Tuesday, May 12, 2026
The summer arts season is calling us to leave the house and check out all the city has to offer. Prime time for outdoor concerts and movies, the next few months abound with opportunities to take in every type of art under the stars.
Arts festivals pop up, musicals move in and museums unveil new exhibitions (or get ready to close ones that shouldn’t be missed). As we march into summer, The Georgetowner has compiled a sampling of events to look forward to, indoors and out.
Outdoor Concerts and Movies
There’s nothing better than spending a summer evening in the open air, taking in a concert or watching a movie. This year, there are multiple options to choose from.
The Summer Movies on the Lawn series returns to the Library of Congress on July 9. Courtesy LOC.
The Library of Congress is hosting its annual Summer Movies on the Lawn, with National Film Registry selections. Beginning on July 9, the sundown series runs on Thursday evenings through Aug. 6 on the southeast lawn of the library’s Thomas Jefferson Building.
The series kicks off with the ’90s classic “Clueless,” a modern retelling of Jane Austen’s novel “Emma.” Other selections include: the Philadelphia-set classic “Rocky,” starring Sylvester Stallone; the ’80s ride “Back to the Future,” featuring a very young Michael J. Fox; “A League of Their Own” (“There’s no crying in baseball!”); and “Apollo 13,” based on a true, nail-biting event in space. Before each movie, local musicians like Washington Nationals organist Matthew Van Hoose will perform.
Jazz in the Garden at the National Gallery of Art is so popular it requires a lottery to attend. Courtesy NGA.
The area’s favorite summer concert series — so popular there is a lottery before each event — is the National Gallery of Art’s Jazz in the Garden, which returns to the NGA Sculpture Garden on Friday evenings from May 22 through Aug. 14 (except June 5 and July 3). This year, there will also be pre-show dance classes on select days. The lottery takes place the week before each event, opening on Monday at 10 a.m. and closing on Friday at noon.
Venture up to Strathmore for the Live from the Lawn series on Wednesdays in July and August. Featuring family-friendly shows, the series begins on July 1, with feel-good funk-pop band Strutman Lane and ends on Aug. 12 with the UkeFest Finale.?
Musicals
This summer has a full lineup of fun and frothy musicals. Onstage at the National Theatre from July 7 to 19 is the singing-and-dancing version of Tim Burton’s dark comedy “Beetlejuice.”
At the Hirshhorn, see two major paintings in dialogue, one by Jean-Michel Basquiat and the other by Banksy. Courtesy Smithsonian.
Beginning on Aug. 25, Signature Theatre presents Stephen Sondheim’s “Merrily We Roll Along,” a reverse time-travel story about the lives of three friends. The musical score includes stunning songs like “Our Time,” “Good Thing Going” and “Not a Day Goes By.”
The Sondheim classic ‘Merrily We Roll Along’ is an end-of-summer treat at Signature Theatre.
Get nostalgic at Arena Stage’s “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Musical,” which runs from June 12 to Aug. 9. From visionary writer and director Kwame Kwei-Armah, the show gives attendees an inside look at how Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas became the most successful female group of all time, with hits like “No Scrubs” and “Creep.”
Reminisce with TLC songs at Arena Stage. Courtesy Arena Stage.
Festivals
The DC/DOX Film Festival takes place from June 11 to 14 at venues around D.C. The four days of documentaries and conversations will explore works of nonfiction storytelling, with an inspiring 100 films to check out.
A documentary about the ’70s-era disco band Earth, Wind & Fire is part of the DC/DOX Film Festival. Courtesy DC/DOX.
End summer 2026 with the DC Jazz Fest, which runs over Labor Day weekend at the Wharf. This year’s lineup includes such stars as saxophonist Joshua Redman and vocalists Dee Dee Bridgewater and Kurt Elling.
The D.C. Jazz Festival ends the summer season at the Wharf. Courtesy DC JazzFest.
Exhibitions
Many local museums are celebrating the 250th birthday of the U.S. this summer. On July 2, the National Portrait Gallery will unveil Bartlett Frost’s wax diorama of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, newly conserved, and a Revolutionary War-era gallery. The installations are part of “Out of Many: Portraits from 1600 to 1900.”
On July 2, the National Portrait Gallery will unveil a newly conserved wax diorama of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Courtesy NPG.
At the National Museum of African Art, don’t miss “Here: Pride and Belonging in African Art,” which runs through Aug. 23, demonstrating how LGBTQ+ artists are part of the larger story of African art history. Featured artists include Jim Chuchu, Rotimi Fani-Kayode and Talia Ramkilawan.
“I Will Continue to Seek Home” by Talia Ramkilawan at the National Museum of African Art. Instagram photo.
Explore Pueblo pottery at the National Museum of Women in the Arts with “Burnished: Pueblo Pottery at NMWA,” on view through Sept. 27. See the impact of Pueblo women potters through two dozen clay ollas, seed jars, bowls and other items.
Lisa Holt and Harlan Reano, Untitled Pot, 2025; Natural clay with acrylic paint, 16?h x 14?dia; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Bequest of Sandra A. Kruzman; © Lisa Holt (Cochiti), Harlan Reano (Santo Domingo)
Don’t miss “Basquiat x Banksy,” closing on Sept. 7 at the Hirshhorn Museum. Displaying Basquiat’s “Boy and Dog in a Johnnypump” and Banksy’s reply, “Banksquiat. Boy and Dog in Stop and Search,” the two-painting show explores how street art, contemporary art and the popular imagination intertwine.
At the Hirshhorn, see two major paintings in dialogue, one by Jean-Michel Basquiat and the other by Banksy. Courtesy Smithsonian.