Weekend picks in and around Washington, DC

The rain didn’t ruin all of the cherry blossoms, thankfully. There are many great places to view the blossoms, see our list here.

RENT at The National Theatre
One weekend only! For a quarter of a century, Jonathan Larson’s Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-winning masterpiece RENT has inspired us to choose love over fear and to live without regret. Its immeasurable emotional impact has forever changed the world of musical theatre. RENT follows a year in the lives of a diverse group of artists and friends struggling to follow their dreams without selling out. This powerfully resonant phenomenon has become more than a musical – it’s a cultural touchstone, a rite of passage and a source of joy and strength for millions. The extraordinary RENT fan community spans every continent and every generation – including many born over a decade after the show opened on Broadway.

Saturday

9:00am-12:00pm: Community Spring Cleanup
The Rounds, Compass Coffee, and Anacostia Riverkeeper are coming together to host a cleanup! Come a few minutes early to enjoy a free cup of Compass Coffee and get some free Rounds merch before joining the community in cleaning up the waterfront starting at 9am. Rain or Shine. All supplies provided, please wear closed-toe shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty.

10:00am-4:30pm: Blossom Kite Festival
Rediscover the joy of kite flying back on the Washington Monument grounds, at featured parks, and at home in 2022! The Blossom Kite Festival is a long-standing DC tradition encouraging attendees of all ages fly kites among the cherry blossom trees. The iconic outdoor event is fun, free, and open to the public. This year will feature both virtual and in-person options so that you can fly your kite from your favorite neighborhood park or anywhere across the globe.

10:00am & 11:15am: Mother Goose at Imagination Stage
Humpty Dumpty, Old King Cole, the Itsy Bitsy Spider, and more come to life through adorably engaging puppets and props. The magical Mother Goose invites your little ones to join in with each rhyme’s story. Mother Goose is best for ages 1-5.

1:30pm & 4:00pm: P.Nokio at Imagination Stage
G.Petto is an ingenious computer games designer who one day discovers that his newest game character, P.Nokio, can live outside the computer! G.Petto is thrilled at the prospect of having a “son,” and with the help of the Graffiti Fairy, he teaches P.Nokio how to become a real boy. But, P.Nokio falls in with con artists and finds himself in a web of lies that endangers his father. To save G.Petto, P.Nokio must wise up, keep it real, and learn that words and truth are the mightiest weapons of all. A completely contemporary, high-energy musical update of Pinocchio by the creator of Imagination Stage’s hit Zomo the Rabbit: A Hip-Hop Creation Myth.

Sunday

Ongoing

Smithsonian FUTURES is part exhibition, part festival!. FUTURES presents nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations, interactives, working experiments, inventions, speculative designs, and “artifacts of the future,” as well as historic objects and discoveries from 23 of the Smithsonian’s museums, major initiatives, and research centers. Of the nearly 150 objects on view, several are making their public debut: an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven rover from Alphabet’s X that could transform agriculture; a Planetary Society space sail for deep space travel; a Loon internet balloon; the first full-scale Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome built in North America; the world’s first controlled thermonuclear fusion device; and more.

ARTECHOUSE is pleased to announce its fifth annual cherry blossom-inspired exhibition, PIXELBLOOM. An ARTECHOUSE original production, the immensely popular spring program that runs as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival, pushes the boundaries of immersive digital art, inviting visitors to jump into the metaverse and glide through a virtual world of cherry blossoms brought to life only at ARTECHOUSE. PIXELBLOOM merges the digital and physical worlds in a one-of-a-kind dynamic experience inspired by nature’s beauty. The main 22-minute audiovisual installation in the Immersion Gallery employs an 18-channel, 270° floor-to-wall surround projection array and a 22.5-channel spatialized audio system to breathe a new ARTECHOUSE life into cherry blossoms in peak bloom through an explosion of vibrant colors and textures, intensifying the cherry blossoms’ allure in a way that is only possible in a virtual environment.

Thomas & Friends™: Explore the Rails! is at National Children’s Museum through May 15. Step into the world of Thomas & Friends™ in our new exhibit, which features favorite engines and destinations from the popular children’s series alongside playful STEAM learning experiences. As Dreamers help Thomas and his engine friends Percy and Victor solve a variety of challenges, they’ll build foundational STEAM skills, like thinking mathematically and creatively, making comparisons, experimenting to solve problems, and reflecting on actions and results. Recommended for children ages 2-7, the exhibit features text in both English and Spanish.

DCPL’s Winter Challenge continues through the end of March. The DC Public Library and the Washington Wizards invite children and teens (ages 3 – 19) to stay active and engaged this winter season by participating. It’s easy! Register for Winter Challenge and pick up your Winter Challenge game board at your Neighborhood Library or sign up online. If you have participated in past reading programs, you can log in to your account with your username and password. Make sure your email is up to date as that is how the library and the Wizards will notify you about prizes.

Plan ahead:
Applications for Acton Children’s Business Fair of Washington, DC will be open until 8pm on Monday, April 4!

Tudor Tots Workshops: April 20, May 18 & June 15

Family Workshops at The Phillips Collection: April 9 & May 14

National Postal Museum- Baseball America’s Home Run: April 9

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