What to Know
- Weekend weather: It'll be cool and overcast-to-rainy for the rest of the week. Sunday's looking pretty good, though. Here’s the forecast.
- Pools are open, if you're willing to brave the cold and rain to jump on in. Pick a spot from our handy dandy pool guide.
- AAPI Heritage Month is coming to a close. Watch our special here; then consider stopping by one of the restaurants or cultural centers we highlighted before the month is out.
- Pride Month: As one cultural celebration month ends, another begins. We've got our big guide to WorldPride here, and info on community celebrations below - many of which are free and family-friendly.
- UMD had a very special Kerm-mencement speaker this year. Watch Kermit's speech, then catch his interview with News4's Tommy McFly here.
If you skipped town for the long weekend, welcome back! If you stayed in the DMV, we hope you got to enjoy a cookout or two, and that the heat from the grill kept you warm despite the drizzle and cool temperatures.
Stream NBC4 newscasts for free right here, right now.
WATCH HEREIt’ll be hot and humid before we know it, so we’re looking ahead to all the best parts of the season: The beach trips, the outdoor movies, the summer concerts and music fests, and of course Pride Month right around the corner.
The long weekend may be over, but the summer is just getting started.
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Community Pride celebrations kick off
Happy Pride Month!
Sunday is June 1, the first day of a month of reminders that love is love, and love is all around your community, no matter where in the DMV you are.
It also means that WorldPride D.C., which has already started, will ramp up exponentially. We'll have more about the big annual Pride parade and other tentpole D.C. events next week.
In the meantime, here are some places you can get loud and proud right away:
Free pick
❤️ Arlington Pride Vendor Festival
Sat., 9 a.m. - 6 p.m., Hyatt Regency Crystal City
🔗 Details
This vendor fest at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City near DCA will feature local vendors, food and music. The Saturday event is free to enter, starts at 9 a.m. and goes until 6 p.m.
🧡 Loudoun Pride Festival
Sat., noon - 6 p.m., $5, Ida Lee Park in Leesburg
🔗 Details
This Pride celebration in Leesburg's Ida Lee Park this Saturday has plenty to offer for the $5 admission price. Attractions include the "Dragstravaganza," crafts, food and drink, and local nonprofits and businesses. There's also a kids' zone complete with face painting and a bounce house.
Free pick
💛 Takoma Pride Parade and Street Fair
Sun., 9:30 a.m. - 2 p.m., 201 Ethan Allen Ave. for the parade start or 6929 Laurel Ave. for the street fair
🔗 Details
This parade is open to anyone and everyone who wants to march. Poster-making starts at 9:30 a.m. before the parade at 10. The street fair also starts at 10 a.m. and goes until 2 p.m. Whether you walk in the parade or just want to watch, it's free and family-friendly.
Free pick
💚 Rockville Pride
Sun., 2-5 p.m., Rockville Town Square
🔗 Details
Rockville's annual Pride event is put together by the city's Human Rights Commission, and takes place in Rockville Town Square. This year, the Sunday afternoon event includes an interactive artwork celebrating LGBTQ+ identities.
Free pick
💙 Glen Echo Park
Sun., 11 a.m.-2 p.m., Glen Echo Park
🔗 Details
The beautiful and historic park is hosting a free Pride Family Day this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Activities for the kiddos include face painting, puppet shows, and free tickets to ride the famous carousel and enter the aquarium.
💜 Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival POSTPONED UNTIL FALLSat., 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Maryland Hall
🔗 Details
This Saturday, why not take a little road trip to kick off Pride month? The parade starts at 11 a.m., followed by the family-friendly festival at noon. There's a float contest for the parade, which should provide a great spectacle.
The Annapolis Pride Parade, originally scheduled to take place on Saturday, has been postponed due to severe weather. On Saturday, "with showers and thunderstorms possible between 2 and 4 p.m. Winds will be from the west at 13 to 15 MPH with gusts as high as 26 MPH," conditions will not allow for outdoor activities.
According to Annapolis Pride, "Organizers will work with the City of Annapolis to select a new date in the fall."
📜 Free pick: Explore the exhibit Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington (through July 6, Freedom Plaza)
DC-area concerts
Summer means the height of concert season in the DMV, and this summer in particular comes with a lot of early 2000s throwbacks. (Anyone remember The Fray?)
Plenty of music festivals also are on tap, including the return of Warped Tour to D.C. (Stay tuned for our longer guide to those fests.)
In the meantime, there's something for everyone looking to dance it out this weekend:
🎶 The Avett Brothers
Fri. and Sat., Wolf Trap. Tickets start at $61.
🔗 Details
🎶 Halsey
Sat., Jiffy Lube Live. Lawn tickets are $30, but you can get Closer for just under $200.
🔗 Details
🎶 Shakira CANCELED Sat., Nats Park. She's the official headliner for the WorldPride DC Welcome Concert. Tickets start at $200.
🔗 Details
The Shakira concert at Nats Park, billed as the welcome concert for WorldPride DC, was canceled unexpectedly on Friday afternoon. Learn more here.
🎶 Post Malone
Mon., Northwest Stadium. Tickets start at $54.
🔗 Details
Music Snob picks
Matt Berninger
8 p.m. Thursday, Lincoln Theatre, $51.35
🔗Details
The National’s crooner brings his breathy baritone to D.C. on the eve of the release of his new solo LP, “Get Sunk.”
Liberation Weekend
Friday and Saturday, Black Cat ($41.40, 6:30 p.m.) and DC9 ($38.11, 11 p.m.)
Rising D.C. punks Ekko Astral co-organized this Pride celebration of music and arts with the nonprofit Gender Liberation Movement. The acts include L’Rain, Ted Leo, Speedy Ortiz, Bartees Strange, Downtown Boys and Home Is Where, as well some of D.C.’s best bands like Pinky Lemon, Pretty Bitter and the co-organizers Ekko Astral themselves. Shows and other festival events are hosted by Black Cat and DC9.
If you want even more options, check out this list of artists with $30 tickets from Live Nation.
More weekend highlights
KaptureCon
Sat. 6:30-8:30 p.m. at DAR Constitution Hall, $29.55 and up
🔗 Details.
The DMV is getting its first ever K-pop convention this weekend, held right in downtown D.C.
It's all thanks to two sisters — both K-pop fans, of course — who realized not everyone on the East Coast can travel to L.A. to meet other members of the community. Rather than lament the lack of opportunity, Ashlee Nanze and Glory “Glow” Ngwe created their own.
“We were just like, ‘OK, let's just, let's just do it, see how it goes,’” Nanze said.
If you missed out on convention tickets, seats are still available for the concert featuring groups BLACKSWAN and AMPERS&ONE, plus solo artist Hohyun.
"DC, I Love You"
Sat. and Sun., every half-hour from 1-3:30 p.m. in Mt. Pleasant, $30/person or $50/2 people
🔗 Details.
The Folger Shakespeare Library is turning the Mt. Pleasant neighborhood into a stage for real love stories from the community.
"DC, I Love You" promises "an immersive experience" featuring "a collection of scenes that share vignettes about first dates," the Folger tells us. They got the stories from a 2024 workshop, and this weekend they'll be sharing those stories with the world, in the world, like the Bard himself said.
It's not the first time they've put together this kind of performance — "San Diego, I Love You" took place last year — but it is the first District-based show.
"Twelfth Night"
Now through June 22, Folger Theatre, tickets start at $20
🔗 Details.
Just in time for Pride Month, the Folger Theatre is bringing one of William Shakespeare's most gender-fluid plays to the stage.
If you haven't read it since high school (or you only remember the 2006 reinterpretation "She's the Man"), "Twelfth Night" is the story of Viola, who loses her twin brother in a shipwreck. After washing up on shore, Viola disguises herself as her twin and enters the world of Duke Orsino — and the Countess Olivia, who falls head-over-heels for the mysterious newcomer. Queer-coded shenanigans ensue.
The Folger Theatre's take, directed by Meio Ann Teo, has been running for a couple of weeks already and will continue until the end of June. Kids under age 4 aren't allowed in, but with tickets starting at $20, it's an otherwise very accessible show.
What to do in Washington, D.C.
Shakespeare Theatre Company’s “Frankenstein”: Opens Tues., Klein Theatre in Northwest D.C., $39+
First Sips of Summer: Fri., 5-10 p.m., Smoke & Mirrors, $70+
DC Defenders vs. St. Louis Battlehawks: Fri., 8 p.m., Audi Field
National Arboretum extended hours: Fri., Open until 8 p.m., Northeast D.C., free
Washington Mystics vs. New York Liberty (Pride Night): Fri., 7:30 p.m., CareFirst Arena in Southeast D.C., $62+
Jazz In the Garden: Fri., 6-8:30 p.m., National Gallery of Art, free (registration required)
Extraordinary Cinema: The Bourne Identity: Fri., 8:30 p.m., The Reach Lawn at the Kennedy Center, free
Ctrl+Alt+Connect: Spritz Sol Flow: Sat., 9 a.m. - 12 p.m., Eckington Hall, $58.30
Scavenger Hunt of the Smithsonians: Sat., 11:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., $20
(D)rafts and (C)rafts: Sat., 1-6 p.m., DC Brau, $10-55
34th Annual Glover Park Day: Sat., 11 a.m. - 5 p.m., Guy Mason Recreation Center
Newark Street Community Garden 50th Anniversary Celebration: Sat., 1-3 p.m., Newark Street Community Garden, free
Color Me Calm: An Adult Coloring Experience: Sat., 2-5 p.m., Anacostia Arts Center, $30
An Evening In Paris at the Embassy of France: Sat., 7-11 p.m., Embassy of France, $99+
Jazz In the Heights Festival: Sat.-Sun., Sycamore & Oak, free (reserved tickets)
Project Glow ‘25: Sat.-Sun., RFK Festival Grounds, $105+
Crochet Classes with Fairy Ring Fibers: Sun., 11 a.m., Rhizome DC, pay what you wish ($35 recommended)
What to do in Maryland
A Taste of Riverworks: Sat., 11 a.m., Poolesville, free
Annapolis Pride Parade & Festival: Sat., 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Calvert & Bladen Sts. Annapolis, free
EFFERVESCENT: A Pride Social: Sat., 7-11 p.m., Creative Suitland Arts Center, $17.85
In the Life: A LGBTQIA + Pride Celebration: Sat., noon to 5 p.m., Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex, free
Salute the Sunset: United States Air Force Concert Band: Sat., 7-8 p.m., National Harbor, free
Pride Family Day: Sun., 11 a.m., Glen Echo Park, free
DMG plays Bowies Summer Sunset: Sun., 6 p.m., Allen Pond Park, free
What to do in Virginia
Chicago the Musical: Fri.-Sun., Capital One Hall, $80+
Fab Fridays Live Music: All Fired Up: Fri., 7 p.m.., Reston Metro Plaza, free
Arlington Pride Vendor Festival: Sat., 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Hyatt Regency DCA, free
Nature Journaling Club: Sat., 10 a.m., Del Ray Artisans Gallery, free (bring your own supplies)
Loudon Pride Festival: Sat., 12-6 p.m., Ida Lee Park, $5
Virginia Wine Festival: Sat.-Sun., Tyson’s Corner, $55+ CANCELED due to "unforeseen circumstances"
Big Lick Comic Con NOVA: Sat.-Sun., Dulles Expo Center, $25+
Movie at the Mill - 'Pride & Prejudice': Sat., 8:30 p.m., Colvin Run Mill, $10
16th Annual Taste of Del Ray: Sun., 1-3 p.m., Mount Vernon Recreation Center Fields, $10-$75
