To Do

photo by jo-h

Well fine, summer is here for real this time. The calendar and the thermometer say so. Try to stay hydrated and cool as you take part in some of these exciting weekend activities!

Tonight Step Afrika! opens its annual Home Performance Series at the Atlas. The only professional company dedicated to the art and tradition of stepping, Step Afrika! spends much of the year on the road bringing their unique, high -energy performances around the world. I know I’m biased but if you have never seen the company perform live you need to check them out.  Seriously everyone from kids to my Finnish mother-in-law love them. Tonight they are celebrating the life and work of Chuck Brown with an after party at the Atlas called The Chuck Brown Experience.  The $75 ticket includes the performance and the after party. Tickets are available here.  The performance series runs through July 1.

Friday head to the Fairgrounds for South on South Capitol. The southern rock concert series features local and national country and southern rock bands, including local faves the Highballers.  Expect food trucks, drinks and…mechanical bull rides! The event runs from 11 am to midnight and admission is free.

Saturday is Ward 6 Family Day sponsored by the office of Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells. This year the event will be held at the new Rosedale Recreation Center from 12pm-4pm. There will be food, games and fun for the whole family.

Saturday is also Skate of the Union at the Maloof Skate park at RFK Stadium Parking lot. The all day event features skating competitions for skaters of all ages as well as demos in figure skating, style skating and of course derby-style by the DC Rollergirls. Olympic Speed skater Sani Davis will be on hand as well as track and field legend Willie Banks. The event culminates in a Skate to London. This Olympic Day event in Washington is the culmination of the US Olympians Walk To London 2012 campaign, which began in April in LA and which has been generating enthusiasm and support for the US Team at the 2012 Olympics in London this July. A complete schedule of the day’s events can be found here.

The Argonaut celebrates the second annual Phoenix fest which commemorates the fire that badly damaged the restaurant 3 2 years ago. Phoenix Fest raises funds for firefighters and the DC Burn Foundation. There are various events throughout the day beginning at noon.  There will be art classes for kids from 12pm – 2pm and a silent auction from 2pm -7pm.  $50 gets you all-you-can eat and drink seafood boil and Red Hook IPA from 4pm to 7pm upstairs. To reserve a spot email argonautdc[at]gmail.com.

Sunday Scoutmob is sponsoring Cycle In Cinema at The Fridge. The afternoon begins  with a group bicycle ride to various community gardens throughout the city and ends at The Fridge for a screening of A Community of Gardeners, exploring the vital role of seven community gardens in Washington, D.C. as sources of fresh, nutritious food, outdoor classrooms, places of healing, links to immigrants’ homelands, centers of social interaction and oases of beauty and calm in inner-city neighborhoods.  The film also traces the history of community gardens in the United States, from the potato patch farms of the late 19th century, to the victory gardens of World War II, to community gardening’s current renaissance.. To register for the ride go here.  Buy tickets for the screening here.