Thursday
Live! At The Library
The Library of Congress, Jefferson Building, 10 First Street SE, 5 to 8 p.m., free
We’ll take Celebrity Podcast Tapings for free, Ken. This week’s Live! At The Library, features Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings and his podcaster pal John Roderick. The duo will record an episode of “The Omnibus Project” in the Coolidge Auditorium and devote their banter to books, objects and artifacts in the library’s collection. Meanwhile, in the Great Hall, banjo player John Bullard will pick a mix of bluegrass and classical music. Stroll while enjoying drinks and snacks, or check out the reading room, which is normally reserved for researchers. (Pro tip: If tickets are sold out, try again Thursday morning, when the Library of Congress releases a fresh block.)
“Garbo” at GALA Hispanic Theatre
3333 14th Street NW, 8 p.m. $22
Trending
GALA Hispanic Theatre opens its 2026/2027 season with a world premiere play about Catalan actor Juan Pujol García (a.k.a. “Garbo”) who took on the role of double agent during World War II. His escapades included collecting wages from the Nazis for nonexistent fellow spies and helping to convince the Germans that the Allies would invade not at Normandy, but at Pas-de-Calais. In Spanish with English subtitles. Friday’s performance is a discounted preview; the play continues through Sept. 27.
More to explore: British glam rocker Adam Ant plays the Filene Center at Wolf Trap.
Friday
DC Tap Fest All-Star Concert at The Westin Washington
1400 M Street NW, 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. (two shows), $45
DMV tap dance doyennes Chloé and Maud Arnold return to curate four days of classes, performances and jam sessions. Friday night’s All-Star Concert features the Syncopated Ladies, the Arnold sisters’ touring ensemble that has performed on “So You Think You Can Dance,” “The Late Late Show” and more, plus shared stages with a host of celebrities, including Mariah Carey. Luke Spring, an Ashburn native who was on Broadway before he turned 10, also performs.
Bernstein’s Mass, Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church
900 Massachusetts Avenue NW, 7 p.m., free
Chamber opera company the INSeries and singers from 13 area choral groups combine forces to offer a requiem for the Kennedy Center. The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, Georgetown Chorale and Handel Choir of Baltimore are among those sending volunteers to perform the piece Leonard Bernstein composed to memorialize John F. Kennedy Jr. and celebrate the center’s opening in 1971. Heather Adelsberger of the Georgetown Chorale conducts and Timothy Nelson, artistic director of the INSeries, provides stage direction. (The concert repeats on Saturday.)
More to explore: First Friday at Community Forklift in Edmonston.
Saturday
DC JazzFest at Arena Stage and The Wharf
Saturday and Sunday, times and costs vary
DC JazzFest takes over the Waterfront neighborhood this week with performances on more than a dozen stages. Highlights include the free outdoor DC Jazz Bops kids concert (both Saturday and Sunday at 11 a.m.), sets sponsored by EU embassies at Union Stage and the Pearl Street Warehouse, and the DCJazzPrix, a competition for emerging ensembles. Block out some time to explore the website in advance, because some shows, including Saturday’s Arena Stage headliner featuring Dee Dee Bridgewater, are only open to festival passholders.
Circus Arts Conservatory at the Smithsonian
Arts and Industries Building and National Museum of American History, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., free
The Smithsonian’s annual Folklife Festival may have been bounced off the National Mall by the Great American State Fair, but events have still happened, mostly indoors in a scaled back form, throughout the summer. This weekend, the Smithsonian celebrates circus arts with three days of performances, demonstrations and workshops at the Arts and Industries Building (a.k.a. The Castle) and the Museum of American History. Bring the kids for hula-hoop and juggling workshops, short performances featuring the Sailor Circus Academy from Sarasota, Florida, and (we are not making this up) read-aloud storytime with clowns.
More to explore: Whiskey tasting and distillery tour at Mount Vernon.
Sunday
So many museum exhibitions are closing
Various locations around the National Mall
As summer ends, so do a host of museum exhibitions. At the Hirshhorn, Labor Day weekend marks the closing of “Basquiat x Banksy,” an exploration of contemporary street art. At the Renwick, you have one last chance to see crop art and more at “State Fairs: Growing American Craft.” And at the Museum of the Bible, sample pages from the 2,000-year-old Dead Sea Scrolls are on display for their final few days.
The Hot Lanes at Fort Hunt
Pavilion A, 8999 Fort Hunt Road, Alexandria, 7 p.m., free
If getting the kids (or older adults) downtown seems like a bridge too far, the final Fort Hunt Sunday night concert of the season may be a great alternative. The Hot Lanes, a local 16-piece ensemble inspired by Wynton Marsalis and his Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, close out this series held on National Park Service property just north of Mount Vernon.
More to explore: The National Symphony’s free Labor Day Concert at DAR Constitution Hall.