Thurs., June 21–Sun., June 24, 10 a.m.–6 p.m. (until midnight on Sat., June 23)

Picnic Talks on the National Mall: 12 noon–1 p.m.

If you stand outside Washington National Cathedral, you’ll see blue splotches covering its hundred-year-old steps. The paint starts at the Cathedral’s imposing front entrance, dribbles down the stone steps, and spreads like water across the sidewalk.

By WAMU's Mikaela Lefrak

If you stand outside Washington National Cathedral, you’ll see blue splotches covering its hundred-year-old steps. The paint starts at the Cathedral’s imposing front entrance, dribbles down the stone steps, and spreads like water across the sidewalk.

After their highly successful partnership in 2017 on Philip Glass’s The Fall of the House of Usher, Wolf Trap Opera and Halcyon reunite to present Kurt Weill and Bertholt Brecht’s The Seven Deadly Sins on Saturday, June 23 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 24 at 1 p.m. This stunning new production will take place at Dock 5 at Union Market, one of D.C

For Evan Keeling, comics are more than a humorous pastime or even an artistic medium. The comic maker views his craft as a conduit for expression that is accessible enough to help those just finding their voice to tell their stories.

For Evan Keeling, comics are more than a humorous pastime or even an artistic medium. The comic maker views his craft as a conduit for expression that is accessible enough to help those just finding their voice to tell their stories. 

Washington’s inaugural arts and dialogue festival – will take place in every quadrant of the city, bringing people together around the themes of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. By the People is intended to promote empathy and spark civil discourse, building bridges across the cultural divide – exactly what we need at this moment in time. Halcyon is organizing the festival in association with the Smithsonian, numerous cultural organizations, government agencies and businesses.

By the People Festival: At the inaugural By the People festival, created by the start-up incubator Halcyon House, artists will cover the District with yarn (as in Stacy Cantrell’s yarn-bomb at the Parks at Walter Reed), light (Nick Cave’s “Untitled” projection at Washington National Cathedral), fabric

What’s the best way to disrupt divisiveness?

Now that Caps fever is winding down, it’s time for a D.C. takeover of quite another sort. No, not just a wave of humidity. But if you want to beat the humidity and get a serious shot of culture, check out the inaugural By the People Arts Festival happening at sites all over D.C. June 21 through 24.