What To Do This Weekend in the DMV

Looking for things to do this weekend in the DMV? The weekend of September 25 through 27 is one of the busiest of the season: Fiesta DC takes over downtown Washington, All Things Go closes out the concert calendar at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Gorillaz plays Capital One Arena, and both Arlington and Alexandria hold citywide festivals. Here is your guide to the weekend.

Friday, September 25

The weekend officially starts at Merriweather Post Pavilion, where All Things Go opens its three-day run in Columbia, Maryland. Friday's lineup leads with Mitski, Ethel Cain, Rainbow Kitten Surprise, Magdalena Bay, Slayyyter, and SYML. The pavilion sits about forty minutes from downtown Washington in Howard County, and the festival runs through Sunday. Tickets and the full schedule are on the All Things Go festival page on JamBase.

Downtown, metal band Mastodon plays The Anthem on the Southwest Waterfront at 7 PM, with doors through the early show. The Anthem is one of the best-sounding rooms in the city, and tickets are on the Anthem official site. On the National Mall, the Smithsonian Craft2Wear show opens Friday at the Arts and Industries Building, a curated marketplace of craft and wearable-art makers that continues all weekend. Washington.org's September events calendar has the full rundown of museum programming for the weekend.

In Maryland, the Rockville Little Theatre opens The Game's Afoot, a Ken Ludwig comedy thriller, at the F. Scott Fitzgerald Theatre in the city of Rockville on Friday night, with performances all weekend and through early October. For more on the city, see Claude's Rockville guide.

Saturday, September 26

Saturday's centerpiece is Fiesta DC, Washington's Latin American cultural festival. The festival opens on Pennsylvania Avenue NW between 3rd and 7th Streets NW, steps from the US Capitol, with music, dance, food, and vendor stalls from across Latin America. Brazil is the 2026 Country of Honor. The festival is free, and the parade moves to Constitution Avenue on Sunday. Fiesta DC's official site has the festival and parade schedule.

Across the Potomac, Clarendon Day takes over the Clarendon neighborhood in the city of Arlington from 11 AM to 6 PM, with live music, local food and drink, and an arts-and-crafts market around Clarendon Park and the Metrorail plaza. Arlington is a city of more than thirty neighborhoods, and this festival is one of its signature civic events. Also Saturday, the Arlington Visual Art Studio Tour opens at studios across the city, running 11 AM to 5 PM Saturday and Sunday. StayArlington's September events guide lists the full weekend lineup. Curious about what it is like to live in the city? Claude's Arlington guide covers the neighborhoods, schools, and commute options.

South of Washington, the 24th Annual Alexandria Art Festival fills John Carlyle Square Park in the city of Alexandria from 10 AM to 5 PM Saturday and Sunday, a free, juried show with about 125 artists working in paint, sculpture, jewelry, and fiber. Visit Alexandria's event page has the details. Saturday morning also brings the Old Town Farmers' Market at Market Square on the 100 block of North Royal Street from 7 AM to noon, widely considered the oldest continuously operating farmers' market in the country, plus the Del Ray Farmers' Market from 8 AM to noon. The city of Alexandria publishes its full farmers' market list on its official site. See Claude's Alexandria guide for more on living in the city's walkable districts.

Saturday night belongs to Gorillaz, who bring their tour to Capital One Arena in Chinatown at 7 PM. The show is one of the biggest arena dates of the fall, and tickets are on the Capital One Arena schedule on Live Nation. At 2 PM, the Freedom Forum 1A Fest brings a free family festival about the First Amendment to The Wharf on the Southwest Waterfront, with games, music, and activities running until 6 PM. The Wharf's events calendar lists it and everything else on the waterfront this weekend. All Things Go also continues its Saturday bill at Merriweather, led by Hayley Williams and MUNA.

In Montgomery County, Rocktobierfest brings an Oktoberfest celebration to Rockville Town Center on Saturday, with food, beer, and live music in the plaza. If a weekend of festivals has you thinking about which DMV cities and neighborhoods fit your life, the buying guide is a good place to start.

Sunday, September 27

The weekend closes with the Fiesta DC Parade of the Nations, which marches along Constitution Avenue NW between 7th and 14th Streets NW from late morning into the afternoon, ending near the National Archives. Expect flags, music, and dancers from the country delegations, with Brazil leading the way as Country of Honor. The parade is free and crowds gather along the route starting around 11 AM.

Sunday is also the final day for All Things Go at Merriweather Post Pavilion, the Smithsonian Craft2Wear show on the National Mall, the Alexandria Art Festival at John Carlyle Square, and the Arlington Visual Art Studio Tour. For a quieter morning, the FRESHFARM Dupont Circle Farmers' Market runs Sundays in the Dupont Circle neighborhood of Washington, a year-round weekend tradition for produce, flowers, and prepared food. See Claude's Dupont Circle guide for more on the neighborhood around the market.

However you spend the weekend, it is a good reminder of how the DMV's cities and neighborhoods each carry their own rhythm, from the festival blocks of downtown DC to the urban villages of Arlington, the historic plazas of Alexandria, and the green open spaces of Howard and Montgomery Counties. For a look back at last weekend's events, read Claude's previous weekend guide.

Claude Labbe

REALTOR · Douglas Elliman · DC, MD, VA