Weekend picks in and around Washington, DC

Easter is coming up and that means lots of egg hunts and festivities!

There are many places to see cherry blossoms still but time is dwindling so check out our favorite spots.

Baseball season has begun and our Washington Nationals are home this weekend!!

Saturday & Sunday

White House Garden Tour
Timed tickets are required to take the White House Garden Tour. Tickets are free and distributed same day. The tickets specify a time on the hour or half hour to enter the grounds for your tour. Free timed tickets will be distributed from a tent outside the White House Visitor Center at 8:30am each day. All attendees, regardless of age, must have a ticket

The Hula-Hoopin Queen is at Imagination Stage until April 8 and you wont’ want to miss it. It is a darling show and will leave you wanting to brush off your hula-hoop and give it a twirl.

Saturday

9:00am-1:00pm: Pink in the Pool
Join this free, pink-themed splash at the Long Bridge Park Aquatics and Fitness Center. Throw around a beach ball with your kids, enjoy face painting and craft making activities, and share a tasty treat from Kona Ica. There’s no better place to bring your family to kick off the Spring season. Later in the day, parents can continue the fun at Pink in the Park, a pink-themed festival with exciting music and entertainment, an assortment of beer and wine, and a range of food truck options.

10:00am-5:00pm: Weekend of Word Play at Planet Word
Join Planet Word as we celebrate a Weekend of Wordplay in conjunction with the North American School Scrabble Championship. Visitors will be invited to drop-in for a day of activities in Lexicon Lane. There will be Scrabble tactics and demonstrations throughout the day and hands-on wordplay game exploration with our friends from Labyrinth Games & Puzzles. Join Stefan Fatsis, author of Word Freak, in the Friedman Family Auditorium for “A Brief History of Scrabble” and a book reading with Q&A. If you feel inspired to bring home your own wordplay games that day, our gift shop, Present Perfect, will feature a Hasbro Game Display.

10:00am-3:00pm: Japanese Culture Day at the Library of Congress
Celebrate Japanese Culture Day at the Library of Congress! Children of all ages, families and teachers can learn about Japanese culture through reading, writing and craft-making with Japanese cultural and linguistic professionals during the Library’s Japanese Culture Day. Collection items related to cherry blossoms and Japanese culture will also be on display.

10:30-4:00pm: First Saturday program at the National Gallery of Art
This new monthly program takes a lot of the popular elements of National Gallery Nights and offers them in a daytime setting. A daylong festival of artmaking, kids’ films, a pop-up library, PLUS a lecture and book signing with Hilton Carter and film and discussion with director Jem Cohen

12:00pm-8:00pm: The Lane turns 1!
Join the celebration for live entertainment from Geoff the Magician, bumper-car fun with our friends at WOW Wheels, fun treats by Simply Pleasures & more!

2:00pm-9:00pm: Bloomaroo at the Wharf
The free spring extravaganza features a full day of cherry blossom-themed art, music, fireworks, and family-friendly fun along the waterfront! Enjoy beer gardens on District pier, s’mores at our firepit, and live music. We’ll cap it all off with our blossom fireworks finale.

2:00pm & 4:00pm: This is the Rope 
The Kennedy Center will welcome beloved Education Artist-in-Residence Jacqueline Woodson with the National Symphony Orchestra for the world premiere of This is the Rope. Jackie will narrate her book on stage as the NSO plays new music to accompany the story and the book’s illustrations project overhead. Jackie tells the story of the Great Migration through the lens of her own family’s history. It’s heartwarming and nostalgic, but still so relatable for younger audiences. The Kennedy Center is offering a Family Four Pack (buy two tickets, get two free) for This is Rope; discount will be applied at checkout automatically.

Sunday

10:00am-5:30pm: Cherokee Days Festival
The three federally recognized Cherokee tribes—Cherokee Nation, Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians, and the United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians—showcase the shared history and cultural lifeways of the Cherokee people through storytelling, traditional flute music, weaponry, woodcarving, beadwork, traditional games, basket weaving, pottery demonstrations, and music and dance performances. 

11:00am-7:00pm: Sakura Sunday
There will be a wide array of free cultural activities including an artisanal Japanese marketplace, cultural performances, culinary delights, a sake and beer garden and more!

11:00am-3:00pm: NoMa in Bloom Festival Day
In collaboration with the National Cherry Blossom Festival, and in partnership with Lyft, The NoMa BID will host a day filled with kite flying and kite making, local DJ Mathias Broohm, face-painting and delicious food! Chalk Riot will be creating a unique blossom-themed chalk mural , and Neighbors DC will be back this year, curating a pop-up market, comprised of local artisans, sponsored generously by Lyft. PLUS be sure to stop by Eckington Hall (just around the corner from Alethia Tanner Park) 11am-7pm to check out En Flor; a co-produced exhibit celebrating the work of Latinx artists in the DMV!

12:00pm-4:00pm: STEM Expo
Geared toward 5th through 12th grade students, this free event inspires and empowers students interested in science, technology, engineering and math careers. Students and parents are invited to enjoy interactive STEM workshops, hands-on demonstrations, STEM career information, networking opportunities and more.

Plan ahead
The Yards’ Cherry Blossom Bash is this coming Wednesday! Guests can enjoy unique cherry blossom themed pop-ups and interactive experiences all around The Yards, including watercoloring, Japanese whiskey tasting, and ice cream sundae making.