Free & Almost Free Things To Do This Week In DC

Here we focus exclusively on the cheapest YET most satisfying entertainment to be found around DC. Every week we highlight free and almost free activities, a choice happy hour or two, food specials and hot tips for budget survival. PLEASE POST YOUR FREE EVENTS (FOR FREE!) ON OUR AGENDA PAGE or send us FREE TIPS to [email protected] for inclusion in the future FREE THINGS guide. So, time to plan the week! 

Outdoor movie season is beginning. That’s means there’ll be no end to the free movies showing throughout the city and into the burbs. Be sure to consult your outdoor movie guide, my friend, if this is your bag.

• Wednesday, May 27 – Dirty Dancing is showing at NoMa’s Summer Screen kickoff, complete with food trucks (including DC Empanadas & Captain Cookie), picnicking, music and giveaways. Bring your own chair though (but don’t put baby in the corner).
  
• Friday, May 29 – The Devil Wears Prada at Farragut Park, a part of Golden Triangle’s Golden Cinema.
• Friday, May 29 – Sunday May 31 – The Korean Film Festival will be going on at the Smithsonian Freer Gallery of Art, with films We Are Brothers, Man on High Hills, and Quiz Show Scandal.
• Saturday, May 30 – The National Gallery of Art is showing three films on New York: Native New Yorker, NYC Weights and Measures, and The Time We Killed, if D.C. is feeling too cramped for you in the summer heat.
  
• Saturday, May 30 – More NGA free films, as they show Goff in the Desert, part of Emigholz’s series Architecture as Autobiography.
• Saturday, May 30 – Ellicott City’s Wine Bin (way out in Maryland) is showing Footloose.
• Saturday, May 30 – Hook is showing at Potomac Town Center, even though it’s a hike it’s still FREE, man.
• Sunday, May 31 – The National Gallery of Art will be hosting Through a Lens Darkly, an event that examines the portrayal of African Americans by white photographers since the creation of photography.

• Wednesday, May 27 – A People’s Choir DC at Stetson’s Famous Bar and Restaurant, a group sing-a-long where the only thing you need is your enthusiasm; they’ll provide the lyrics. Some fun lyrical catharsis right after work.
• Wednesday, May 27 – Blonde Elvis from Toronto, Motion Lines, and locals Teen Mom at the Beehive
• Wednesday, May 27 – The Lucky So and So’s are having an EP release party with Ardamus and Shining Blade Theory at DC9.
• Thursday, May 28th – GetAround is launching in DC with a BIG, SPLASHY, FREE PARTY @ Dock 5. Free drinks, great jams, $50 driving credits and more. RSVP HERE.

• Thursday, May 28 – Cartoon Weapons, Time Columns and Motherknuckle at DC9. CW is local and they’re known for some crazy live looping, alt-experimental fun.
• Friday, May 29 – Jazz in the Garden. Need we say more? Sangria n’ Saxophones
  
• Friday, May 29 – Coup Savage & the Snips, Baby Bry Bry and the Apologists, and Hemlines at St. Stephens. It’s a a benefit concert for the Homeless Children’s Playtime Project, which nurtures healthy child development for children in temporary housing. Good vibes for a good cause.
• Friday, May 29 – The Hartford Pussies, Qualms, DENZELL, and Buster at Above the Bayou. It’s an album release show too, so you can score some new music.
• Saturday, May 30 – BRNDA, Daddy Issues, the Pretty Greens at Babe City in Dupont Circle, brought to you by locals Chimes Records.
• Saturday, May 30 – Depeche Mode Dance Party at Black Cat. The Dream of the ’80s is alive on U Street. Crazy visuals, Krasty McNasty, DJ Steve E P, just sweat it out.
• Sunday, May 31 – More Chimes Records (The Sea Life, Swings) and NOLA Community Records (All People, Pope) at Black Cat.
• Sunday, May 31 – Oh Mama! Crew from Norway at Stetsons Bar, a six person kickass DJ collective of six ladies from Oslo, spinning hot jams if you’re still not danced out by the weekend’s end.
  

• Friday, May 29 – Picnic in the Park will have some community seating, giveaways, and lawn games from 12 – 2 pm in Farragut Park
• Saturday, May 30 – Tour de Fat at the Yards Park in SW. An awesome event full of bikes and brews, featuring food from DC Slices, Mellow Mushroom, Red Apron, GBD, in addition to live music, beers, comedy and more.  Plus ain’t nothing better than a summer bicycle ride.
  

• Wednesday, May 27 – The Wonderland Circus, hosted by Capital City Showcase, will be hosting a variety show of thrills, chills and amazement, with comedy, music and even a little burlesque.
• Thursday, May 28 – playbackthetape, a VHS mixed-media presentation at Petworth Citizen, is hosting a 1990s TV series finale show.
  
• Thursday, May 28 – Comedy Night at the Paperhaus, it’s been too long. Featuring comedians Jamel Johnson, Valerie Paschall, Chris Milner and more. Hosted by DCDIT.
• Saturday, May 30 – The Anacostia Community Museum, as a part of its Community History Series, hosts a lecture with historian Dr. C.R. Gibbs titled African Americans and WWI, a historic presentation on one of America’s costliest battles.
• Saturday, May 30 – Ken Hughes will talk about his new book, the ominously titled Fatal Politics, which deals with the Nixon Tapes and the Vietnam War, at Politics and Prose.
  

That’s all, remember – PLEASE POST YOUR FREE EVENTS (FOR FREE!) ON OUR AGENDA PAGE or send us FREE TIPS to [email protected] for inclusion in the future FREE THINGS guide. Feel free to leave us your suggestions in the comments. Sharing is the new caring.