Nowruz Madness! Persian New Year Celebration is Here Again

I know, it seems like we just had the New Year's Eve celebration. We did, then we had the lunar celebration with the Chinese, and now it's time for the Persian New Year: Nowruz.

The Freer and Sackler Galleries is hosting a full day of Persian New Year exhibits, music, storytelling, crafts, and food! My friend's aunt is cooking this Saturday and we get to jump over the fire (or at least some fire if we show up between 10am-12pm). You can go to my favorite DC garden after the festivities!

So get your flame-retardant shoes on and get ready to ring in the New Year...again...this Saturday from 10:30am-6pm.

Art Explosion: Get Your Stimulus

Art and "live mix" party! Okay, I must be totally UN-hip, because I don't know what that means but it sounds fun. This Saturday in Northeast at 8pm.

Enjoy!

Red Carpet on the Yellow Line: Oscar Nominated Documentaries at the Archives

This is just cool! I know a lot of you are going out of town, but this is awesome.

National Archives is showing this year's Oscar nominated documentaries every night at 7pm for free this weekend!

Get Down and Dirty: Urban Gardening Workshop

Speaking of green, it's time to start thinking about what you're going to plant in your recession garden this spring!

Rooting DC is hosting its Annual Urban Gardening Forum for free this Saturday, February 21st. You get a free lunch (yeah, I know, they don't exist) but you have to register. This is the freevolity that keeps on giving.

Remember, if you've got too much zucchini this summer you can drop them in my Mt. Pleasant mailbox...

More free theater!

The National Theater has two free series of random comedians, magicians, dancers, and other acts. The Saturday morning shows are geared more towards kids while Monday evenings are more adult oriented.

This week...

Time to break out the stage combat skills. The Source Theater is debuting their new space at 1835 14th St NW with an all weekend celebration (Nov 22-23). Saturday evening's performance costs $20-25, but the workshops and classes on Sunday are all free. Personally, I think I need to add belly dancing, stage combat, and light saber skills to my repertoire.

To get your culture on mid-week, check out the Beaujolais Nouveau release party at Bistrot du Coin this Wednesday (Nov 19th, 11PM). Beaujolais Nouveau is a wine made from young grapes and only aged 3 weeks. French law dictates it can't be opened until the third Thursday of November, hence there are often big parties the night before. I'm sure other places in DC are also staging events, but this one seems to be the biggest. Sadly, this probably means it'll be super crowded, so go early.

All the Green that fits in the Convention Center

A mere 4 days after free ice cream, the Green Festival is taking over the Convention Center (a.k.a my neighbor). Films, yoga classes, exhibitors, speakers, green building, and everything else green you want to know or celebrate (including organic beer!).

(It isn't free, but there are discounts for seniors, college students, bikers, public transit users, and union members. Who wants to compete to see who can fit the most categories?)

Duke Ellington Jazz Fest!

I haven't spent too much time looking at the events since I'll be out of town this weekend, but we're in the midst of the Jazz Festival. There are free events down on the Mall this weekend and some ticketed events going until October 7th.

Peter, are you sure it was a book?

For the bibliophiles out there, the National Book Festival is this weekend. I normally try to avoid anything Laura Bush is involved in, but hey, Tiki Barber will be there too, so it can't be all bad. Schedules for the author pavilions and book signings are on the website.

And for those who enjoy imbibing responsibly to make McCain more palatable, here are just two of the Presidential Debate Drinking Games I've found on that crazy thing we call the Internet.

Walking/Bike Tours

Cultural Tourism DC is hosting 80 free walking/biking tours around DC this weekend (Sept 20-21). Check the schedule out here.

A Kick in the Arts

You thought summer festivals were over? No way.

The Arts on Foot is having an outdoor festival in Chinatown and it's sponsored by Wines of Argentina. How exciting is that? So there will be wine and restaurant sampling, music, arts, and crafts. If you have kids, I guess you could bring them, but keep them away from the "World Market Wine Area", k?

All over Penn Quarter there will be all kinds of exhibits from film screenings to museum open houses.

So while this freevoliter is on crutches, will some of you PLEASE take advantage fleeting late summer weather?

Rock out at the KC

The Kennedy Center's Open House Arts Festival is this Saturday, September 13. From noon and 11PM, there will be free performances in the various performances spaces. Artists range from a step group, "junk jams," clowning, and storytellers to a marching band, a beatbox flutist, and ballet troupes. If you want a real DC experience, stay late for the go-go groups and dance lessons (especially if you think go-go means exotic dancing).