Article Text

Labor Day weekend is filling the Washington region with concerts, festivals, art shows, outdoor programs and family activities. From a free National Symphony Orchestra performance at the U.S. Capitol to Fairfax’s annual car show, residents have a packed calendar stretching from Wednesday, Aug. 27, through Monday, Sept. 1.

Labor Day events

The National Symphony Orchestra will perform a free, family-friendly Labor Day concert on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31. Enrico Lopez-Yañez will conduct the orchestra and its special guests. Tickets are not required, and seating is first-come, first-served.

Downtown Fairfax will host the 26th Annual Labor Day Car Show from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday, Sept. 1. The free event began in Clifton and has grown into a major community tradition presented by the City of Fairfax and the Clifton Lions Club.

For a quieter holiday, Potomac Overlook Regional Park in Arlington will offer a guided forest-therapy walk from 9:30 a.m. to noon Sept. 1. Certified guide Ilana Rubin will lead the slow, sensory-focused program, which concludes with light snacks and local tea. Registration is required, admission is $40, and the program is limited to adults.

Final calls for local dining

The Greater Falls Church Foodie Trek concludes Aug. 31. Participants can collect passport stamps 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. Completed passports can be submitted for a chance to win restaurant gift cards and other prizes.

Summer Restaurant Week in Washington has also been extended through Aug. 31. Participating restaurants are offering multicourse dinners for $40, $55 or $65, along with lunch and brunch menus for $25 or $35. Some locations also offer wine or cocktail pairings and takeout selections.

Concerts fill the holiday calendar

DC JazzFest runs through Aug. 31 at venues across Washington, with its primary waterfront event at The Wharf. The 2025 lineup includes Lalah Hathaway, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Sun Ra Arkestra and Makoto Ozone, along with emerging and local performers. Tickets for the family-friendly Wharf festival start at $25.

The Library of Congress will present Guitar Night from 5 to 8 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in the Thomas Jefferson Building’s Great Hall. Miguelito Perez will perform with guitarist Ricardo Marlow and flamenco dancer Mariana Gatto, while FUNSHO will bring a blend of blues, pop and R&B. The event is free, but separate tickets are required.

Tre4mdc will close the season of Grooves in the Grove with a free R&B performance from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, at The Wharf. The venue’s Rock the Dock series will also end with a 7 p.m. performance by funk and soul act Pink PaLiSh on Transit Pier.

At Wolf Trap, UB40 will perform with The Pietasters at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 31. Gates open at 6:30 p.m., and tickets start at $45.50, including fees.

Creative Cauldron’s 14th annual Summer Passport Music Festival continues through Sept. 14 at 127 E. Broad St. Its upcoming program includes Wesley Diener’s “Expressions lyriques” at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 13, featuring pianist Patrick O’Donnell and music ranging from Jules Massenet to Broadway favorites. Tickets range from $15 for streaming access to $30 for top-tier seating, with reserved tables also available.

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens will host an evening of Afro-Caribbean jazz on Sept. 17. Saxophonist Marshall Keys and steel-pan musician Victor Provost will lead the 6:30 p.m. concert on the Lunar Lawn. Admission ranges from free for children under 6 to $30 for general tickets. In bad weather, the program will move to Sept. 18 or be streamed online.

Galleries and performances

Falls Church Arts is displaying work by 68 local artists in “Layers,” an all-media exhibition at 700-B W. Broad St. The show continues through Sept. 28.

The 54th Annual Labor Day Art Show will bring work by more than 300 Washington-area artists to the Spanish Ballroom at Glen Echo Park from Aug. 30 through Sept. 1. The free exhibition and sale includes painting, sculpture, ceramics, jewelry, photography, fiber art, furniture and works on paper. An opening reception is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29.

“Passages: A Night of Encountered Performance” will take over the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington from 6 to 9 p.m. Aug. 29. Visitors can move through repeated performances by poets, dancers, musicians and a live painter. The program includes Heather Spence performing cello with underwater recordings, poetry by Jonté Luki, Whiskey Girl, Unique the Word and Bennie Herron, dance by Angel Ramirez, flute music by Arturo Cuevas and live painting by Zhenya Parish.

Several longer-running exhibitions are also open across the region. “A Land and 河/River,” featuring Kimberly M. Becoat and Hong Hong, continues at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art in Reston through Dec. 20. Becoat examines displacement and the destruction of New York’s Seneca Village, while Hong uses a paper installation to explore water, migration and family history.

The Rubell Museum’s “American Vignettes: Symbols, Society, and Satire” presents nearly 100 works by more than 40 artists through fall 2025. The museum will also open “Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift” on Sept. 3, displaying four monumental quilted works created during Kincaid’s 2023 residency in Miami.

At the Smithsonian American Art Museum, Cecilia Vicuña’s “Quipu Viscera” uses hanging red, brown and pink wool to evoke the body and the ancient Andean system of knotted-string record keeping. The museum’s reopened modern and contemporary galleries also examine American art from the 1940s to the present as part of a multiyear renovation scheduled for completion in 2026.

Movies and theater

The Wharf’s final Sunset Cinema screening of the season will feature “La La Land” at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28. Limited Adirondack chairs will be available beginning at 7 p.m., and guests may bring blankets or folding chairs.

Georgetown Waterfront Park will screen “Coco” at sunset Aug. 29, followed by “Twilight” on Sept. 5 and the 1978 version of “Grease” on Sept. 12. The lawn opens at 7 p.m.

For horror fans, the R-rated mystery “Weapons” is playing at Paragon Theaters Founders Row. The film follows a community searching for answers after nearly every child in one class disappears simultaneously.

Signature Theatre’s “Play On!” continues in Arlington through Oct. 5. The musical relocates Shakespeare’s “Twelfth Night” to 1930s Harlem and uses Duke Ellington songs including “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.

Activities for children and families

A free support group for parents of children with disabilities will meet from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28, in Room 201 of the Meridian High School library. Licensed professional counselor Benta Sims will lead the drop-in gathering.

The Falls Church Farmers Market will hold a Teddy Bear Fix-It Clinic on Aug. 30 at 300 Park Ave. Volunteers will repair children’s stuffed animals and restore donated toys from the Clock Tower Charitable Thrift Shop, supporting Northern Virginia Family Service while keeping the items out of landfills.

King Bullfrog will perform a children’s show at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 30, at Clare & Don’s Beach Shack.

At Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm in Maryland, families can meet a ranger and feed chickens from 10 to 10:30 a.m. daily through Dec. 31. The free program begins at the Visitor Barn, and children must remain with an adult.

Outdoor and history options

The DC Bird Alliance will lead a bird walk at Dumbarton Oaks Park from 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday, Aug. 31. Participants should bring water, sturdy shoes and binoculars if available. Registration and a waiver are required, and the walk will proceed in rain unless thunderstorms or heavy downpours make conditions unsafe.

At the National Museum of American History, “The Electric Dr. Franklin” explores Benjamin Franklin’s work with electricity and its connections to modern technology. Objects include a glass rod and fur pad, a static generator based on Franklin’s design and one of the Leyden jars used in his experiments. The museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., and admission is free.