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The final weekend of September brings a crowded regional calendar, with outdoor art in Falls Church, a family festival at Amazon’s HQ2, concerts across Northern Virginia and Maryland, and dozens of theater and museum options throughout the Washington area.

Art festivals and exhibitions

Falls Church Arts will bring 50 artists outside City Hall, 300 Park Ave., for the 2025 “Scenes in the City” Plein Air Festival from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday, Sept. 27. Visitors can watch artists paint Falls Church locations, buy finished work and visit the nearby farmers market. The event is organized with the City of Falls Church, the Arts and Humanities Council of Falls Church, Arts Fairfax and the Little City CATCH Foundation.

The Falls Church Arts gallery at 700-B W. Broad St. is also entering the final weekend of “Layers,” an all-media exhibition featuring work by 68 local artists. The show closes Sept. 28.

Glen Echo Park’s fourth annual Echo Arts Festival runs from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, at 7300 Macarthur Blvd. in Glen Echo, Maryland. The free, all-ages celebration offers interactive visual and performing arts programming across the park. It also coincides with the final day of the 2025 carousel season.

McLean Project for the Arts, 1234 Ingleside Ave., is participating in “Women Artists of the DMV,” billed as the first survey devoted to female visual artists from the District, Maryland, Virginia and the broader Washington region. Curated by Lenny Campello and led by the American University Museum at the Katzen Arts Center, the project spans 18 art spaces, with participating exhibitions running for six to 12 weeks beginning in September 2025.

The artists shown at MPA include Shiri Achu, Patricia Autenrieth, Michele Banks, Ann Barbieri, Denée Barr, Carol Barsha, Holly Bass, Karin Birch, Liliane Blom, Kristin Bohlander, Laurie Breen, Maria Brito, Dianne Bugash, Melissa Burley, Anne Calamuci, Sue Canuteson, Rachel Carren, Mei Mei Chang, Hsin-Hsi Chen, Irene Clouthier, Sheila Crider, Jacqui Crocetta, Joan Danziger, Catherine Day, Jen Droblyen, Cheryl Edwards, Rita Elsner, Felisa Federman, Jill Finsen, Helena Gallegos O’Neill, Janis Goodman, Freya Grand, Beatrice Hamblett, Elyse Harrison, Mira Hecht, Dorothy Hickson, Jackie Hoysted, Anna Katalkina, Lori Katz, Linda Lawler, Kyujin Lee, Liz Lescault, Taina Litwak, Julia Malakoff, Carolina Mayorga, Donna McCullough, Camille Mosley-Pasley, Susana Raab, Lesley Riley, April Shelford, Judy Southerland, Hillary Steel and Ellyn Weiss.

“Chris Gregson: Expedition” remains at the Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, 888 N. Quincy St., Suite 102, in Arlington through Oct. 27. Gallery hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Principle Gallery, 208 King St. in Alexandria, is showing work by Stephen Early, a classically trained figurative artist and former professional illustrator. Early studied at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, the Art Institute of Philadelphia and the Art Students League of New York. A teaching fellow at Studio Incamminati since its 2002 founding, he received Certificates of Excellence in the Portrait Society of America’s competitions in 2008 and 2010.

“Weeds & Seeds” closes Sept. 28 at Reston Art Gallery, 11400 Washington Plaza West.

At the Renwick Gallery, 8th and G streets NW, Justin Favela’s “Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel)” fills the Rubenstein Grand Salon with gold-fringed walls and piñata corncobs. Favela, a Las Vegas artist of Guatemalan and Mexican heritage, combines cartonería with the ornate influence of 18th-century Mexican churches. The installation examines maize’s importance to Indigenous communities, settlers, agriculture, craft and American identity. Admission is free, and the gallery is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Two exhibitions continue through fall 2026 at the Rubell Museum DC, 65 I St. SW. “Material Witness” spreads across 23 galleries and features 30 artists using materials ranging from squid ink, lipstick and Coca-Cola to animal hides, ostrich eggs and discarded metal. The works explore consumption, decay, renewal and social or environmental concerns through assemblage and related traditions.

“Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift,” the artist’s first solo museum exhibition in Washington, presents four monumental quilts made during Kincaid’s 2023 residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami. The works connect quilt-making with identity, ancestry, community, improvisational drawing and jazz.

“A Land and 河/River” runs through Dec. 20 at Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, 12001 Market St., Suite 103, in Reston. Kimberly M. Becoat’s mixed-media work examines urban displacement through Seneca Village, the 19th-century Black landowning community removed during the creation of Central Park. Hong Hong’s paper installation treats water as a long-form poem encompassing weather, birth, immigration, family texts and water’s power to nurture, destroy and divide.

The Fairfax Art League is also presenting its new fall show.

Dining and Amazon Community Day

Falls Church City has launched a new online dining guide for residents and visitors exploring local restaurants.

Amazon will mark the second anniversary of HQ2 with a free Community Day from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at Metropolitan Park, 510 14th St. S. in Arlington.

The family event includes a new STEM-focused “Think Big Experience” featuring binary code, robotics, engineering and demonstrations by the Science Guys of Baltimore. A new Amazon Alley will showcase small businesses and entrepreneurs from around the region.

Other activities include lawn games, art walls, chalk art, tote-bag screen printing, music from a DJ, a Lego wall, bubbles, face painting and glitter tattoos. A culinary scavenger hunt will offer discounts at South Block, Mae’s Market and Toby’s Ice Cream, while a brunch garden will serve local craft beer and other beverages.

Visitors can also exchange gently used books at a community library and shop at the EatLoco Farmers Market, which features more than 50 vendors selling produce, prepared food and handmade art.

Concerts around the region

The Chuck Brown Band performs Saturday, Sept. 27, at The Vault at Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road in Tysons. Doors open at 7 p.m. Brown developed go-go in the early 1970s, building its funk-and-soul sound around a continuous dance beat and audience participation.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters, joined by Charlie Sexton, bring “Radio Soul! The Early Songs of Elvis Costello” to the Warner Theatre, 513 13th St. NW, on Monday, Sept. 29. Doors open at 7 p.m., and the show begins at 8 p.m. Purchases are limited to eight tickets.

Black Violin’s “Full Circle Tour” reaches Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25. Wil Baptiste and Kev Marcus blend classical music with hip-hop, while opener Amythyst Kiah draws on alt-rock, Americana and Appalachian roots. Tickets cost $29 to $89, with $1 from each ticket going to the Black Violin Foundation. A VIP package includes a premium seat, partial soundcheck access, a question-and-answer session, a photo opportunity, early entry and merchandise benefits.

Jazz pianist Hiromi and her quartet Sonicwonder perform at Strathmore at 8 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26. Their music combines jazz-rock, classical technique, funk and pop. Tickets range from $28 to $88.

The Virginia Chamber Orchestra begins its 10th season of concerts in Meadowlark Botanical Gardens’ Korean Bell Garden with “Magic Flute” from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28. Nicolette Oppelt, Teri Lazar, Osman Kivrak and Marion Baker will perform music by Beethoven, Bernie J. Walasavage, Alexander Makaev and Mozart.

Regular garden admission of $4 to $8 applies. The concert site is about an eight-minute walk from the visitor center, and weather could delay or cancel the program.

Theater from Tysons to Washington

Theater J opens Jonathan Spector’s “This Much I Know” at 529 16th St. NW, with performances at 2 and 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 26, and Saturday, Sept. 27. Hayley Finn directs the story of a psychology professor searching for his missing wife as the play connects Stalin’s daughter, the son of a white supremacist and an accidental killer. Inspired by Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” the production runs about two and a half hours with intermission and continues through Oct. 19.

Lauren Yee’s “The Hatmaker’s Wife,” directed by Jessie Roberts, continues through Sept. 28 at Nova Nightsky Theatre, 225 E. Broad St. A young couple’s new home reveals the surreal history of a hat-maker, his mistreated wife and his favorite hat.

The Logan Festival of Solo Performance closes Sept. 28 at 1st Stage, 1524 Spring Hill Road in Tysons. Its lineup includes three productions:

• Dahéli Hall’s “SPADURA,” a mix of comedy, storytelling and props examining IVF, aging, the fertility industry and obstacles faced by Black women. Open-captioned performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sept. 26 and 27 and 2 p.m. Sept. 28.
• “The Jewish Dog,” adapted from Asher Kravitz’s novel and performed by Adam Meir, follows the Holocaust through the eyes of a dog separated from his Jewish family and taken into Nazi service. Open-captioned performances are at 5 p.m. Sept. 27 and 28.
• Catherine Flye’s “George — Don’t Do That!” celebrates British comedian Joyce Grenfell through songs, sketches and reminiscences. Open-captioned performances are at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 25, 2 p.m. Sept. 27 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28.

The Little Theatre of Alexandria, 600 Wolfe St., presents the final performances of Neil Simon’s “Lost in Yonkers” through Sept. 27. Set in 1942, the play follows two brothers sent to live with their formidable grandmother after their mother’s death. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and reserved tickets cost $26.

Kareem Fahmy’s “Dodi & Diana” runs through Oct. 5 at Mosaic Theater Company in the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE. During the 25th anniversary of the deaths of Princess Diana and Dodi Fayed, an Egyptian actress and her white financier husband confront tensions in their own marriage. The production includes profanity, simulated sex and drug use, and strobe effects.

GALA Hispanic Theatre’s Spanish-language production of Manuel Puig’s “Kiss of the Spider Woman” closes Sept. 28 at 3333 14th St. NW. English surtitles accompany the story of political prisoner Valentín and Molina, a gay film lover, forming a relationship in an Argentine prison. Performances begin at 8 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays.

Nia Akilah Robinson’s “The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)” continues through Oct. 12 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW. The play connects a mother and daughter guarding a grave against resurrectionists in 1832 Philadelphia with another mother and daughter working on the same land at a present-day summer camp.

“Julius X,” Al Letson’s reimagining of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar,” runs through Oct. 26 at the Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Directed by Nicole Brewer, the play draws parallels between ancient Rome and 1960s Harlem by combining Shakespeare’s text, Letson’s verse and the words of Malcolm X. Tickets range from $20 to $90.

Chelsea Marcantel’s “Everything is Wonderful” continues through Oct. 5 at Keegan Theatre, 1742 Church St. NW. The drama follows a young woman returning to her Amish community after a deadly accident, forcing her family to confront grief, faith, secrets and the limits of forgiveness.

“The American Five” runs through Oct. 12 at Ford’s Theatre, 511 10th St. NW. The play depicts Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Stanley Levison and Clarence B. Jones organizing the March on Washington and developing the speech that became central to the civil rights movement. The production is recommended for ages 12 and older.

Tyrell Williams’ “Red Pitch” makes its U.S. premiere at Olney Theatre Center through Oct. 19. The 90-minute play follows Bilal, Joey and Omz, three South London friends balancing professional soccer ambitions against gentrification and the threatened loss of their neighborhood pitch. Tickets cost $47 to $96.

A newly adapted “Damn Yankees” occupies Arena Stage’s Fichandler Stage through Nov. 9. The musical retains its baseball story, pact with the Devil and songs including “Whatever Lola Wants” while introducing revisions by Will Power and Doug Wright, additional lyrics by Lynn Ahrens, and direction and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.

Jocelyn Bioh’s “Merry Wives” moves Shakespeare’s comedy to modern Harlem, where Falstaff pursues two West African women who devise a plan to humiliate him. The 90-minute production runs through Oct. 5 at Shakespeare Theatre Company’s Harmon Hall, with tickets starting at $39.

Signature Theatre’s “Play On!” also runs through Oct. 5 at 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington. The musical transports “Twelfth Night” to 1930s Harlem, following songwriter Vy as she disguises herself as a man and becomes entangled with composer the Duke and Cotton Club performer Lady Liv. Duke Ellington standards include “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Mood Indigo” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.” The production runs about two and a half hours and is recommended for ages 8 and older.

Film screenings

The National Gallery of Art screens Valentin Noujaïm’s “Defense Trilogy” from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 28, in the East Building Auditorium at 4th Street NW. Noujaïm will participate in a post-screening discussion.

Set in Paris’ La Défense district, the trilogy recasts Dante’s “Divine Comedy” through stories of surveillance, racism, alienation, tenderness and rebellion. The program includes the 16-minute “Pacific Club,” about a basement nightclub and a generation confronting racism and AIDS; the 14-minute “To Exist Under Permanent Suspicion,” about an isolated businesswoman promoting a skyscraper; and the 29-minute “Demons to Diamonds,” which follows strangers through a city shaped by paranoia and collapse.

The Library of Congress screens the 1961 comedy “Come September” from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 25, in the Pickford Theater of the James Madison Building, 101 Independence Ave. SE. Rock Hudson stars as an American businessman who arrives at his Italian villa and discovers that his majordomo has rented it to teenage girls. Gina Lollobrigida plays his Italian mistress. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., with seating available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Parks and family activities

Rock Creek Park marks its 135th anniversary with “Punk Rocks!” activities Sept. 27 and 28 at the Old Stone House, 3051 M St. NW. The free celebration combines Washington’s punk heritage with geology and the park’s cultural and natural history. Congress established Rock Creek Park on Sept. 27, 1890.

Families can meet native reptiles during Interactive Animal Day from 1 to 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27, at Winkler Botanical Preserve, 5400 Roanoke Ave. in Alexandria. The program is designed for families with children ages 5 and older. Admission is $5 per participant, advance registration is required, and minors must attend with an adult.