The Weeknd, Butter Cows, & Bougie Dog Spas: August Gets Extra

Good morning, DC. August drops with The Weeknd commanding Northwest Stadium, a live butter cow sculptor working the Renwick Gallery, and the African Diaspora Film Festival flipping the script. Summer in the capital means your weekend plans are basically a humidity vs. culture death match—and somehow culture always wins.

In today’s District Download:

• August events guide

• The dog days are here

• An international film festival

Let’s get to it.

THE DIGEST

🎭 August serves up 47 ways to dodge the humidity

DC's cultural calendar is absolutely stacked this month, from The Weeknd drawing crowds to Northwest Stadium on August 2nd to a Twin Peaks cast reunion at Capital One Hall (because nothing says "summer vibes" like David Lynch's fever dream). The DC Jazz Festival returns August 27-31 with heavy hitters like Ron Carter and the 101-year-young Marshall Allen leading Sun Ra Arkestra, while theater buffs can catch the Tony-winning musical Parade at Kennedy Center. For something uniquely weird, the Renwick Gallery opens "State Fairs: Growing American Craft" featuring 200+ artworks plus a life-size butter cow sculpted onsite by Iowa's official butter artist—peak summer culture right there. The month caps off with Afro Plus Fest at RFK Festival Grounds, where Nigerian star Asake headlines alongside rapper Gunna in what promises to be the sweatiest dance party of the season. Pro tip: Restaurant Week runs August 18-24, so you can fuel up between all that air-conditioned culture-hopping.

🐕 DC goes full bougie for your four-legged overlords

Your dog's social calendar is about to get busier than a Georgetown brunch spot, thanks to DC's ever-expanding menu of pet pampering options. Kimpton hotels now roll out the red carpet for "furry, feathery, or scaly" guests with no weight limits and complimentary wine reception invites (because Fido deserves a good Pinot), while spots like Hook Hall in Petworth throw full birthday parties complete with smash cakes for pups. For the athletically inclined, DC Dog Hikes will evaluate your pooch's "temperament" before assigning them to a compatible pack for adventures ranging from Rock Creek to Annapolis Rock—with footage included so you can see exactly how your dog ignored every command. The crown jewel might be Congressional Cemetery's K9 program, where annual members get to let their dogs roam 35 fenced acres off-leash among DC's historic graves. And when you need a getaway, boarding options now include bone-shaped pools, suite TVs, and full spa treatments with mud baths and nail polish—proving that in 2025, your dog's vacation budget probably exceeds your own.

🎬 Film fest flips the script on whose stories get told

The African Diaspora International Film Festival lands at GWU August 1-3, serving up a much-needed antidote to the movies that dominate art house theaters and critics' "greatest films" lists. Since 1993, ADIFF has been the corrective DC didn't know it needed, and this year's lineup doesn't disappoint—from the opening night's piercing post-apartheid documentary "Legacy: The De-Colonized History of South Africa" to Sundance debut "Brides," about teenage girls journeying from the UK to Syria. The festival also celebrates classics like the musical "St. Louis Blues" starring Nat King Cole and Ella Fitzgerald, plus a documentary on R&B legend Teddy Pendergrass. At $13 per screening, it's cheaper than your usual Netflix-and-chill night and infinitely more enlightening. City Paper's Alan Zilberman puts it perfectly: these films "complicate, expand, and enrich every culture they touch"—which is exactly what DC's cultural diet has been missing.

LOCAL BUSINESS

🍽️ Chef Eric Adjepong bridges worlds at Elmina

Top Chef finalist Eric Adjepong is having a banner year with his debut cookbook "Ghana to the World" and the launch of Elmina, his modern Ghanaian restaurant near U Street that's turning heads and opening minds. The Food Network host draws on the West African concept of "sankofa"—moving forward while honoring the past—to create dishes like his signature jollof duck pot, which pairs traditional spicy red rice with duck prepared three ways and a tamarind glaze. Adjepong, who grew up eating everything from Albanian stuffed cabbage to Puerto Rican rice and beans in New York before coming home to traditional Ghanaian celebrations, is capturing oral recipes from his grandmother while adding his own multicultural spin. The result is attracting both proud Ghanaians and curious newcomers who've never experienced the cuisine, with many diners inspired to explore other African countries' food scenes. As Adjepong puts it, "tradition and modernity is a false binary"—and his restaurant proves great chefs can honor their roots while blazing new trails.

🏰 Developer drops $4M on Old Town's most extra makeover

Real estate developer Kahan Dhillon Jr. just listed his four-year passion project—a renovated 1830 Old Town Alexandria rowhouse he calls "the Prince"—for $4 million, and it's exactly as over-the-top as it sounds. After buying the property for $550,000 in 2021, Dhillon spent seven months sourcing antiques from French chateaus, importing trim from England, and installing so much marble and gold that even the toilet got the Midas treatment. The six-bedroom Colonial-meets-Versailles fever dream now features a rooftop putting green, a museum display for an old dumbwaiter, and what Dhillon describes as the architectural lovechild of "George Washington and Louis XIV having a conversation." The same developer who once pitched a $10 billion Baltimore redevelopment plan is also opening a cafe and patisserie on King Street, proving that when it comes to ambitious projects, he's not slowing down. At $4 million, it's either Old Town's most inspired historical fusion or its most expensive identity crisis—but hey, at least the toilet matches the aesthetic.

WHAT’S HAPPENIN’

Here’s what’s going on around DC this weekend:

Friday

🎸 Rolling Stones tribute band brings satisfaction to Reston Metro Plaza

Virginia's premiere Stones tribute act Mothers Little Helper delivers classic hits like "Satisfaction" and "Paint It Black" as part of the free Fab Fridays summer concert series.

📍 Reston | 🕒 7 PM

🎤 Cinema Hearts rocks their final local show before studio hiatus

DC's punk-tinged rock trio, led by singer-songwriter Caroline Weinroth, performs what may be their last hometown gig before wrapping their debut full-length album due in 2026.

📍 H Street | 🕒 8 PM

Saturday

🌟 The Weeknd brings "After Hours Til Dawn" spectacle to Northwest Stadium

Diamond-certified global superstar The Weeknd delivers his record-breaking stadium tour with never-seen-before production, supporting his trilogy-capping album "Hurry Up Tomorrow," plus special guests Playboi Carti and Mike Dean.

📍 Northwest Stadium | 🕒 7 PM

🎨 National Gallery opens watercolor time machine spanning two centuries

Thirty works from the Corcoran Collection trace American artists' evolution from practical landscape mapping to fine art masterpieces, featuring iconic locations from the Washington Monument to Yosemite painted between 1800 and 1991.

📍 National Gallery of Art | 🕒 Opens 10 AM

🚗 Time-traveling DeLorean meets live symphony orchestra magic

Marty McFly and Doc Brown's iconic adventure gets the full NSO treatment with Alan Silvestri's legendary score performed live alongside the HD film projection, plus 20 minutes of brand-new music composed specifically for this flux capacitor experience.

📍 Wolf Trap | 🕒 8 PM

Sunday

🎡 Fairfax County Fair caps off 75th year

The final day of this four-day agricultural extravaganza features pig, goat, sheep, and cow shows alongside carnival rides, games, food trucks, and 4-H exhibits before the closing ceremony at 4 p.m.

📍 Herndon | 🕒 Opens 10 AM

WEATHER

Friday

74 🌡 66 | 🌧️ 20% | 💨 9 mph

Saturday

80 🌡 65 | 🌧️ 5% | 💨 7 mph

Sunday

80 🌡 65 | 🌧️ 5% | 💨 6 mph

LIVE MUSIC LOWDOWN

Friday

The Anthem | The Fray with The Strike | 7 PM

Birchmere Music Hall | Lyfe Jennings | 7:30 PM

Wolf Trap | Kelli O'Harra and Sutton Foster | 8 PM

Soundcheck | Massano | 10 PM

Echostage | Lost Frequencies | 10 PM

Saturday

Northwest Stadium | The Weeknd | 7 PM

The Anthem | Drive-By Truckers and Deer Tick | 7 PM

The Howard Theatre | Little Brother | 8 PM

EagleBank Arena | Bronco | 8 PM

9:30 Club | Emo Night Brooklyn | 9 PM

Echostage | 999999999 | 10 PM

Soundcheck | Queer Chaos | 10 PM

Sunday

Jiffy Lube Live | Live and Collective Soul | 6 PM

The Atlantis | The Band CAMINO | 6:30 PM

9:30 Club | Kokoroko with Salin | 7 PM

EagleBank Arena | A.R. Rahman | 7 PM

Black Cat | Delilah Bon | 7:30 PM

Birchmere Music Hall | Vincent Ingala with Lindsey Webster | 7:30 PM

Wolf Trap | Yacht Rock Revue | 8 PM

DC SPORTS

⚾ Houston problems, training camp breakouts & summer schedules

The Nats dropped two of three to the Astros in Houston this week, managing just one run in Wednesday's 9-1 finale—proving that even Jose Altuve's four-hit masterclass can't make watching road baseball any less painful. Back home, the Brewers roll into town Friday at 6:45 PM for what should be a more entertaining series than that Texas road trip. The Mystics sit fourth in their division with a Sunday tilt against Atlanta at 3 PM, while DC United are mercifully off until August 9th after last weekend's loss to Austin FC gave everyone time to forget about their current form. The Spirit also hold down fourth place in the NWSL standings but get a chance to climb Sunday at 12:30 PM against Portland. Meanwhile, the real excitement might be happening in Ashburn, where seventh-round rookie running back Jacory Croskey-Merritt is turning heads at Commanders training camp with his burst and decisiveness—not bad for a guy who played exactly one game his senior year due to eligibility issues.

Did You Know? The National Archives stores roughly 13.5 billion pages of documents in underground vaults beneath DC, but less than 3% ever see daylight in the rotunda. Hidden in those climate-controlled bunkers are everything from Hitler's will to Nixon's resignation letter to patent applications for inventions like bird diapers—proving that even America's most serious secrets have their absurd side.

Till next time,

District Download