THURSDAY, JULY 13
FILM The Library of Congress is hosting a six-week outdoor film festival called LOC Summer Movies on the Lawn, featuring several modern classics that have been added to the National Film Registry. The series, which runs through August 17, will show films on the north lawn of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, beginning with The Princess Bride. Free (registration suggested), 8 PM.
COMEDY Comedian and actress Margaret Cho will perform a benefit show for the George Washington University’s LGBT Health Policy & Practice Program at Lisner Auditorium. Cho has appeared on stage, in film, and on television since the 1990s and has written two books. $55-$150, 7 PM. (Read our interview with Cho.)
FRIDAY, JULY 14
MUSEUMS If you want to celebrate Bastille Day with food and drink, check out our round-up of the best parties around DC. But for those who choose to observe la Fête Nationale with art, the National Gallery of Art has several programs of interest: a guided tour of its French art collection at 12:30 PM, a pop-up talk on the “America Collects Eighteenth-Century French Painting” exhibit at 1 PM, and the launch of an accompanying film series with a screening of Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette at 2 PM. Free.
MUSIC The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s monthly Luce Unplugged Community Showcase hosts local bands at the museum with free tastings from Port City Brewing Company. This month’s showcase features Escape-ism, a band featuring longtime DC musician Ian Svenonius (Nation of Ulysses, the Make-Up, and Weird War), and Luke Stewart’s experimental-jazz ensemble Irreversible Entanglements. Free, 6 PM.
SATURDAY, JULY 15
FOOD Union Market is hosting the seventh annual DC Scoop ice cream contest at Dock 5. Local ice cream vendors will put out their best scoops to win the title of “Best Ice Cream”, as voted on by attendees. Participants include last year’s winner, Milk Cult, Trickling Springs Creamery, Carmen’s Italian Ice, and TropQ. Free, 1 PM.
MUSIC Merriweather Post Pavilion is celebrates its 50th anniversary with a special concert featuring a few of the venue’s “greatest hits” over the last 50 years. The show will be co-headlined by Willie Nelson and Jackson Browne, who recorded the song “Running on Empty” at Merriweather in 1977; Fleet Foxes alum Father John Misty will open the show, which will be hosted by Grace Potter. $55-$125, 6 PM.
SUNDAY, JULY 16
BOOKS In 1856, John C. Frémont was the first presidential candidate of the new Republican Party; it was the first race in which a major party took a stand against slavery. Although Frémont had the support of African-Americans and women and a strong showing in the north, he lost to James Buchanan. Author John Bicknell looks at this pivotal election in his new book Lincoln’s Pathfinder: John C. Fremont and the Violent Election of 1856, which he will discuss at Politics & Prose. Free, 5 PM.
FILM The National Air and Space Museum hosts a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey. The film was released months before the Apollo 11 moon landing and helped shape the public’s perception of space travel. Prior to the screening, ticket-holders can browse the “Apollo to the Moon” gallery on the Museum’s second floor. $15, 5:50 PM (exhibit) and 6:50 PM (film).
