Key Takeaways
- Friday, November 13: the DowntownDC Holiday Market opens on F Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW in Penn Quarter, with 120+ vendors, free admission, and daily hours through December 23. This is the official start of the city's holiday season.
- Saturday, November 14: the Capitals host the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena at 7 pm on Military Appreciation Night, and CityCenterDC lights its holiday tree on the plaza from 5 to 7 pm.
- Friday night live music: Protomartyr plays the Black Cat on 14th Street NW, and Red Brick Weekend opens at Takoma Park Presbyterian Church with Flowers for the Dead, Music Mouse, and more.
- Sunday, November 15: Giant Rooks play the 9:30 Club in the Shaw neighborhood, the Takoma Collective Fall Market runs 9 am to 2 pm on Main Street in the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, and the Wizards host the Houston Rockets at 7 pm.
- The Commanders are off this weekend after their Thursday night game in New York; the next home game is Monday, November 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Looking for things to do this weekend in the DMV? The DowntownDC Holiday Market opens Friday on F Street NW, the Capitals host the New Jersey Devils on Saturday night, and CityCenterDC lights its holiday tree the same evening. Here is the day-by-day guide to November 13 through 15.
Friday, November 13
The big one: the DowntownDC Holiday Market opens Friday at 11 am on F Street NW between 7th and 9th Streets NW, in the Penn Quarter and Chinatown area of downtown DC, steps from the Gallery Place Metrorail station. More than 120 vendors fill wooden chalet-style stalls with gifts, ornaments, crafts, and food, and the market runs daily through December 23. Admission is free, and hours are 11 am to 9 pm Fridays and Saturdays and 11 am to 8 pm Sundays. The full vendor list, hours, and holiday events are on the official DowntownDC Holiday Market page.
For live music, Protomartyr plays the Black Cat at 1811 14th Street NW on Friday night, and Red Brick Weekend kicks off its fifth-anniversary run at Takoma Park Presbyterian Church with a Friday main show featuring Flowers for the Dead and Music Mouse starting at 6:30 pm. Tickets and the full weekend lineup are on the Red Brick Weekend 2026 event page. Over on the Southwest Waterfront, the Coca-Cola Caravan brings its holiday tour to The Wharf on Friday. For the region-wide roundup, Washington.org's November events calendar is updated all weekend.
Saturday, November 14
Hockey night in DC: the Washington Capitals host the New Jersey Devils at Capital One Arena at 601 F Street NW at 7 pm, a Military Appreciation Night game. Tickets and seat maps are on the Capitals home schedule on Ticketmaster. The arena is a couple of blocks from the holiday market, so you can shop F Street in the afternoon and still make the puck drop.
Across the street from the arena, CityCenterDC holds its annual holiday tree lighting on the plaza between 9th and 11th Streets NW from 5 to 7 pm, with the tree glowing through the season in the shadow of the modern towers. It is a free, family-friendly stop right before the game.
Elsewhere on Saturday: Red Brick Weekend returns to Takoma Park Presbyterian Church at 5:30 pm with Omni performing "Deluxe" in full, plus Fib and Saafewaay. The D.C. Zinefest fills the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G Street NW with independent zine makers, Wangari Gardens hosts its free fall festival in the Park View neighborhood from noon to 4 pm, and Boots on the Boardwalk brings country music and line dancing to The Yards in the Navy Yard neighborhood from 5 to 8 pm. If you want a preview of what is coming, the Enchant Christmas lights festival opens at Nationals Park next weekend, November 20.
Sunday, November 15
The Takoma Collective Fall Market runs 9 am to 2 pm on Main Street in the city of Takoma Park, Maryland, with local makers, farmers, and food vendors lining the street. Details are on the Takoma Collective site. Early risers in DC can shop FRESHFARM's Dupont Circle Farmers Market in the Dupont Circle neighborhood, open 8:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Sunday night brings two headliners. German band Giant Rooks plays the 9:30 Club at 815 V Street NW in the Shaw neighborhood, with tickets and showtimes on the 9:30 Club's event calendar. And the Washington Wizards host the Houston Rockets at Capital One Arena at 7 pm, the second big night at the arena in a row.
Football fans take note: the Commanders are off this weekend, coming off their Thursday night game at the Giants in New York. The next home game is Monday night, November 23 against the Cincinnati Bengals at Northwest Stadium in Landover, Maryland; the Commanders schedule page has the full slate.
Between the market, the hockey, and the tree lighting, it is a full weekend across DC, Maryland, and Virginia. If you are coming to town to look at homes, plan around the crowds: Claude's county-by-county breakdown of the DMV market shows how DC, Montgomery, and Fairfax compare right now, and his guide to the Veterans Day weekend recaps how the season turned. If holiday-market browsing turns into a house-hunting stroll, the Capitol Hill neighborhood guide maps the blocks from Eastern Market to the market's downtown edge.
