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The final stretch of summer is bringing a crowded calendar to Falls Church, Tysons and the wider Washington region. Dining promotions, concerts, comedy, outdoor movies, exhibitions and theater are among the options available through the weekend and into Labor Day.
Dining events
The Greater Falls Church Foodie Trek continues through Aug. 31 at 12 restaurants: Borek G, Cafe Kindred, Ellie Bird, The Falls, Harvey’s, Ireland’s Four Provinces, Panjshir, Preservation Biscuit Co., Solace Outpost, Stray Cat Bar & Grill, TeaDM and Westover Taco.
Participants can collect a passport at any participating restaurant and receive stamps as they visit each location. Completed passports may be submitted from Aug. 18 through Aug. 31 for a chance to win one of three baskets containing restaurant gift cards and other items.
Organizer Tricia Barba, owner of Preservation Biscuit Co. at 102 E. Fairfax St., said the trek was created to showcase the Falls Church area’s varied food scene and encourage residents and visitors to explore local businesses.
In Washington, Summer Restaurant Week runs Aug. 18-24. Participating restaurants are offering multicourse dinners for $40, $55 or $65 per person, while lunch and brunch menus cost $25 or $35. Some locations also have takeout choices and optional cocktail or wine pairings.
More than 100 restaurants across the region are participating, including Gravitas, China Chilcano, Jaleo, Oyamel, Unconventional Diner and Dauphine’s. Brunch choices include L’Ardente and Supra, while Cuba Libre, Filomena Ristorante, La Collina, Zaytinya and Ambar are among the international dining options.
Classes and comedy
Emily Hoang, the creator behind UrNoVaFoodie, will discuss how she transformed a casual Instagram account into a full-time business at Mary Riley Styles Public Library, 120 N. Virginia Ave. The adults-only program runs from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24.
Hoang started the food account anonymously during an English class in 2017. It later developed into a social media agency serving restaurants, events and small businesses. Her presentation will focus on storytelling, consistency and building an authentic online presence. Registration is required.
The State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., hosts its $5 Comedy Night on Friday, Aug. 22. Admission is limited to guests 18 and older unless they attend with a parent or guardian, and valid identification is required. Tickets bought at the box office carry a $1 fee.
Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Dean Edwards performs at 8:30 p.m. Friday in The Vault at Capital One Hall, 7750 Capital One Tower Road in Tysons. Doors open at 7:30 p.m.
Edwards is known for celebrity impressions and more than 30 years of stand-up work. His screen credits include “Top Five,” “Spider-Man 3,” “Deadbeat,” “Our Cartoon President” and “Con Job.” He also performed as Donkey in the development of “Shrek the Musical” and became Eddie Murphy’s vocal double for several animated Shrek projects.
Music across the region
The DL FunkBand plays at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at Clare & Don’s Beach Shack, 130 N. Washington St. The Dunn Loring group blends R&B, go-go, funk, rock and soul.
Creative Cauldron’s 14th annual Summer Passport Music Festival continues through Sept. 14 at 127 E. Broad St. The series presents jazz, Latin, blues, folk and world music in a club-style setting.
Its next concert features iO the Singer performing “The Art & Soul of Nina Simone” at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22. Tickets cost $30 for Tier One, $25 for Tier Two and $15 for the livestream. A table for two with two cups of wine costs $90, while a four-person table with a bottle of wine is $180.
James Taylor and his All-Star Band return to Wolf Trap’s Filene Center at 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, Saturday, Aug. 23, and Sunday, Aug. 24. Gates open at 6:30 p.m. The performances will include familiar songs such as “Fire and Rain,” “How Sweet It Is” and “Carolina in My Mind.” Folk-pop trio Tiny Habits opens each show. Tickets begin at $79, including fees.
Trombonist Jen Krupa and her quintet perform from 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Kogod Courtyard. Krupa, a Juilliard faculty member and lead trombonist for the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, will present original music and American standards. Admission is free, with registration encouraged.
DC JazzFest returns Aug. 27-31 at venues throughout Washington, including The Wharf, the Carlyle Room and Mr. Henry’s. The 2025 lineup features Lalah Hathaway, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sun Ra Arkestra and Makoto Ozone, along with emerging and local performers. The family-friendly Wharf event has tickets starting at $25.
At The Wharf’s Grove, D.C. jazz saxophonist DeJay Sax gives a free performance from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22. Tre4mdc follows on Aug. 29 as part of the Grooves in the Grove series.
Glen Echo Park closes its summer concert series with the James Bazen Big Band from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, in the Bumper Car Pavilion. The show is free and takes place rain or shine. Seating is limited, so visitors may bring folding chairs. Outside alcohol is prohibited.
Rock the Dock also continues at The Wharf’s Transit Pier. Uncle Jesse performs 1990s pop at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 20, followed by funk and soul group Pink PaLiSh on Aug. 27. The free concerts welcome families and leashed dogs, with limited seating available on a first-come basis.
Exhibitions and art programs
“Layers,” an all-media exhibition featuring 68 local artists, remains at Falls Church Arts, 700-B W. Broad St., through Sept. 28.
At the National Gallery of Art, senior lecturer David Gariff leads “American Landscapes in Watercolor from the Corcoran Collection” from 11 a.m. to noon Sunday, Aug. 24. The hybrid lecture examines landscapes made between 1800 and 1991. The exhibition itself remains open through Feb. 1, 2026, and registrants will receive a recording of the talk.
“A Land and 河/River” opens Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, 12001 Market St. in Reston, and continues through Dec. 20.
Kimberly M. Becoat’s mixed-media work explores urban displacement, including the destruction of Seneca Village, a 19th-century community of free Black landowners removed for Central Park. Hong Hong’s paper installation treats water as a long-form poem connected to weather, birth, immigration and family texts. Becoat lives and works in Brooklyn, while Hong, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, is based in Oklahoma.
“Delighting Krishna: Paintings of the Child-God” closes Sunday, Aug. 24, at the National Museum of Asian Art’s Arthur M. Sackler Gallery. The exhibition includes 14 monumental cotton-cloth paintings known as pichwais, many measuring about eight feet square. Dating from the 18th through 20th centuries, most were created in Nathdwara, Rajasthan, for use in the Hindu Pushtimarg tradition.
The Rubell Museum’s “American Vignettes: Symbols, Society, and Satire” continues through fall 2025 at 65 I St. SW. Nearly 100 works by more than 40 artists address American symbols, social life and satire through painting, photography, sculpture, installation and mixed media.
“Water in the Gas” reaches its final weekend at the Kreeger Museum, closing Saturday, Aug. 23. The exhibition brings work by Hamiltonian alumni Misha Ilin, Madyha J. Leghari, Edgar Reyes and Isabella Whitfield into conversation with pieces created amid major 20th-century political struggles. Themes include citizenship, censorship, labor, borders, sovereignty and generational consequences.
Outdoor movies and film programs
Falls Church’s free Sunset Cinema series opens Friday, Aug. 22, with “Despicable Me 4” at Cherry Hill Park, 312 Park Ave. Food trucks begin serving at 6:45 p.m., and the movie starts at 7:45 p.m.
The series continues with “Moana 2” on Sept. 19 and the audience-selected “Shrek” on Oct. 17. Visitors may bring blankets, bug spray and picnics. Popcorn and drinks will be sold, and screenings postponed by bad weather will move to the following Friday.
The National Gallery of Art presents “Opacity,” a four-film program selected by Brazilian curator and scholar Janaína Oliveira, from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. The program includes “Jamal,” “Jagdpartie,” “Missing Time” and “The Paul Good Papers at Notasulga,” with work by the Sudanese Film Group, Morgan Quaintance and Deanna Bowen.
Another National Gallery program, “The Cameraman’s Revenge and Other Shorts,” runs from 2 to 3:15 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23. The collection spans roughly a century of filmmaking about insects, sea creatures, amphibians and birds. It includes work by Jean Painlevé, Wladyslaw Starewicz and Stan Brakhage, with 16mm and 35mm prints used when available.
At The Wharf, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” screens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 21, followed by “La La Land” on Aug. 28. The free Transit Pier movies offer limited Adirondack seating beginning at 7 p.m., and guests may bring blankets or folding chairs. Families and leashed dogs are welcome.
Georgetown Waterfront Park shows “Top Gun: Maverick” on Friday, Aug. 22. The lawn opens at 7 p.m., and the movie begins at sunset. Later selections are “Coco” on Aug. 29, “Twilight” on Sept. 5 and the 1978 version of “Grease” on Sept. 12. Participating Washington Harbour restaurants are offering movie-night food deals.
Theater
“Play On!” continues at Signature Theatre in Arlington through Oct. 5. The musical reimagines Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” in 1930s Harlem using Duke Ellington songs such as “Take the ‘A’ Train,” “Mood Indigo” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing.”
The story follows aspiring songwriter Vy, who disguises herself as a man after finding opportunities closed to women. Her plan becomes tangled when her songs attract the attention of Cotton Club performer Lady Liv. The production runs about two hours and 30 minutes, including intermission, and is recommended for ages 8 and older. It contains strobe effects, loud sounds, haze, herbal cigarettes and adult themes.
“Everything Is Wonderful” gives its final performances at 8 p.m. through Saturday, Aug. 23, at Theatre on the Run, 3700 S. Four Mile Run Drive in Arlington. Chelsea Marcantel’s play follows an Amish family after two sons die in a car crash and the driver is taken into their home. The story includes death, grief and sexual trauma.
“Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” continues at the National Theatre through Sunday, Aug. 24. Performances are scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday, 1 and 7 p.m. Saturday, and 1 and 7 p.m. Sunday. The six-time Tony Award-winning play follows Harry Potter’s son Albus and his friendship with Draco Malfoy’s son, setting off a journey with the power to alter the past and future.
History and family activities
“InSight: Photos and Stories from the Archives” is an ongoing exhibition at the National Museum of the American Indian. Selected from an archive of more than half a million images, the photographs document Indigenous lives across the Western Hemisphere, including family portraits, gatherings and everyday moments.
The National Park Service offers free opportunities to meet working mules Jen and Julie from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Fridays and Saturdays at the mule pen behind the Great Falls Tavern Visitor Center. The program explains how mules pulled canal boats between Georgetown and Cumberland and how the park cares for the animals. Registration is not required.
The National Museum of American History is marking the 50th anniversary of “Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance” with an ongoing display centered on Robert M. Pirsig’s 1966 Honda Super Hawk.
The exhibition also includes Pirsig’s riding jacket, helmet, keys, maintenance manual, typewriter, manuscript and a signed first edition. After the book endured 121 publisher rejections, its royalties allowed Pirsig to buy the 32-foot sailboat that inspired “Lila: An Inquiry into Morals.” A first edition of that novel and the Apple II computer used to write it are also displayed.