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Northern Virginia and the D.C. area head into May with a crowded calendar of concerts, dance, theater, art and hands-on activities. The 14th annual Running of the Chihuahuas is among the weekend’s biggest draws, while alpaca happy hour makes its final April appearance and NOVA Labs opens its workshops for free tours.

Live music

Split String Soup brings its blend of bluegrass, Americana, country and classic rock to Solace Outpost, 444 W. Broad St., at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 2.

Clare & Don’s Beach Shack, 130 N. Washington St., hosts GrooveJet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, May 7. The band mixes New Orleans jazz, funk and other styles.

Settle Down Easy Brewery, 2822 Fallfax Drive in Falls Church, holds an open mic from 6 to 9 p.m. every Tuesday.

George Mason University’s Dewberry School of Music celebrates International Jazz Day at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at the Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive in Fairfax. The 2026 observance coincides with the United States’ 250th anniversary and the centennial of Miles Davis. Tickets are $19 for the general public, $14 for seniors and $9 for students, including fees.

The Cathedral Brass presents opera and musical-theater selections at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at the Stacy C. Sherwood Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd. in Fairfax. Soprano Danielle Talamantes and bass-baritone Kerry Wilkerson join the ensemble for music by Mozart, Bernstein, Andrew Lloyd Webber and Wagner. Admission is free.

Nearly 80 cities will be represented when Equity Arc’s pre-college and collegiate musicians perform at 1 p.m. Sunday, May 3, in Capital One Hall’s Main Theater, 7750 Capital One Tower Road in Tysons. Rodney Dorsey and Lina González-Granados lead the Wind Symphony and Pathways Orchestra in works by composers including Tchaikovsky, Florence Price, Jessie Montgomery and Carlos Simon.

Pianist, vocalist and composer Amy K. Bormet leads “Time Travel,” an outdoor jazz concert inspired by Hillwood’s “On Time: Giving Form to the Fleeting” exhibition. The program runs from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens, 4155 Linnean Ave. NW. Guests should bring chairs or blankets. Tickets are $30 for nonmembers, $25 for members, $10 for students and $5 for children ages 6 to 18; younger children enter free.

Camerata RCO, composed of musicians from Amsterdam’s Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra, performs Mozart, Brahms and an arrangement of Dvořák’s Seventh Symphony from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Dumbarton Concerts, 3133 Dumbarton St. NW. In-person admission is $48, while a livestream costs $14 and remains available for 48 hours. A free artist program is scheduled for 6 p.m. in the church social hall.

Dance and film

George Mason choreographers unveil new work in “Spring: Dance Innovations 2026” at the university’s School of Dance, 4471 Aquia Creek Lane in Fairfax. Performances are at 2 and 7 p.m. Friday, May 1, and 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Tickets cost $24 for the general public and $16 for seniors and students.

Dorrance Dance makes its Center for the Arts debut with “The Center Will Not Hold” at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at 4373 Mason Pond Drive. Created by Ephrat “Bounce” Asherie and Michelle Dorrance, the hourlong work brings together 11 performers and dance forms including house, breaking, hip-hop, tap, Chicago footwork, Detroit jit, litefeet, Memphis jookin and body percussion. John Angeles provides live percussion. Tickets range from $41 to $65, with half-price admission for youths through grade 12. The all-ages performance will be audio-described.

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company closes its Woolly Mammoth engagement Sunday, May 3. The program draws from the company’s 33-year repertoire, emphasizes Asian American experiences and includes the premiere of “Drawing in Space,” a tribute to artist Ruth Asawa. Performances at 641 D St. NW are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. May 1, 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 2, and 2 p.m. May 3.

The National Gallery of Art screens two restored silent films from the 2025 National Film Registry selections from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 2, in the East Building auditorium. Frank Shaw’s 1914 “The Oath of the Sword,” the earliest surviving film produced by Asian Americans, follows a tragic love triangle. Roy Calneck’s 1926 “Ten Nights in a Barroom,” one of two surviving films from the Colored Players Film Corporation of Philadelphia, stars Charles Sidney Gilpin as a man struggling with alcoholism. George Willeman of the Library of Congress introduces the program, which features prerecorded scores by Donald Sosin.

Theater takes over local stages

Creative Cauldron’s free Bold New Voices Festival continues Saturdays through May 9 at 127 E. Broad St., with readings at 2 and 7:30 p.m. The program supports new plays and musicals by women and underserved writers.

The selections are Sarah Lina Sparks’ “The C Word,” about five museum-job candidates trapped by an oracle; Gaelyn D. Smith’s “Live From My Dad’s Couch,” a cabaret-style look at Gen Z’s entry into adulthood; Danielle Moore and Zachary Sloan’s big-band musical “His Girl Friday”; and Diana Burbano’s plague drama “Policarpa: Apocalypse Sur Amerikka.”

George Mason’s Musical Theater Ensemble stages Jason Robert Brown’s “Songs for a New World” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, May 1, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at the deLaski Performing Arts Building. Erin Gardiner directs, with musical direction by Joe Walsh. Admission is free or pay-what-you-can, with contributions supporting the School of Theater.

Nova Nightsky Theater presents “Anthropology” at Falls Church Presbyterian Church’s Memorial Hall, 225 E. Broad St. The thriller follows a grieving woman who creates an artificial-intelligence version of her late sister, only to discover that the digital twin is keeping secrets.

Synetic Theater’s teen performers bring a clowning and commedia-inspired “Cyrano” to Gunston Middle School, 2700 S. Lang St. in Arlington, at 7 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Despite earlier performances pairing the play with a preteen production of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf,” the second weekend features “Teen Cyrano” only.

“I & You: The Musical” runs through May 24 at Olney Theatre Center, 2001 Olney-Sandy Spring Road in Olney. Based on Lauren Gunderson’s play, the story pairs chronically ill Caroline with classmate Anthony for an assignment about Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself.” Ari Afsar wrote the music and lyrics, and Sarah Rasmussen directs. Weekend performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. April 30 and May 1, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. May 2, and 1:30 p.m. May 3.

GALA Hispanic Theatre opens “Aguardiente: Where Magic Transcends Borders” at 8 p.m. Thursday, April 30, at 3333 14th St. NW. Written, directed and choreographed by Luis Salgado, with music by Daniel Gutiérrez, the musical follows Colombian and Puerto Rican writers from New York reconnecting with Caribbean culture through cumbia, bomba, currulao and the magical realism of Gabriel García Márquez. The production continues through May 24.

Vienna Theatre Company stages “My Fair Lady” at 120 Cherry St. SE, with performances at 7 p.m. May 1 and 2 and 2 p.m. May 3. The Lerner and Loewe musical follows flower seller Eliza Doolittle as Professor Henry Higgins attempts to transform her speech and social standing.

“The Book of Mormon” closes Sunday, May 3, at the National Theatre, 1321 Pennsylvania Ave. NW. Remaining performances are at 7:30 p.m. April 30 and May 1, 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 2, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. May 3. The nine-time Tony Award-winning comedy about two mismatched missionaries contains explicit language.

Tracy Letts’ “The Minutes” also closes May 3, completing its D.C. premiere at Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. Susan Marie Rhea directs the dark civic satire, in which an apparently routine council meeting exposes the secrets beneath a small town’s patriotic image.

Ford’s Theatre continues “1776” through May 16 at 511 10th St. NW. Directed and choreographed by Luis Salgado, the three-hour musical depicts John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson and the Second Continental Congress debating independence. An audio-described performance is set for 1 p.m. May 2, followed by an ASL-interpreted performance at 1 p.m. May 9. The production is recommended for ages 13 and older.

Mosaic Theatre Company’s “Young John Lewis: Prodigy of Protest” reaches its final performance at 7:30 p.m. Sunday, May 3, at 1333 H St. NE. Other shows are sold out. Written by psalmayene 24 with music by KOKAYI, the musical examines Lewis’ life from ages 18 to 28, including the influence of Emmett Till’s murder and Lewis’ work with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Lameece Issaq’s one-woman show “A Good Day to Me Not to You” closes May 3 at Arena Stage’s Kogod Cradle, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Directed by Lee Sunday Evans, the 85-minute comedy centers on a dental lab technician who loses her job and moves into a women’s residence operated by nuns while confronting grief and her unrealized hopes for motherhood. It contains adult language and mature material.

Galleries and exhibitions

Loida Velilla’s “Slices of Life” is on view free through Aug. 2 at Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad St. Her paintings in acrylics and pastels use abstraction and bold impressionism to explore color, design and personal connection.

Fairfax’s Spotlight on the Arts Festival concludes Sunday, May 3, at Capital One Hall in Tysons. Its art contest attracted nearly 400 entries, with prizes including a $1,500 grand award, $1,000 second-place award, $500 student prize and $500 Community Choice Award.

Kevin Jones’ “Reflections in Black and White” runs through June 20 at George Mason University’s Art and Design Building, 4400 University Drive in Fairfax. The large, detailed drawings reinterpret classical masterworks through science fiction, comics, anime and Afrofuturism. A free reception is planned from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, May 8.

“Within Reach: Artists & the Built Environment” remains at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, 3550 Wilson Blvd., through May 24. Gerardo Camargo, Megan Mueller and Nicholas Wisniewski use installation, collage, found materials and drywall carving to examine housing, construction labor, infrastructure and the ways built spaces become commodities and status markers.

The National Gallery of Art hosts several free programs this weekend. A virtual discussion of John Cohen’s “Tenth Street, New York City” begins at 1 p.m. Friday, May 1. Mindful “Finding Awe” workshops focus on Rubens’ “Daniel in the Lions’ Den” from 2:15 to 4 p.m. May 1 and Georgia O’Keeffe’s “A Black Bird with Snow-Covered Red Hills” at the same time May 2. Photographer Alec Soth discusses his images of Niagara Falls, newlyweds, lovers and roadside life from noon to 1 p.m. May 2 in the East Building auditorium. Registration is required for these programs.

The Kreeger Museum, 2401 Foxhall Road NW, displays Imar Lyman’s “Echo/Location: Exploring the Extra-Sensory” through July 11. The D.C. artist combines collage, painting, sculpture and printmaking in an exhibition that engages with works by Sam Gilliam and Frank Stella.

“Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art” continues through Aug. 23 at the National Museum of African Art, 1400 Constitution Ave. NW. Curated by Kevin D. Dumouchelle and Serubiri Moses, the exhibition presents nearly 60 works by LGBTQ+ artists from Africa and its global diaspora, emphasizing identity, history, family, spirituality, resistance and joy.

The National Gallery marks 100 years since Mary Cassatt’s death with about 40 paintings, drawings and prints in Gallery 86 of its West Building. The free exhibition continues through Aug. 30.

“Material Witness” fills 23 galleries at the Rubell Museum Washington, 65 I St. SW, through fall 2026. Thirty artists use unconventional materials—including squid ink, Coca-Cola, ostrich eggs, lipstick, metal and animal hides—to explore consumption, decay, environmental change and renewal.

The National Museum of Asian Art presents 48 works in “Of the Hills: Pahari Paintings from India’s Himalayan Kingdoms” through July 26. The exhibition examines paintings made for Hindu kings between the 1620s and 1830s and includes works that have never previously been shown publicly.

Nick Cave’s “Mammoth” transforms the Smithsonian American Art Museum into an immersive landscape of constructed mammoth remains, animated projections and repurposed objects. Inspired partly by Cave’s family history in rural Missouri, the free exhibition runs through Jan. 3, 2027.

Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, 12001 Market St. in Reston, pairs work by Janet Loren Hill and Andrew Casto through July 25. Hill’s shaped paintings examine labor and coercion through surreal figures, while Casto translates geological processes into ceramic and mixed-media vessels.

“Miró and the United States” continues through July 5 at the Phillips Collection, 1600 21st St. NW. Its 75 works by more than 30 artists explore Joan Miró’s exchanges with figures including Alexander Calder, Louise Bourgeois, Lee Krasner, Norman Lewis, Jackson Pollock and Helen Frankenthaler.

The National Portrait Gallery displays the 19 finalists in its 2025 Teen Portrait Competition through Aug. 30. Matilda Myers of Maryland won the 13-to-15 age division with “Rest,” showing a ballerina beside a pickaxe. California’s Kate Stermer won the 16-to-17 division with “The Cost of Conformity,” a black-and-white image of a teen manipulating cars with marionette strings. More than 1,100 entries arrived from 48 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and Washington.

At the National Museum of Asian Art, “Vishnu’s Cosmic Ocean” reunites surviving portions of a nearly 20-foot Cambodian bronze for the first time in centuries. The sculpture depicts Vishnu resting on a serpent in the primordial ocean. The exhibition runs through Sept. 7 and includes a film by Cambodian American director praCh Ly.

The Rubell Museum also hosts “Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift” through fall 2026. Four monumental quilted works created during Kincaid’s 2023 Miami residency explore ancestry, identity, place and community.

“Making Their Mark” brings roughly 80 works by nearly 70 artists to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, 1250 New York Ave. NW, through July 26. Organized into seven thematic sections, the exhibition challenges boundaries between art and craft through painting, sculpture, textiles, beadwork, ceramics and installation.

McLean Project for the Arts presents “Yasmine C. Iskander: Life Through the Power of Color” through June 7 at 1234 Ingleside Ave. The late artist, who lived from 1998 to 2024, used vibrant abstraction to express joy, medical hardship and her experience as a Deaf person. An opening reception is scheduled from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, May 14.

“Best Laid Plans: Unrealized Projects from the Archives of American Art” runs through Oct. 18 at the Lawrence A. Fleischman Gallery, First Floor, Eighth and F streets NW. The exhibition brings unfinished artworks and abandoned proposals for publications, exhibitions and other projects out of archival storage.

Outdoor fun, workshops and unusual encounters

West Falls has begun a spring and summer series in Commons Park, 201 W. Falls Station Blvd. Free live music runs from 6 to 9 p.m. Fridays. A free trivia tournament meets from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursdays from May 7 through June 11, while $10 Barre3 classes begin from 9 to 10 a.m. Saturday, May 9, and return every second Saturday.

Peruvian Brothers, 1450 South Eads St., hosts its last alpaca happy hour of April from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, April 30. Mini alpacas will visit while the restaurant serves food and drinks.

Arlington Poet Laureate Jennifer Kronovet leads a reading and low-pressure writing workshop from 2 to 3 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave. The free adult program welcomes experienced writers and newcomers, but registration is required.

NOVA Labs opens its workshops at 3850 Jermantown Road in Fairfax for free guided tours from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 2. Visitors can see spaces devoted to robotics, 3-D printing, CNC carving, digital fabrication, laser art, woodworking, blacksmithing and glassmaking. The tour is part of the 2026 Spotlight on the Arts Festival.

A free watercolor workshop runs from 2:30 to 4:30 p.m. May 2 at the Stacy C. Sherwood Center in Fairfax. Amanda Fletchersmith will teach line-and-wash techniques using ink and watercolor. Registration is required, and participants should bring pens, watercolor paper, paints, masking tape, brushes, pencils and an eraser.

Historian Brooke Newman discusses “The Crown’s Silence: The Hidden History of the British Monarchy and Slavery in the Americas” in a virtual Library of Congress program from noon to 1 p.m. Monday, May 4. Manuscript Division historian Julie Miller joins the conversation about Newman’s research and advisory work for “The Two Georges: Parallel Lives in an Age of Revolution.”

The 14th annual Running of the Chihuahuas takes over District Pier at the Wharf from 2 to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 2. More than 150 dogs will race eight at a time along a 60-foot course, with the action shown on a large screen. Proceeds benefit Rural Dog Rescue.

Races start at 2 p.m., followed by an adoptable-pet parade at 2:30, an all-breed costume contest at 3:15, the Cinco Says Challenge at 4 and the final race and check presentation at 4:30. The free event also includes a beer garden, DJ, inflatable Chihuahua and a separate watch zone on Transit Pier.

Children can explore ponds and streams during “Water We Waiting For?!” from 2 to 3:30 p.m. Saturday, May 2, at Potomac Overlook Regional Park, 2845 N. Marcey Road in Arlington. Participants will search for amphibians, meet an aquatic turtle, net for eels and race homemade pirate boats. The program costs $12 per participant ages 7 and older, and children must attend with an adult. Advance registration and shoes that can get wet are required.

Club Volo’s Friday beach-volleyball league continues from 6 to 9 p.m. through June 5 at 223 23rd St. South in National Landing. Four-player teams may have no more than three men on the court and need at least two players, including one woman, to begin a match. Games use rally scoring in a best-of-three format, with sets played to 21, 21 and 15.