For Unforgettable Summer Vacations, Discover the Real DC

Destination DC Connects Travelers with Free Festivals, July 4th Fireworks, Exhibits, Sporting Events

(Washington, DC) – Destination DC, the official destination marketing office for the nation’s capital, is primed to help travelers discover the real DC between Memorial Day and Labor Day. Summer getaways in DC may include only-here, only-now celebrations like the 50^th anniversary of the moon landing, exhibits focusing on women leaders from ancient Egyptian queens to American suffragettes as well as the nation’s fastest-growing jazz festival and professional tennis at Citi Open.

Destination DC (DDC) has packed washington.org with a summer calendar, refreshed neighborhood guides and seasonal deals. Concierges share real-time advice (800-635-6338; Mon.-Fri., 8:30am-5pm EST) as do visitors and local experts across DDC’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts using #MyDCcool.

“The summer is a great time to find value in the city, and we’re focused on attracting visitors for DC’s one-of-a-kind events and opportunities that make the city shine,” said Elliott L. Ferguson, II, president and CEO of DDC. “Go undercover at the newly expanded International Spy Museum, hear jazz throughout our neighborhoods during the 15^th anniversary of DC JazzFest, check out T-Rex when the Fossil Hall reopens in June at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History and sample DC-made wines in Capitol Riverfront.”

“Like the city’s expanding hospitality assets, DDC’s summer marketing campaign has grown with targeted digital-forward ads such as custom email blasts, out-of-home murals, influencer programs, animated display banners on platforms including Roku,” said Robin A. McClain, senior vice president of marketing and communications. “We want to reach a wide range of visitors this summer and inspire travel to discover the real DC and all its unique offerings.”

THREE-DAY HOLIDAY WEEKENDS
Memorial Day: Salute active duty military and veterans at the final Rolling Thunder honor ride and patriotic concert (May 26) and America’s largest Memorial Day parade (May 27).

Independence Day: America’s birthday party boasts a parade, star-studded concert and fireworks seen from the National Mall (July 4).

Labor Day: The final outdoor summer concert by the National Symphony Orchestra on the National Mall (Sept. 1).

FESTIVALS
Capital Pride (May 31-June 9)
DC’s 44rd LGBTQ festival spreads the rainbow across parties, a parade (June 8) and street festival (June 9).

DC JazzFest (June 6-17)
The 15th annual concert series draws talent like Jon Batiste and Stay Human to 40+ venues across DC’s quadrants.

AFI Docs (June 19-23)
Non-fiction films spotlight subjects like Molly Ivins and Toni Morrison, as well as conversations with opinion leaders and filmmakers.

By the People festival (June 15-23)
Halcyon’s citywide arts and innovation fete is packed with free performances, panels and installations like an art barge.

Smithsonian Folklife Festival (June 29-30)
Dive into Armenian and Catalonian culture at this pop-up museum on the National Mall.

National Book Festival (Aug. 31)
The Library of Congress’s written word carnival welcomes 100-plus authors to the Walter E. Washington Convention Center.

PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Washington Mystics (June 1)
DC’s WNBA franchise inaugurates their 4,200-seat Congress Heights facility against the Atlanta Dream.

International Champions Cup: Real Madrid vs Arsenal (July 23)
A preseason ICC clash of EUFA titans at FedEx Field.

51st Citi Open Tennis Classic (July 27 – Aug. 4)
Top seeds hit the hardcourts at the intimate Rock Creek Park Tennis Center.

EXHIBITIONS AND PERFORMING ARTS
The Life of Animals in Japanese Art (June 2-Aug. 18)
A survey of 315 works featuring beasts, real and imaginary, religious and secular, spanning 16 centuries at the National Gallery of Art.

Hello Dolly! (June 4-July 7)
Broadway’s lavish revival stars Tony Award®-winner Betty Buckley at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.

Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote (June 4 – September 2020)
A 120-item exhibition about suffrage at the Library of Congress timed to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the Nineteenth Amendment. Find additional exhibitions at the National Gallery of Art; the National Archives and DAR Museum.

National Fossil Hall Reopens (June 8)
After a five-year closure, the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History reopens its spectacular fossil collection. Also discover dinosaur-themed attractions at the National Zoo.

Lawn (July 4-Sept. 2)
The National Building Museum’s indoor greenspace installation is by design group LAB at Rockwell Group.

50th Anniversary of the Apollo 11 Mission (July 16-20)
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum celebrates the moon landing and moon walk with programs, day and night, indoors and out.

LOOKING AHEAD
The REACH: Kennedy Center Expansion (Opening festival Sept. 7-22)
The first new space in the 47-year history of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts adds 60,000-square-feet of classrooms, rehearsal and performance space as well as greenspace, a reflecting pool, a projection screen and pedestrian bridge over the parkway.

National Children’s Museum (Opens Nov. 1)
The 33,000-square-foot STEAM-enabled playscape designed to spark curiosity opens inside the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center.

About Destination DC: Destination DC, the official destination marketing organization for the nation’s capital, is a private, non-profit membership organization of 1,000 businesses committed to marketing the area as a premier global convention, tourism and special events destination with a special emphasis on the arts, cultural and historic communities. washington.org.