Events in DC all year round

For over a quarter of a century, thousands of DC residents have come out to celebrate this community, home to large Latino, white, African and African American populations. Musicians, crafts and ethnic foods are in ample supply. he longest-running street fair in DC, Adams Morgan Day includes local artists, bands and restaurants that bring 18th Street and Columbia Road to life. Transport: Dupont Circle or Woodley Park Metro.   

Sponsored by the Library of Congress, the Book Festival features dozens of authors, illustrators, poets and storytellers, all reading, performing and signing in block after block of pavilions themed around “Fiction and Imagination,” “History and Biography,” “Mysteries and Thrillers” and so on. Admission is free. Transport: Archives-Naval Memorial or Federal Triangle Metro.  

Dupont Circle residents and gawkers from across the city swarm to 17th Street to catch this ultimate drag race, which features outrageously costumed contestants promenading up and down—then sprinting down a two-block stretch in the heart of the capital’s gay community. The event itself lasts mere minutes, but the street-party atmosphere is festive and the scenery fabulous. Don't even get us started about the afterparties. Transport: Dupont Circle Metro.  

For more than 10 years, Crafty Bastards has served as a showcase for over 100 emerging and established local makers to show off goods like knitted cats and macramé wall hangings. It’s grown so large that a few years ago, it upgraded from a lot in Adams Morgan to Dock 5 at Union Market, a sprawling warehouse-like space in Northeast DC. Bring a list and get your holiday shopping done early. Or just do the more obvious thing and shop for yourself. Transport: NoMa-Gallaudet U Metro.

The “Marathon of Monuments” draws around 30,000 runners from around the world, and no wonder: The Marine Corps Marathon course winds along the banks of the Potomac, through Georgetown and Rock Creek Park, past the city’s most famous sites and monuments, finishing at the Iwo Jima memorial in Arlington. Spectators and supporters turn the route into a 26-mile street party.  

A solemn ceremony with military bands, in honor of the country’s war dead. Ceremonies are also held at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, Mount Vernon (1-703 780 2000) and the US Navy Memorial. Transport: Arlington Cemetery Metro.