Crêpe Day: Celebrate La Chandeleur!
Saturday, February 4, 2023, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
Enjoy crêpes, storytelling, art projects, and more amidst Hillwood’s spectacular gardens, magnificent mansion, and exquisite French treasures.
4155 Linnean Avenue, NW, Washington, D.C. 20008
Native Cinema Showcase Screening: Encanto
Saturday, Feb. 11, 2 p.m.
(USA, 2021, 120 mins.) Directors: Byron Howard, Jared Bush, and Charise Castro Smith
Encanto tells the tale of an extraordinary family, the Madrigals, who live hidden in a magical house in a vibrant town in the mountains of Colombia. The magic of this wondrous, charmed Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift, from super strength to the power to heal—every child that is except one, Mirabel (voice of Stephanie Beatriz). But when she discovers that the magic surrounding Encanto is in danger, Mirabel decides that she might just be her exceptional family’s last hope.
Special support for Native Cinema Showcase provided by the Walt Disney Company.
Concert Celebrating the Garifuna Language with James Lovell
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2 p.m.
Visit the National Museum of the American Indian and enjoy a concert by James Lovell, a passionate Garifuna artist whose mission is to preserve the Garifuna culture, language and arts through music. He composes and translates songs that uplift and encourage younger generations to stay connected to the endangered Garifuna language, an Arawakan language spoken mainly in Honduras, Belize, Guatemala and Nicaragua.
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2–5 p.m.
The National Museum of the American Indian presents Night Raiders as part of the Mother Tongue Festival, which returns in person to the National Mall in 2023.
(Canada/New Zealand, 2021, 97 mins.) Director: Danis Goulet (Cree/Métis)
English, Cree with English subtitles
In a dystopian future in 2043, a military occupation controls disenfranchised cities in post-war North America. Children are considered property of the regime, which trains them to fight. A desperate Cree woman (Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers) joins an underground band of vigilantes to infiltrate a state children’s academy and get her daughter back. A parable about the experience of Indigenous peoples, Night Raiders is a female-driven sci-fi drama about resilience, courage, and love.
The Mother Tongue Film Festival is a public program of Recovering Voices, a collaboration between the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, the National Museum of the American Indian, the Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, and the Asian Pacific American Center. Learn more about the 2023 festival and past programs at mothertongue.si.edu.
Indigenous Women Weavers of Chiapas
Saturday, March 11, 12–4 p.m.
Master weavers and embroiderers Maria López Ruíz, Maria de La Luz Gómez Martínez, Anita Ara Pérez and Juana López Díaz of Los Altos de Chiapas, Mexico, will demonstrate the backstrap weaving technique and discuss their community-based work and experience improving the ethical production and trade of weaving products by Indigenous women’s cooperatives. Presented in collaboration with the Inter-American Foundation and NGOImpacto.
Saturday, March 18, 2 p.m.
(USA, 2022, 100 mins.)
Director: Dan Trachtenberg, (Rated: R)
Naru, a skilled warrior of the Comanche Nation, fights to protect her tribe against one of the first highly evolved Predators to land on Earth. Guest Speakers: Amber Midthunder (Fort Peck Assiniboine) and Jhane Myers (Comanche/Blackfeet)
Live audiovisual event
Past, present, and future of the space exploration with the timeless soundtrack of Chopin’s music
Raising awareness and funds for establishing the Center of Excellence for Polish and Ukrainian specialists for Polytrauma in Poland
Tickets on sale are available at www.thespaceconcert.com
This spring, The National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center known as the home to the Space Shuttle Discovery (among other incredible exhibits), will witness an unforgettable event – “Chopin. The Space Concert”. Chopin’s timeless music, the unique NASA Space footage taken during the 2010 STS-130 space mission, and the fascinating panel discussion, at the venue that embodies the past, the present, and the future of space exploration – a match made in… Space.
Chopin. The Space Concert features the music of Frédéric Chopin that reached Space thanks to an American astronaut of Polish origin – Col. George D. Zamka who was the commander of the STS-130 mission. In February 2010 he took a CD with the music of the great Polish composer on board of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Chopin’s compositions were played during the installation of the seven-window dome, from which the astronauts had a view into Space for the first time. The observation dome, called the Cupola, is a seven-window observation portal making it the largest space window launched into orbit! And it has been a real game-changer. The footage of Chopin. The Space Concert is so breathtaking, thanks to the very existence of that Cupola.
Bollywood Bistro is hosting its first annual Holi Festival Celebration on Sunday, March 19. The festivities will take place from 11 am – 2 pm, beginning with a celebratory buffet and Holi-themed cocktails at Bollywood Bistro.
The festival kit comes with everything you need to welcome spring in the tradition of the popular Indian Festival, including a “colors you can taste” buffet, colorful lights, colorful chalk, colorful smoke bombs and music.
Holi is known as “The Festival of Colors” in India and is a celebration of the victory of good over evil. Traditionally celebrated in March, Holi is India’s most vivid, joyous festival where people across India and around the world celebrate by throwing colorful water and powders on one another as they welcome Spring. Bollywood Bistro is aligning their festival celebration with the iconic DC area welcoming of spring, which is the Cherry Blossom Festival which kicks off on Monday, March 20th.
*Tickets can be found via this link and include the all-you-can-eat buffet, a Bollywood Bistro personalized Holi T-shirt, chalk, and colorful smoke bombs (perfect for an “insta-worthy” moment) available while supplies last.*
On Thursday, March 23 at 7:30 pm the Folger Shakespeare Library’s
O.B. Hardison Poetry Series presents the Eudora Welty Lecture with Pulitzer Prize-winning author
Elizabeth Strout (Olive Kitteridge, My Name is Lucy Barton) at the National Press Club. Sponsored
by the Eudora Welty Foundation, this annual lecture celebrates creative origins in the spirit of Welty’s
treasured One Writer’s Beginnings.
Ann Patchett (Bel Canto and The Dutch House), who presented the Lecture from Welty’s living room in
Jackson, Mississippi in 2022, will introduce Strout. The Lecture will be followed by a book signing with
Elizabeth Strout.
Tickets are $25 ($20 for Folger Members and subscribers) and can be purchased at www.folger.edu/poetry
or by contacting the Folger Box Office at (202) 544-7077.
Previous Welty Lectures were delivered by Salman Rushdie in 2016, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in
2017, Richard Ford in 2018, Jesmyn Ward in 2019, and Ann Patchett in 2022.
Elizabeth Strout is widely known for her works in literary fiction and her descriptive characterization.
She was born and raised in Portland, Maine, and her experiences in her youth served as inspiration for
her novels—the fictional "Shirley Falls, Maine" is the setting of four of her seven novels. Strout's novels
include Amy and Isabelle, Abide with Me, Olive Kitteridge for which she won the Pulitzer Prize for
Fiction, The Burgess Boys, My Name Is Lucy Barton, Anything is Possible, Olive, Again, and Oh,
William!. Her latest book Lucy by the Sea was published in 2022.
Ann Patchett is the author of seven novels: The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s
Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, State of Wonder, and Commonwealth. She has written three books of
nonfiction—Truth & Beauty, about her friendship with the writer Lucy Grealy; What Now?, an expansion
of her graduation address at Sarah Lawrence College; and This is the Story of a Happy Marriage, a
collection of essays examining the theme of commitment. In 2019, she published her first children’s
book, Lambslide.
The event is NOW ON SUNDAY, MARCH 26 in pursuit of better weather! Same time, same place, same fun and FREE activities.
National Kite-Flying Day is the perfect day for the National Cherry Blossom Festival to share all the ways attendees can “spring” on the fun of kite flying, including its signature Blossom Kite Festival, taking place Saturday, March 25, 2023 (10 a.m.–4:30 p.m.) at the Washington Monument Grounds. Presented by Hilton, National Cherry Blossom Festival’s proud Premier Hotel Provider, the Blossom Kite Festival is free, fun, and open to the public and features activities, music, competitions, and performances suitable for all ages.
The Blossom Kite Festival showcases kite performances and competitions, kite-making activities, a Family Field with children’s activities, and more. Special guest, Mr. Mikio Toki, a master of traditional Edo-style kites, has traveled the world showcasing his kites and will travel from Japan to be at this year’s Blossom Kite Festival.
FEATURED PARKS: People of all ages can join Blossom Kite Festival from their homes, favorite neighborhood parks, or anywhere around the world. Participating parks in all eight D.C. wards, Maryland, and Virginia will offer free activities for local residents between April 1 and 2. All interested parties can show off their skills, virtually learn how to make and fly kites, and take to the skies on March 25. Featured parks will be listed on the Blossom Kite Festival event page.
Attendees at the Festival’s kite-flying activities can bring their own kites, purchase kites onsite, or pick up free kite kits they can decorate (while supplies last), courtesy of Hilton. Kite flyers can even purchase the official 2023 Festival kite onsite or online at National Cherry Blossom Festival Store.
COMMEMORATIVE KITES: Kite flyers can purchase commemorative kites from previous years (while supplies last) at the Festival’s online gift shop. The 2023 commemorative kite, featuring the work of the 2023 National Cherry Blossom Festival’s Official Artist Orlando Quevedo, will be available for purchase in March during the Festival at select events and in the online store.
PLANNING YOUR FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE: The Festival begins March 20 and runs through April 16. Visit the Festival website to add the Blossom Kite Festival to your calendar. When planning your Festival experience, it matters where you stay. As Premier Hotel Provider, Hilton has over 100 properties in the Washington, D.C., area to meet the needs of any kite enthusiast seeking a staycation or vacation throughout the Festival season. Visit the Festival hotel page to learn more about recommended Hilton hotels.