Must-see entertainment in Washington, DC

  • Top Choice
    Kennedy Center

    Overlooking the Potomac River, the magnificent Kennedy Center hosts a staggering array of performances – more than 2000 each year in venues including the…

  • Top Choice
    Nationals Park

    The major-league Washington Nationals play baseball at this spiffy stadium beside the Anacostia River. Don't miss the mid-fourth-inning ‘Presidents' Race’…

  • Top Choice
    Black Cat

    The Black Cat is the go-to venue for music that's loud and grungy with a punk edge. The White Stripes, Arcade Fire and Foo Fighters have all thrashed here…

  • Top Choice
    Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company

    Woolly Mammoth is the edgiest of DC’s experimental groups. For most shows, $20 ‘stampede’ seats are available at the box office two hours before…

  • Howard Theatre

    Built in 1910, Howard Theatre was the top address when U St was known as 'Black Broadway.' Duke Ellington, Ella Fitzgerald and other famed names lit the…

  • Shakespeare Theatre Company

    The nation’s foremost Shakespeare company presents masterful works by the Bard, as well as plays by George Bernard Shaw, Oscar Wilde, Eugene O’Neill and…

  • Anthem

    The Anthem opened in 2017 and has quickly become one of DC's best live-music venues. The 6000-capacity hall books acts from Judas Priest to Lorde to Big…

  • 9:30 Club

    The 9:30, which can pack 1200 people into a surprisingly compact venue, is the granddaddy of the live-music scene in DC. Pretty much every big name that…

  • Madam's Organ

    Playboy magazine once named Madam's Organ one of its favorite bars in America. The ramshackle place has been around forever, and its nightly blues, rock…

  • Folger Theatre

    The 270-seat, Renaissance-style theater attached to the Folger Shakespeare Library stages classic and modern interpretations of the bard's plays, as well…

  • DC9

    DC9 is as intimate as DC’s live music venues get, and about as divey as well. Not that we’re complaining; there’s always a good edge on in this spot. Up…

  • FedEx Field

    Washington’s NFL team, the Redskins, plays September through January at FedEx Field. The team has experienced a lot of controversy recently, and not only…

  • Arena Stage

    The mod, glassy Arena Stage is the second-largest performing-arts complex in Washington after the Kennedy Center. The three theaters inside (including a…

  • Avalon Theatre

    Dating from the 1920s, this handsomely restored art-deco movie house shows a mix of independent, foreign and first-run films. It's operated by the local…

  • Rock & Roll Hotel

    The R&R Hotel is a great, grotty spot to catch rockin’ live sets from the likes of Thurston Moore, St Vincent and the Dead Kennedys. Don’t let the name…

  • DC Improv

    DC Improv is comedy in the traditional sense, featuring stand-up by comics from Comedy Central, Saturday Night Live and HBO in its main theater. The…

  • Blues Alley

    Greats like Dizzy Gillespie and Sarah Vaughan played this venerable club back in the day. The talent remains just as sterling now, and the setting just as…

  • Capital One Arena

    This ever-busy facility is DC's arena for big-name concerts and sporting events. Washington’s rough-and-tumble pro-hockey team the Capitals (www.nhl.com…

  • Bukom Cafe

    Reggae and highlife bands take the stage nightly at Bukom. Be prepared for sore but happy hips as you join the mix of West African immigrants and ex–Peace…

  • National Theatre

    Washington’s oldest continuously operating theater shows flashy Broadway musicals and big-name productions. A lottery for $25 tickets (cash only) takes…