Good day, DC!
Winter Restaurant Week is back with hundreds of eateries showcasing special pre-fixe menus. Also, Planet Word unveils the expansion of its teched-out language gallery this weekend.
Best Things to Do This Week and Weekend
January 20–January 25
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- Winter Restaurant Week. Eat discounted bites at local restaurants during DC’s Winter Restaurant Week. Foodies can savor multi-course lunches, brunches, and dinners at eateries such as Barbouzard, L’Ardente, Love, Makoto, and more than 200 others (through Sunday, prices vary, multiple DC locations).
- Word Worlds Discovery Day at Planet Word. Experience the opening of three new immersive additions to the “Word Worlds Gallery” at Planet Word this weekend. Museum-goers are invited to learn about language and adjectives through a motion-activated landscape that highlights words from the imaginative scenes of underwater, jungle, and outer space. In addition to checking out the new exhibition, there are pop-up curator talks, a scavenger hunt, and more all-ages fun to enjoy on Discovery Day (Sun, free+, Downtown).
- NMWA Nights. After-hours fun returns to the National Museum of Women in the Arts this week. Create your own art, go on a guided tour of the photography exhibition “Ruth Orkin: Women on the Move,” and donate professional clothing to Suited for Change at NMWA Nights (Wed, $25, Downtown).
- The Reading Room Festival. Sit in on Shakespeare-themed staged readings, panel discussions, and workshops at The Reading Room Festival. The festival is a great way to attend previews of brand new productions before they travel to major stages. For an upbeat musical show, check out the Dark Lady (Thurs-Sun, $20 for individual pass, $125 for pass, Capitol Hill).
Want More Things to Do?
Arts and culture:
- See some of Peter Campus’s works from the ’70s, and check out the debut of four of his more recent video installations at The Phillips Collection (through May 3, $20, Dupont Circle).
- Browse an art market, create tie-dye shirts, and listen to live bands play Y2K throwbacks at Dyke Party (Tues, free with a $5 suggested donation for tie-dye, Brookland).
- Write three short poems at the guided Pride Poetry Workshop (Tues, free, Downtown).
- Tickets to hear writer and actor Jennette McCurdy discuss her new title Half His Age are sold out, but you can snag a virtual seat and a copy of the book (Thurs, $38, virtual).
- Browse new cars at The Washington, DC Auto Show (Fri through February 1, $15+, Walter E. Washington Convention Center).
- Watch artists face off in a canvas art battle at Black Cat (Fri, $24, Shaw).
- Watch giant trucks trample over obstacles at Monster Jam (Sat-Sun, $34+, Capital One Arena).
Community and heritage:
- Learn how Africans fought against the transatlantic slave trade at this Profs and Pints lecture with Richard Bell (Tues, $14, Penn Quarter).
- Immerse yourself in Scottish culture and cuisine at Fish Shop’s Burns Night (Sat, $85, Wharf).
Theater and shows:
- Dave Malloy’s a cappella chamber musical Octet presents a staged-in-the-round production on internet addiction at Studio Theatre (through February 22, $55+, Logan Circle).
Music and concerts:
- Indie-pop soloist Del Water Gap stops by the 9:30 Club (Tues, $192, Shaw).
- Indie-funk band Magic City Hippies is live in concert (Wed, $40, Shaw).
- Country music star Eric Church makes a DC tour stop at The Anthem (Thurs, $154+, Wharf).
- A host of hardcore bands such as PsyOp, Ousted, and others perform at Pie Shop (Sun, $21+, H Street Corridor).
- Sudan Archives blends genres such as hip-hop and folk music at her live 9:30 Club show (Sun, $40, Shaw).
Get involved:
- Indulge in a variety of cakes and pastries at the Winter Wonderland Bake Festival to help raise funds for Christ House—a medical facility for men facing homelessness (Fri, donations welcome, Adams Morgan).
Things to do with kids:
- Puppets, dance, and sing-alongs will keep youngsters entertained at Gabby’s Dollhouse Live (Wed-Thurs), $37+, National Theatre).
- The National Symphony Orchestra piano quintet plays narrated stories from The Carnival of the Animals (Sat-Sun, $25, Kennedy Center).
Plan ahead:
- Mega star Bruno Mars is back on tour after a near-decade hiatus. Tickets for his two DC concerts are on sale and are going fast (May 2-3, $165+, Northwest Stadium).
If you enjoyed these events, please don’t forget to share this post with a friend on social media, and sign up for our newsletter for more things to do.
Briana A. Thomas is a local journalist, historian, and tour guide who specializes in the research of D.C. history and culture. She is the author of the Black history book, Black Broadway in Washington, D.C., a story that was first published in Washingtonian in 2016.
