Summer is packed with special events perfect for the weekend traveler. Consider the holiday weekends below, each with their own line-up of performances, festivals and events fit for the whole family:
Flag Day (June 12-15) – What better place is there than DC to celebrate the American flag?
•Foodie families can also join in the national kickoff event for Cookie + Gourmet Kids’ Restaurant Week™, which takes place Saturday, June 13, at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill. The kickoff event will feature kid-friendly foodie events and activities throughout the market, whose historic building reopens later this summer after a major renovation. Throughout Kids’ Restaurant Week, June 13-21, select DC restaurants will offer prix fixe menus for adults, while kids 11 and under will pay their age during early dinner seatings (5-7 pm). Food-minded families can also look for kid-friendly cooking classes and demonstrations, museum and gallery programs and other events and programs. www.kidsrestaurantweek.com
•Visit the newly renovated National Museum of American History to see the real Star-Spangled Banner on permanent display then join in the museum’s Flag Day Family Festival on June 14. During the free day-long event, festival-goers will hear the winner of the museum’s YouTube “Star-Spangled Banner”-singing contest perform, plus live fife and drum music and more.
americanhistory.si.edu
Fourth of July (July 3-6) – Celebrate independence with a three-day weekend in DC.
•A summer tradition, this year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival explores the culture of Wales, Latin music and the power of words in African American culture. Look for performances, demonstrations when the National Mall becomes a global village, June 26-30 and July 1-5. www.festival.si.edu
•On July 4, catch the National Independence Day Parade, with more than 100 marching bands and floats, which steps out at noon along Constitution Avenue. Special events also take place at the National Archives, Washington National Cathedral and other notable places. www.july4thparade.com
•In the evening, watch notable screen and stage stars perform patriotic classics in “A Capitol Fourth,” a live PBS concert featuring the National Symphony Orchestra. It’s followed by the spectacular fireworks display on the National Mall. www.pbs.org/capitolfourth
Labor Day (Sept. 4-7) – Wind down your summer with Labor Day fun.
•On Sunday, check out the free Labor Day Capitol Concert, performed by the National Symphony Orchestra on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol. It starts at 8pm and kicks-off the Kennedy Center Prelude Festival, which includes two weeks of special performances to celebrate the beginning of DC’s performing arts season. www.kennedy-center.org/calendar/?fuseaction=showEvent&event=NJLAB
Tags: 4th of July, Flag Day, Labor Day, Washington D.C.