City Cast DC with Michael Schaffer
🎵 Music that defined the DMV in 2025
January 2, 2026 · 💌 Kaela
Hey, neighbor! It’s a new year, which means it’s a new opportunity to make your Spotify Wrapped less embarrassing. And what greater flex than blasting underrated local bands? Today we’re highlighting D.C.’s best sounds from the last year that are worth bringing into your 2026.
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What To Do
Friday, Jan. 2
- 🎻 Free Bluegrass Festival at Union Stage (The Wharf)
- 🎵 Free DC Benefit Concert at the Rhizome (Takoma)
- 🪩 30+ Clurb Night at 9:30 Club (Shaw)
- 🤖 Toy Stories Art Exhibit Opening Reception at Del Ray Artisans
- 💃 Argentine Tango at Bryant Street Market (Edgewood)
- ✨ “Joy in Action” talk at Politics and Prose (Chevy Chase)
- 🎨 Tours: Korean Treasures at the Asian Art Museum (National Mall)
Saturday, Jan. 3
- 🎵 Tunes: Slings & Arrows at DC9 (Shaw)
- 💘 DC Dating Live! at Howard Theater (U St. Corridor)
- 📚 Book Talk: Descenes and Discords at People’s Books (Takoma Park)
- 🎤 Local Tunes: Cash on the Nail + Czonka + Fashion Crime at Quarry House Tavern (Silver Spring)
- 🎫 Tunes: Railroad Earth at Lincoln Theatre (U Street)
- 📖 Black Studies Book Club at MLK Library (Downtown)
Sunday, Jan. 4
- 🫂 Profs & Pints: Empathy 101 at Crooked Run Fermentation (Sterling)
- 📰 Rhizome Magazine Launch Party (Takoma)
- 🎤 Tunes: Anuhea at Pearl Street Warehouse (The Wharf)
- 📚 “Alice With A Why” Author Talk (Alexandria)
- 🎨 Intuitive Painting With Alcohol Inks (Georgetown)
- 🖼️ “A Bold And Beautiful Vision” Closing Reception at Anacostia Community Museum
🙏 We’re grateful — seriously and ironically — for a whole lot of stuff that happened in D.C. in 2025, despite how hard the year was overall.
But most of all we’re grateful to you! Here’s to another year full of fun events, bad jokes, local chatter, and loyal readers that bring this newsletter to life! 🥂
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