Hey DC! Looking for things to do this weekend? This week’s selection of events in BEST WEEKEND BETS are, as always, hand picked and carefully calibrated for maximum fun, minimum stress. As your theme: Emily Blunt and John Krasinski, a couple worth rooting for, and not just in A Quiet Place.
 
• Dine-N-Dash 2018 is coming June 6 and we’re a sponsor! Buy tickets now to the funnest food event of the year!
• MORE ANNOUNCEMENTS COMING SOON…Stay in the loop and follow us on Facebook & Twitter & Instagram. Use #BYThings too. Get excited!
All sorts of great stuff:
• The Best of EVERYTHING this month: we handpick some great movies, music, art, books, for you.
• We interviewed RZA. It’s the kind of interview you want from RZA.
• We profiled 17-year-old artist Julia Chon. Her new exhibit, Kimchi Juice, is currently on display at Maketto.
• We announced the best National Zoo event of the year: Zoofari.
• America’s Best Curator on Cyclical History and The Best Dress that Costs Less than 35 Cents.
• RADIORADIORADIO: Listen to BYT radio! Hosted by Brandon Wetherbee, it streams every Thursday at noon. Listen live. Subscribe in iTunes. Sometimes we do toasts.Â
SOCIAL MEDIA BONUS: tag all your Instagram stuff #BYThings (@brightestyoungthings) and get a chance to shine on OUR Instagram feed too.
 
PARTY!
• Some of us will be at the Heineken Afterwork: Earth Day Party at Shaw’s Tavern.
• The rest of us will be at Hirshhorn + No Kings Collective present $19.89 A Hirshhorn Late Night.
• The flippy floppy boys and girls of NXT are at The Anthem. This is a great use of The Anthem. I mean this with all sincerity. Venues fit for Nick Cave are perfect for Aleister Black.
• Big Lebowski fans will want to be at Pearl Street Warehouse for The Big Lebowski Experience. 17 local musicians will be performing the soundtrack and there will be food and drink specials like White Russians. What a horrible, horrible drink. This is not a criticism of the film or event, just the drink. It’s so bad.
• If you like The Libertines you’ll like The Garden, Tijuana Panthers, and Cowgirl Cue at DC9.
• The Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness begins tonight. Read our interview with Split This Rock’s Joseph Green.
• The 32nd Annual Filmfest DC kicks off tonight. We’ll be recommending one film per day throughout the fest, which ends April 19. Tonight’s pick is Streaker from Switzerland.
• It’s Girl Scout Cookie season so DC Metro Girls Pint Out 4th Annual Beer and Cookie Pairing is at Little Miss Whiskey’s.
• Clean Bandit headlines 9:30 Club.
•  Listen to our radio show! BYT Radio hosted by Brandon Wetherbee streams at noon. Listen live. Subcribe in iTunes. Please write a nice review in iTunes.
• FREE PICK: The Take 5! series in the Kogod Courtyard is a well curated, free monthly jazz series. This edition is Charles Funn Big Band celebrates Duke Pearson.
• BALTIMORE PICK: Patriot Stormy Daniels proves she’s a real American at Fantasies Nightclub.
• It’s 4/20.
• The National Cannabis Festival’s inaugural NCF Policy Summit is at the Newseum.
• Black Star is at The Anthem. Yes, that Black Star.
• The 13th Annual Hump! Film Festival curated by Dan Savage returns to Black Cat for night 2.
• Tracy Morgan says Tracy Morgan things at Kennedy Center.
• Walking Dead burlesque fans will want to be at Black Cat for Bump & Brimes IV.
• President Obama’s Senior Writer and Deputy Director of Messaging Pat Cunnane speaks about his new book at Politics and Prose at The Wharf. At this point, if you don’t have a book about your time in the Obama White House, no one will believe you worked in the Obama White House.
•Tonight’s Filmfest DC pick is The Third Murder. Directed by Hirokazu Kore-eda, arguably the best Japanese filmmaker working right now.
• The Wizards host the Raptors in game 3 of round 1 of the NBA Playoffs. The Wizards are down 0-2. It’s not looking good. This will most likely be your last weekend of 2017-2018 NBA in D.C.
• Uncle Benny’s with Rick Wilhite, Hot Coffee and Benoit play Dew Drop Inn.
• FREE PICK: The Aslin Tap Takeover at Union Stage is no cover and features hard to find beers and performances from Big Timber and Hollertown.Â
• BALTIMORE PICK: Get in the Record Store Day mood at Atomic Book’s Dogfish Head party. That’s right. A brewery is celebrating records in a book store.
Do some daytime stuff:
• Happy 3rd birthday, Ocelot!
• After a day of learning at the Newseum, The National Cannabis Fest’s big event with Cypress Hill, See-I, Backyard Band, Beau Young Prince, DJ Ayes Cold, Oh He Dead, Names, and MARLEE is at RFK.
• If you’d rather small another type of green the Heurich House Museum hosts Frühlingsfest: a Spring Garden Festival.
• This weekend’s free yoga pick comes courtesy of The Line. Join Urban Athletic Club for an outdoor yoga session at 9:30 a.m.
• Everything deserves a festival so why not attend the Human Rights Festival?
• Walk around Dupont Circle and eat in a bunch of different Dupont Circle restaurants at Taste of Dupont.
• Hang out in Nats Park for not Major League Baseball. Time for the 2018 DC Beer Fest.
• Oh yeah, it’s Record Store Day.
• Go home, do some positive reaffirmations before tonight:
Then:
• The Decemberists play The Anthem. I like the new album, especially “Severed”.
• The Upright Citizens Brigade Touring Company performs at Sixth & I.
• Stop by the brand new food space
• Last weekend to see Potted Potter at Shakespeare Theater.
• G ∆ Y / B ∆ S H time at Trade.
• FREE PICK OF THE DAY: Today’s Filmfest DC pick is a free 25th anniversary 12:30 p.m. screening of Jurassic Park.Â
• BALTIMORE PICK: Celebrate the one year anniversary of Sagamore Spirit! It’s like any other birthday party but instead of a 1-year-old baby you’ll be celebrating a 1-year-old distillery.
• Looking for some good new brunches to try? Check out our food section.
For your viewing pleasure:
• Not sure what to see in the theater? Check out our film section for reviews.
Leaving the house?
• I love sardines and the small of sardines so I’m definitely endorsing ANXO Sardinada. They’re grilling sardines all day on their patio. It’s going to smell so good.
• A Right to the City opens this weekend at the Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum.
• Today’s Filmfest DC pick is another free screening, this one 1999’s Spectres of the Spectrum at the National Gallery of Art. Somewhat of a found footage film, it’s based in the post-apocalyptic 2007 and was shot using kinescopes.
• The Kingman Island Bluegrass and Folk Festival used to be in April. They moved it to June. That was the right decision. It’s still too cold. Anyway, one of their preview shows is today at Atlas.
• Learn to make better Bourbon cocktails at a Five to One cocktail class.
• If you haven’t been to the back room at Capo, go to the back room at Capo for Womansplaining, an all ladies comedy show.
• FREE PICK: The Folger Shakespeare Library hosts their annual
• Bonus FREE PICK: Celebrate Earth Day with DC’s least known environmental activist at Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens.
• BALTIMORE PICK: The Baltimore Museum of Art hosts the Jack Whitten Sculpture Opening Celebration.
And just like that, the weekend is over. How do you feel about that?
PHEW. THAT WAS A LOT. BUT: THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TO DO LISTED IN THE BYT CALENDAR PAGES, so use it and if you think we may have missed something, comment away–you know you want to. NO EXCUSES.
Till next time:
 
