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A federal government shutdown could limit access to some Smithsonian exhibitions after Saturday, Oct. 11, but the Washington area still has a crowded calendar of festivals, concerts, theater, art and family activities through the holiday weekend.
Among the local highlights are Farm Day at Cherry Hill Park, a Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department open house, a Roosevelt Island bird walk and a monthlong Halloween scavenger hunt.
Farm Day returns to Cherry Hill Park
Cherry Hill Park, 312 Park Ave., will host its annual Farm Day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11. Admission is free, although some activities require tickets.
Visitors can tour the historic farmhouse, meet farm animals and learn about the property’s farmhouse and barn. Free attractions include blacksmithing, beekeeping and yarn-spinning demonstrations; Fairfax archaeology; urban forestry equipment and knot tying; a scavenger hunt; and a hay play zone.
Tickets cost $2 each. Activities range from one to five tickets:
- Pumpkin painting: three tickets
- Birdhouse painting and stick-horse crafts: two tickets each
- Apple fishing, corn grinding, seed sowing with pot decorating, the haystack hunt, and popcorn with cider: one ticket each
- Pony rides: five tickets
- Petting farm: two tickets
Pony-ride and petting-farm tickets will be sold separately at their respective booths.
Celtic Underground will perform acoustic folk music throughout the event. KidSinger Jim’s Big Barn Puppet Show is scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., while Little City Concerts will present historic music and instrument demonstrations inside the farmhouse parlor at 10:30 and 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
Harvey’s and Happy Tart will sell hot food and treats.
Firefighters open Station 6 to the public
The Falls Church Volunteer Fire Department will hold its annual open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, at Station 6, 6950 Little Falls Road in Arlington.
The Fire Prevention Week event will offer a close look at department equipment, fire and life-safety demonstrations, food, family activities and opportunities to meet department members.
Falls Church City has also introduced a new online dining guide featuring local restaurants.
Shutdown could shorten two museum exhibitions
“Return to a Native Place: Algonquian Peoples of the Chesapeake” remains on view at the National Museum of the American Indian on the National Mall, at Fourth Street and Independence Avenue SW. The museum normally operates from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. daily except Dec. 25, but the exhibition was expected to remain accessible only through Saturday, Oct. 11, if the government shutdown continued.
Curated by Gabrielle Tayac, a member of the Piscataway community, the exhibition uses photographs, maps, interactive displays and ceremonial and everyday objects to explore the Native peoples of what is now Washington, Maryland, Virginia and Delaware. It traces developments from the 1600s to the present and emphasizes the continuing presence of the Nanticoke, Powhatan and Piscataway tribes.
The shutdown could also close Justin Favela’s “Capilla de Maíz (Maize Chapel)” at the Renwick Gallery after Oct. 11. The free installation fills the Rubenstein Grand Salon with gold-fringed walls and piñata corncobs, connecting maize with Indigenous history, agriculture, craft and North American identity.
Favela, a Las Vegas artist of Guatemalan and Mexican heritage, combines cartonería, or piñata making, with the ornate style of 18th-century Mexican Catholic churches. The installation was commissioned to accompany “State Fairs: Growing American Craft.”
Cult science-fiction series continues at the library
Oddball Cinema will screen “Quatermass 2,” also known as “Enemy from Space,” from 2 to 4:30 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 11, in the upper-level conference room at Mary Riley Styles Public Library.
The 1957 black-and-white horror and science-fiction film follows Professor Quatermass as he investigates a mysterious Earth-based facility resembling plans for his lunar colony. Meteor falls and strange changes in nearby residents deepen the mystery, but the abrasive professor struggles to persuade authorities of the connection.
Directed by Val Guest and starring Brian Donlevy, John Longden and Sidney James, the approved-rated film runs 85 minutes and is considered suitable for teenagers and adults. Its story is independent of “The Quatermass Experiment,” so viewers do not need to see the earlier production first.
Salsa, Schubert and soul lead the music calendar
The State Theatre, 220 N. Washington St., will host a live salsa night Friday, Oct. 10, devoted to music from the 1990s and 2000s. Doors open at 7 p.m., a beginner-friendly class starts at 7:30, and live music begins at 8:30.
The event offers two dance floors and a full food-and-drink menu. Limited early-bird admission is $15, general admission is $25, and tickets purchased on the day of the show are $30.
At the Barns at Wolf Trap, 1635 Trap Road in Vienna, Swedish mezzo-soprano Anne Sofie von Otter and pianist Kristian Bezuidenhout will open the chamber-music season with an all-Schubert program at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9. Doors open at 6 p.m.
The program includes “Schwanengesang,” D. 957; the Impromptu in C minor, D. 899, No. 1; and the Piano Sonata in A major, D. 664.
Joss Stone will bring her “Less is More” tour to the Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane in North Bethesda, at 8 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9. The Grammy winner will perform with a guitarist, cellist and two supporting vocalists, revisiting songs including “Super Duper Love” and “You Had Me” in pared-down arrangements.
Tickets range from $29 to $89, with $1 from every ticket going to charities selected by Stone.
Pianist Jeffrey Siegel will present “Chopin — The Romantic” at 7 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, at George Mason University’s Center for the Arts, 4373 Mason Pond Drive in Fairfax. The all-ages “Keyboard Conversations” program will feature polonaises, nocturnes, waltzes, mazurkas and the Ballade in G minor, Op. 23, followed by a brief audience question-and-answer session.
The approximately 90-minute performance includes an intermission. Tickets cost $38, $52 or $60, with half-price admission available to students through Grade 12.
Ghosts, murder and modern dating take the stage
Creative Cauldron’s revival of “The Turn of the Screw: The Musical” runs through Oct. 26 at 127 E. Broad St. Adapted from Henry James’ novella, the psychological ghost story follows a governess who becomes convinced that two children at a remote estate are haunted by former employees.
Matt Conner directs and composed the music, Stephen Gregory Smith wrote the libretto and lyrics, and Paige Rammelkamp serves as music director. The work premiered at Creative Cauldron in 2015. The 90-minute production is recommended for ages 13 and older. Tickets are $50 for Tier One, $40 for Tier Two and $25 for students.
The Providence Players of Fairfax open Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap” on Friday, Oct. 10, at the James Lee Community Center Theater, 2855 Annandale Road in Falls Church. Performances continue through Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, with 2 p.m. Sunday matinees Oct. 12 and 19.
The mystery traps a group of strangers at snowbound Monkswell Manor, where news of a London killing and the arrival of a police officer raise fears that the murderer is among them.
“Strategic Love Play,” by “Succession” writer Miriam Battye, is making its D.C. premiere at Signature Theatre, 4200 Campbell Ave. in Arlington, through Nov. 9. Matthew Gardiner directs the dark comedy about a man and woman whose online match leads to a disastrous date—and a gradual lowering of their defenses.
The 70-minute show has no intermission and contains adult language and themes. It is recommended for ages 13 and older, and children younger than 6 are not admitted.
ExPats Theatre presents “Cold Country” at the Atlas Performing Arts Center, 1333 H St. NE, through Oct. 19. Weekend performances are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 10; 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Oct. 11; and 2:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
Set in an isolated Swiss mountain village, the play follows Hanna two years after her brother’s mysterious death. The arrival of hikers pushes her to challenge the community’s silence and confront buried truths.
The 90-minute production is restricted to adults and includes mild profanity and references to suicide, murder, sexual abuse and religious trauma.
At Theater J, 529 16th St. NW, Jonathan Spector’s “This Much I Know” continues through Oct. 19 under the direction of Hayley Finn. A psychology professor’s search for his missing wife intersects with stories about Stalin’s daughter, the questioning son of a white supremacist and the anguish of an accidental killer.
Inspired by Daniel Kahneman’s “Thinking, Fast and Slow,” the play examines decision-making, changes of mind and responsibility for events beyond one’s control. It runs two hours and 30 minutes with an intermission. Tickets range from $66 to $131, including a $6 fee; member tickets cost $50.
“The Great Privation (How to flip ten cents into a dollar)” concludes Sunday, Oct. 12, at Woolly Mammoth Theatre, 641 D St. NW. Remaining performances are at 8 p.m. Oct. 8-11, with additional 2 p.m. shows Oct. 11 and 12.
Written by Nia Akilah Robinson and directed by Mina Morita, the play moves between Philadelphia’s African Baptist Church in 1832—where a mother and daughter guard a grave from body snatchers—and the same ground in the present, where another mother and daughter work at a summer camp. Woolly Mammoth produced the show with Boston’s Company One Theatre.
Al Letson’s “Julius X” runs through Oct. 26 at Folger Theatre, 201 East Capitol St. SE. Directed by Nicole Brewer, the play reimagines Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” through Malcolm X and the American Civil Rights Movement, combining Shakespearean passages, Letson’s verse and excerpts from Malcolm X’s speeches.
Tickets range from $20 to $90. Children younger than 4 are not permitted.
Ford’s Theatre presents “The American Five” through Oct. 12 at 511 10th St. NW. The drama depicts Martin Luther King Jr., Coretta Scott King, Bayard Rustin, Stanley Levison and Clarence B. Jones as they confront surveillance, threats and arrests while planning the March on Washington and shaping the speech that would help define the movement.
The play is recommended for ages 12 and older. An ASL-interpreted performance is scheduled for 7 p.m. Oct. 9, followed by an audio-described performance at 2 p.m. Oct. 11.
“Red Pitch,” Tyrell Williams’ play about three lifelong friends and their threatened soccer field in South London, is receiving its U.S. premiere at Olney Theatre Center through Oct. 19. The production stars Ty’Ree Hope Davis as Bilal, Terrence Griffin as Joey and Angelo Harrington II as Omz.
As professional clubs scout prospects and redevelopment transforms their neighborhood, the boys face competing ambitions and pressure on their friendship. The 90-minute play has no intermission. Suggested guidance is comparable to a PG-13 rating because of brief strong language, violence and intense conversations. Tickets range from $47 to $96.
Arena Stage’s new adaptation of “Damn Yankees” continues through Nov. 9 on the Fichandler Stage, 1101 Sixth St. SW. Will Power and Doug Wright adapted the baseball musical, with additional lyrics by Lynn Ahrens and direction and choreography by Sergio Trujillo.
The production retains familiar songs including “Whatever Lola Wants” and “Who’s Got the Pain?” while revisiting the story for the 21st century. It runs about two hours and 10 minutes, including a 15-minute intermission, and uses haze, fog, strobe effects, bright lights and loud sounds.
Paper, photography and landscapes fill local galleries
Falls Church Arts is displaying 50 works by 31 regional artists in “Paper,” which runs through Nov. 16 at 700-B W. Broad St. Admission is free.
Juror Jennifer Wilkin Penick selected photography, drawings, paintings, collages, mixed-media pieces and other works made on or incorporating paper. Penick is a mixed-media artist, teacher and art historian who lived in Italy for more than 20 years and has taught at the Museum of Contemporary Art Arlington, the Corcoran and Shop Made in DC.
The gallery’s winter hours are 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. The participating artists are Cathy Abbott, Iraima Alonso, Barbara Bitondo, Teresa Brunson, Claire Coram, Gretchen D’Amore, Marina DiCarlo, Clara Doley, Bill Firestone, Anjori Halder, James Hengst, Mary Kane, Sylvie Kostrzewski, Jean Lauzon, Hyonsook Lee, Naomi Lipsky, Xianling Liu, Gini Moore, Donna Moss, Nancy Newman, Kelley Parent, Jisoo Park, Karin Rindal, Elise Ritter-Clough, Susan Sander, Deborah Schindler, Joan Slottow, Lara Tiller, Suzanne Updike, Kristin Vogt and Kala Wright.
John Valenti’s photography exhibition “Captured in Time” remains at Idylwood Studios, 7617 Idylwood Road in Falls Church, through Oct. 29. The collection focuses on everyday shadows, textures and fleeting expressions.
Herndon artist Lisa Green’s “Wild Spaces” opens Oct. 13 at Rare Bird Coffee Roasters, 230 W. Broad St., and continues through Jan. 11. The free exhibition includes colorful oil paintings and black-and-white ink washes depicting meadows, mountains and coastlines. Works range from 8-by-10 inches to 36 inches square and will be available for purchase.
Photographer Carolyn Drake will appear in George Mason University’s Visual Voices series from 4:45 to 6:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 9, at Harris Theater on the Fairfax campus and online. Registration is required for the virtual link.
Drake creates long-term photographic projects that reconsider dominant historical narratives, often combining photography with sewing, sculpture and collage. She has published six photo books and received a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Henri Cartier-Bresson Award and a Fulbright fellowship. Her latest book, created with Andres Gonzalez, examines towns along the U.S.-Mexico border.
At Phillips@THEARC, 1801 Mississippi Ave. SE, “Rik Freeman: Wade in the Waters” continues through Feb. 19. Admission is free. The gallery is open from noon to 5 p.m. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays, with hours extended to 8:30 p.m. on the second and third Wednesdays of each month.
Freeman’s paintings and murals examine the African diaspora through images of history, faith, resilience, community and joy. Water links scenes stretching from Bahia to the Anacostia River. The Athens, Georgia, native began his professional career in Washington in 1989 and has produced murals for sites including the Barry Farm Recreation Center, Dorothy I. Height Library, H.D. Woodson High School, the Washington Convention Center and Arlington County Courthouse.
“Women Artists of the DMV,” curated by Lenny Campello, is on view at McLean Project for the Arts, 1234 Ingleside Ave. in McLean. Organized through the American University Museum’s Alper Initiative, the survey is being staged across 18 art spaces beginning in September 2025, with exhibitions lasting six to 12 weeks.
The McLean presentation includes 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’s “Expedition” continues through Oct. 27 at the Fred Schnider Gallery of Art, 888 N. Quincy St., Suite 102, in Arlington. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and noon to 5 p.m. Sunday.
Unusual materials take over the Rubell Museum
“Material Witness” remains at the Rubell Museum DC, 65 I St. SW, through fall 2026. Spread across 23 galleries on three floors, the exhibition brings together 30 contemporary artists working with unconventional materials including squid ink, Coca-Cola, ostrich eggs, anointing oil, lipstick, animal hides and discarded metal.
The works build on the tradition of assemblage while drawing from land art, Arte Povera, abject art and readymades. Industrial waste, natural remnants and mass-produced objects become tools for examining environmental, political, social and formal questions.
The museum is also presenting “Basil Kincaid: Spirit in the Gift” through fall 2026. Kincaid’s first solo museum exhibition in Washington features four monumental quilts made during his 2023 residency at the Rubell Museum in Miami.
The works connect quilting with identity, ancestry, place and community. Their labor-intensive construction is balanced by an improvisational quality influenced by freehand drawing and jazz.
Reston exhibition connects displacement and water
“A Land and 河/River” runs through Dec. 20 at the Tephra Institute of Contemporary Art, 12001 Market St., Suite 103, in Reston.
Kimberly M. Becoat’s work uses acrylic, sumi ink, watercolor, tar paper, candy wrappers and other discarded materials to investigate urban displacement. Her “Seneca Village — Everywhere” series reflects on the 19th-century community of free Black landowners displaced for the construction of Central Park.
Hong Hong’s paper installation “河/River” treats water as a long-form poem, tying weather and waterways to her birth, her family’s immigration and texts shared with her mother. Her surname means “flood,” and the work considers water’s symbolic, sustaining and destructive powers.
The Fairfax Art League is also presenting its new fall show.
Debate, raptors and migrating birds round out the weekend
Settle Down Easy Brewing Co., 2822 Fallfax Drive in Falls Church, will host a public watch party for the Virginia gubernatorial debate Thursday, Oct. 9. The debate begins at 7 p.m., with food and drink specials including grilled bratwurst, hot dogs and half-smokes.
Meadowlark Botanical Gardens, 9750 Meadowlark Gardens Court in Vienna, will introduce visitors to Squeakers the red-shouldered hawk and Smoke the screech owl from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 13. Roving naturalist Matt Felperin will discuss the birds. Regular admission of $4 to $8, or a garden membership, is required.
The DC Bird Alliance will lead a two-hour walk on Theodore Roosevelt Island from 8 to 10 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. Participants will meet in the parking lot and should register in advance; unregistered guests cannot join, and people on the waitlist must receive confirmation that a space has opened.
The walk will continue in rain but may be canceled for heavy downpours or thunderstorms, with notice sent at least two hours before the meeting time. Refunds are available until one day before the event.
Participants should bring water, snacks, sun protection, comfortable shoes and binoculars if available. Trails are unpaved. Parking is limited, while the Rosslyn Metro station is roughly a 10- to 15-minute walk away. Portable restrooms are available on the island.
The island became a memorial to President Theodore Roosevelt after the Theodore Roosevelt Memorial Association purchased it from the Washington Gas Light Company in 1931. President Herbert Hoover accepted it as a national shrine on Dec. 12, 1932. It now provides habitat for resident and migrating birds.
A professional liar brings mentalism downtown
Brian Curry’s “The Good Liar” combines magic, comedy and mentalism at the Capital Hilton, 1001 16th St. NW. The house is open from 7:30 to 8 p.m., and the approximately 70-minute performance begins at 8 p.m.
Curry builds the show around apparent mind reading, predictions and calculated deception, presenting a fast-paced mystery designed for dates and group outings.
Halloween hunt takes over the Children’s Garden
A self-guided Halloween scavenger hunt continues throughout October at Meadowlark Gardens, 5400 Ox Road in Fairfax Station.
Participants search for Halloween-themed objects around the Children’s Garden’s log cabin, vegetable garden and pavilion, then return completed sheets for a small prize. Hunt sheets cost $8 per participant at the Visitor Center admission desk. Regular admission or membership is required for accompanying visitors.
The activity is open to all ages, and costumes are encouraged. Seasonal photo areas are available, along with a book walk featuring Elise Gravel’s “The Spider.”