration.
- Traditional Afghan Music & Sufi Whirling with 150 Artists – 130 musicians playing traditional instruments and singing captivating melodies along with 20 whirling dervishes
- Indian Classical Dance & Classical Symphony with 1000 Artists – Symphony of 300 instrumentalists including sitar, veena, tabla, mridangam, flute, ghatam and violin, plus 700 dancers performing a variety of classical Indian dance styles
- Latin American Dance Fusion with 200 Artists – Vibrant folk dancers representing the unique traditions of Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela
- Chinese Cultural Choir & Dance with 1,000 Artists – Chinese classical choir, classical dancers, dragons, & kung-fu in a fusion of music & movement
- Bulgarian Folk Dance by 300 Artists – 300 artists dance to the soul-stirring melodies of Bulgarian singers
- Ukrainian Dance by 200 Dancers and Choir – Exhilarating acrobatics and vibrant footwork of the hopak, a traditional Ukrainian dance
Activations
- The largest ever yoga event to take place on the National Mall, with over 2,000 instructors from various schools of yoga demonstrating a flow to more than 25,000 yoga enthusiasts. The event will be followed by a meditation led by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
- Over 80 food trucks will serve culturally expressive food and beverages from around the world. Some of the cuisines include Middle Eastern (Koshary Corner), French (Taste of Montreal), Latin-American (Arepa Zone), South Asian (Rangoli), Vegan/Plant Based (Soultarian), Indonesian (Sambal), Caribbean (Patty Party), West African (Kuks Tribute), Italian (Ciao Roma), Mexican (Mexicocina), Thai (Thai Pinto), British (Salt Pot Kitchen).
Taking over the National Mall Friday, September 29 through Sunday, October 1, the 2023 World Culture Festival is expected to be the largest gathering in the nation’s capital this year, featuring the largest stage area ever built on the historic National Park property.
Over 250,000 visitors from every corner of the globe are expected to travel to Washington, D.C. to be a part of the World Culture Festival. Today, organizers already report 184,513 registered attendees who will join in-person along with an estimated broadcast audience of over one billion worldwide. Registrants to date represent:
- 60% from the capital region
- 91% from the United States representing all 50 states
- 4% from India
- 5% from 121 other countries, including Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Thailand and South Africa.
Free registration and full Festival information can be found at https://wcf.artofliving.org.
Program Schedule
*All schedules are subject to change
Friday, September 29
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Festival Village
- A one-mile stretch between 7th St and 14th St NW, featuring over 75 cultural pavilions, activities including fashion showcases, and 80+ food trucks serving international cuisines.
6:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Saturday, September 30
12:00 pm – 6:00 pm: Festival Village
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Sunday, October 1
8:00 am – 9:00 am: Yoga Festival
10:00 am – 2:00 pm: Festival Village
10:00 am – 1:00 pm: Main Stage World Culture Festival Showcase
Performances
An initial lineup was announced today including over 8,000 individual stage performers representing an array of human cultural art forms from around the globe. The program features all U.S.-based artists presenting music, dance, and performance art from diverse Native American and American immigrant cultures. Among them:
LOCAL
- The acclaimed Showtime Band from Howard University
- A melody performance from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC
- Pulsating beats and infectious energy of Washington’s iconic go-go bands including Junkyard Band, DJ Cool and Bela Dona Band.
- Traditional Gospel Choir with 1,000 singers – a performance by musicians from church and university choirs of 1KVoiceChoir
- Native American dance by 100 artists representing various tribes from the region perform to the powerful beats of live drums and other traditional instruments
- Traditional Mongolian Dance & Music with 100 Dancers – A vibrant and energetic dance highlighting the heritage and nomadic traditions of Mongolia
- Indonesian Dance by 100 Artists – A “wonderland dance of Indonesia” representing the country’s five main islands
- Irish Step Dance with 100 Dancers – Lively Irish dancers in traditional dress showcasing the rich traditions of the Emerald Isle
- Bolivian Folk Dance with 200 Dancers – Vibrant folk dancers of Bolivia present 4 kinds of traditional dances
- Nepalese dance with 150 artists in vibrant costumes, representing the spiritual traditions of Nepal
NATIONAL
- Global Guitar Ensemble with 1,000 guitarists playing popular sing-along classics with renowned lead guitarists, including Grammy-award winner Micki Free.
- Rhythms of reggae with Skip Marley, grandson of the legendary Bob Marley, and dancers representing the cultures of the Caribbean islands.
- One World Family Invocation – A 200-artists choir with Grammy nominated artist Chandrika Tandon
- Pop influencer Jini June performing alongside 200 children, spreading a message of harmony in song
- Amadou Kouyate and his djembe and kora orchestra, accompanied by 200 African dancers
- Kurtis Blow and other hip hop legends accompanied by 200 breakdancers, MCs, DJs and graffiti artists
- 10,000 Garba Dancers – representing a traditional folk dance of western India circle the National Mall in a spirit of celebration.
- Traditional Afghan Music & Sufi Whirling with 150 Artists – 130 musicians playing traditional instruments and singing captivating melodies along with 20 whirling dervishes
- Indian Classical Dance & Classical Symphony with 1000 Artists – Symphony of 300 instrumentalists including sitar, veena, tabla, mridangam, flute, ghatam and violin, plus 700 dancers performing a variety of classical Indian dance styles
- Latin American Dance Fusion with 200 Artists – Vibrant folk dancers representing the unique traditions of Colombia, Panama, Peru, and Venezuela
- Chinese Cultural Choir & Dance with 1,000 Artists – Chinese classical choir, classical dancers, dragons, & kung-fu in a fusion of music & movement
- Bulgarian Folk Dance by 300 Artists – 300 artists dance to the soul-stirring melodies of Bulgarian singers
- Ukrainian Dance by 200 Dancers and Choir – Exhilarating acrobatics and vibrant footwork of the hopak, a traditional Ukrainian dance
Activations
- The largest ever yoga event to take place on the National Mall, with over 2,000 instructors from various schools of yoga demonstrating a flow to more than 25,000 yoga enthusiasts. The event will be followed by a meditation led by Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar.
- Over 80 food trucks will serve culturally expressive food and beverages from around the world. Some of the cuisines include Middle Eastern (Koshary Corner), French (Taste of Montreal), Latin-American (Arepa Zone), South Asian (Rangoli), Vegan/Plant Based (Soultarian), Indonesian (Sambal), Caribbean (Patty Party), West African (Kuks Tribute), Italian (Ciao Roma), Mexican (Mexicocina), Thai (Thai Pinto), British (Salt Pot Kitchen).
Raise your steins and break out your lederhosen for Oktoberfest in National Landing! Welcome the fall season and celebrate the international festival, produced by the National Landing Business Improvement District and District Fray in Crystal City.
Guests can enjoy traditional German music featuring polka, marches and waltzes from The Alte Kumpel Band and The Pilgrims of Deep Run. Beer, cider and themed bites from Crystal City Sports Pub will be available for purchase throughout the celebration.
Adults can participate in a stein hold and best dressed competitions, as well as lawn games with family and friends. Hat making, clove decor and more will be available for kids.
WHEN: Saturday, September 30 from 1:00 to 5:00 PM.
WHERE: 556 22nd Street South, Arlington, Virginia 22202
HOW: Festival tickets are available for purchase at nationallanding.org/
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts announces that The West Wing’s Melissa Fitzgerald and Martin Sheen will reunite to perform A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters in celebration of Recovery Month. Directed by Cameron Watson, Love Letters will be performed September 28 at 7:30 p.m. and September 30 at 1:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. in the Terrace Theater.
For more than two decades, Martin Sheen has been among the most ardent public champions of treatment courts, specialized programs that deliver treatment and recovery support to individuals in the justice system due to substance use and mental health disorders. In 2011, Sheen invited his former West Wing colleague and dear friend Melissa Fitzgerald—who had recently lost someone close to her to a substance use disorder—to Washington, D.C. to attend RISE, the annual training conference for treatment court professionals. The experience of being around thousands of dedicated public health and public safety leaders on the front lines of justice reform was transformative. A year later, Fitzgerald made the decision to leave Hollywood and move to Washington, D.C. to work for All Rise where she has spent the last decade championing treatment courts and fighting for justice reform.
In 2020, Fitzgerald and Sheen began work on a production of A.R. Gurney’s two-person play, Love Letters, to be performed at RISE. When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down in-person events, they pivoted and performed the play virtually during Recovery Month as a thank-you to public health and public safety professionals working in treatment courts. Now, the pair will reunite to perform the play in-person for the first time at the Kennedy Center.
“I was so honored when Martin asked me to perform Love Letters with him back in 2020. Then the pandemic happened, and we weren’t sure it would ever see the stage. Now, it’s the joy of a lifetime to be able to perform this play with Martin Sheen at the Kennedy Center,” said Melissa Fitzgerald. “For years, Martin and I have collaborated to advocate for expanding treatment and recovery for people with substance use and mental health disorders in the justice system and we continue to find resonance in the story of Love Letters. I am excited to finally share it with the public and so happy to do so during Recovery Month.”
“I’m thrilled to be returning to the Kennedy Center to reunite with my West Wing colleague and friend, Melissa. I can think of no better time for this performance than during Recovery Month. Love Letters is a poignant call to compassion, to empathy, to finding our common humanity through struggle and through love,” said Martin Sheen.
A unique and imaginative theater piece by A.R. Gurney, Love Letters is composed of letters exchanged over a lifetime between two people who grew up together, went their separate ways, but continued to share confidences. As the actors read the letters aloud, what is created is an evocative, touching, frequently funny but always telling pair of character studies in which what is implied is as revealing and meaningful as what is actually written down.
An all-new national tour is coming D.C.’s National Theatre on Saturday, September 30, 2023 at 7:30pm which will bring fans a whole new way to experience their favorite box office hit Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The Academy Award-winning film from Sony Pictures Animation will be accompanied by a live orchestra, band and turntables with a scratch DJ playing music from the score and soundtrack. Joining the tour is The Broadway Sinfonietta, an all-women and majority women-of-color orchestra. Emily Marshall will serve as the tour’s conductor.
Tickets will be available online at BroadwayAtTheNational.com with ticket prices start at $25.
The film’s music score was composed by Academy Award® nominee, multiple Golden Globe®-nominee and Emmy-winning composer Daniel Pemberton, known for his work on movies such as The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Oceans 8, Enola Holmes, The Bad Guys and Steve Jobs.
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is one of my favorite scores I’ve ever written,” said Pemberton. “Utilizing a full orchestra, crazy electronics and unbelievable turntable scratching techniques amongst a million other things is so technically complex, I never thought we’d ever be able to actually reproduce it in a live setting; but somehow, we have. I am ridiculously excited for fans around the country to see their very first Spider-Verse concert later this year.”
The hip-hop infused film score contains original music showcasing elements of heroism, resilience and is complemented by song contributions from industry greats Post Malone, Lil Wayne, Jaden Smith and Nicki Minaj.
Set in New York City, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse introduces Brooklyn teen, Miles Morales, who after being bitten by a radioactive spider gains Spider-Man like powers. The film was directed by Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, and Rodney Rothman, screenplay by Phil Lord and Rothman with a story by Lord based on the Marvel Comics, and produced by Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, Lord, Christopher Miller, and Christina Steinberg. It features an accomplished and diverse cast including Shameik Moore (Miles Morales), Hailee Steinfeld (Gwen Stacy / Spider-Gwen), Jake Johnson (Peter B. Parker), Chris Pine (Peter Parker), and Mahershala Ali (Aaron Davis / Prowler). The film received widespread praise from critics for its groundbreaking visual style, characters, story, voice acting, and soundtrack. The highly anticipated sequel, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse had a theatrical debut June 2, 2023.
