🌸 Your DC Weekend: Global Thanksgiving + 19 Shows

Good morning, DC. It's Friday, the weekend's almost here, and we're officially in that weird limbo between "should I start planning Thanksgiving" and "wait, is it too early to put up holiday lights?" Spoiler: it's not too early—the holiday markets are already setting up shop, restaurants are taking Thanksgiving orders, and this weekend's packed with 19 concerts if you're trying to squeeze in one more show before family obligations take over.

In today’s District Download:

Let’s get to it.

Over 20 of DC's top restaurants are taking Thanksgiving dinner global this year, from Vietnamese-inflected five-spice turkey at Moon Rabbit to tandoori turkey breast at Daru to Persian barberry-apricot chutney at Joon—and honestly, this feels more authentically DC than another dry bird and canned cranberry sauce. Packages run $110 to $500 with most requiring orders by November 21, which sounds steep until you remember you're outsourcing the family drama along with the cooking. The play here: If you've been meaning to try Tail Up Goat before it closes at year's end, their Thanksgiving spread is your last shot. Skip the $300+ packages unless you're the type who regularly drops that much on dinner—Nina May's $75 family-style option or Daru's Indian-spiced feast offer way better value for actually delicious food.

Lie Low is the kind of show that makes DC's theater scene worth paying attention to—an Irish drama at Atlas that follows siblings Faye and Naoise through parallel trauma narratives where she's recovering from sexual assault while he faces assault allegations of his own, and nobody gets to be purely victim or villain. Yes, there's literal nightmare swing dancing with a performer in a duck head, which sounds unhinged but somehow works as dark comedy that trusts you to sit with discomfort instead of serving up easy catharsis. This isn't your feel-good Kennedy Center musical—Solas Nua is betting DC audiences can handle moral complexity without tidy resolutions, and based on the reviews calling it "heartrendingly unforgettable," they're right. Worth the $45-$60 if you want theater that challenges rather than comforts, runs through November 23.

Refer the most new subscribers this month and score a $200 gift card to DC's most iconic French bistro—your referral link is below. We’ll count all verified, unique signups from now through November 30.

Ten holiday markets are opening across the DMV this month, and here's the breakdown: Skip Lucketts' $25 farmhouse experience unless you're really into the Instagram aesthetic—the free DowntownDC Holiday Market on F Street NW (November 21-December 23) has equally good local vendors without the admission fee or schlep to Leesburg. The play is Dupont Circle's DC Holiday Market starting today—30+ small businesses, Migue's Mini Donuts, and you can actually Metro there. If you're into the Euro holiday market vibe, Heurich Christmas Markt (December 4-7, $12) delivers legit mulled wine and German crafts in a historic mansion setting, which beats freezing in a parking lot in Loudoun County.

Here's a transit story that actually worked: Circuit Rideshare's two-year pilot just wrapped after serving 125,000 passengers in Southwest DC, where 1950s highway planning literally severed neighborhoods from Metro stations you could see but not walk to. At $2 per ride (17,000 free trips for residents on government assistance), this fixed what decades of infrastructure mistakes created—and wait times averaged under 10 minutes, which puts Metro's weekend service to shame. The pilot officially ended July 31, but Circuit and Buzzard Point stakeholders are continuing the route because it turns out people will actually use transit when it's designed around human beings instead of highway engineers' fantasies. This is the kind of hyperlocal solution DC needs to replicate in other transit deserts carved out by freeways.

West End is finally getting its cool-kid moment: Bar Angie (from the Balos team) opened in April at 2300 N St NW with tableside martini service, nightly live music, and a menu that doesn't assume you're on an expense account. The wagyu French dip and lobster frites justify the upscale-ish prices, and the moody space works equally well for a lunch meeting or a 10 PM nightcap, which is rare in a neighborhood that's historically been all corporate steakhouses and hotel bars. This is what happens when a restaurant team that actually knows how to create a vibe decides to invest in West End—it's proof the neighborhood can support something besides Charlie Palmer and sad hotel lobbies. Worth a visit if you're tired of trekking to Shaw or 14th Street for decent cocktails and atmosphere.

For $5/month, you help keep District Download independent and support the writers bringing you insider DC intel three times a week.

The support link was disabled by accident. Try again if you ran into an issue.

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

Dupont Circle | DC Holiday Market | Browse seasonal goods from 35+ small businesses | 12 PM

Four Seasons Hotel | Wine and Dine | Celebrity chefs benefit MedStar cancer research | 6 PM

Dreamscapes Performing Arts Center | A Cossack Beyond the Danube | Ukrainian comedic opera with dance and chorus | 7 PM

Sixth & I Historic Synagogue | Midori | Acclaimed violinist performs with pianist Ieva Jokubaviciute | 7:30 PM

he Old Lucketts Store | Lucketts Holiday House | Century-old farmhouse transformed into festive shopping wonderland | 10 AM

Meadowlark Botanical Gardens | Winter Walk of Lights | Twinkling botanical gardens with nature-themed light displays | 5:30 PM

Get your name in front of thousands of DMV area locals 3x/week.

Friday

57 🌡 37 | 🌧️ 0% | 💨 5 mph

Saturday

65 🌡 44 | 🌧️ 20% | 💨 11 mph

Sunday

58 🌡 40 | 🌧️ 15% | 💨 17 mph

Respond to this email and tell us what you think of the newsletter. Let us know if there are any topics you’d like to hear more about. Your input helps shape the content and makes District Download a more community driven publication.

9:30 Club | Waterparks, Chloe Moriondo, and Jhariah | 6 PM

Union Stage | The Lone Bellow | 8 PM

Pearl Street Warehouse | FeelFree & Nkula w/ Special Guests | 8 PM

The Birchmere | Colin Hay | 7:30 PM

Songbyrd Music House | Saintseneca and Radiator Hospital | 7 PM

Kennedy Center Concert Hall | Saint-Saens' Organ Symphony | 11:30 AM

The Anthem | Wale, Jeremih, and T.O.B. | 8 PM

9:30 Club | Big Talk Couch and Stephen Day | 8 PM

The Anthem | Tom Morello | 8 PM

Union Stage | Ax and The Hatchetmen | 8 PM

Pearl Street Warehouse | Schmallsfest | 8 PM

The Birchmere | DakhaBrakha | 7:30 PM

DAR Constitution Hall | Tauren Wells (featuring Garett & Kate) | 8 PM

Lincoln Theatre | The Neighborhood Kids | 8 PM

9:30 Club | Amadou & Mariam | 7 PM

Union Stage | The Saints '73-'78 | 8 PM

Pearl Street Warehouse | ARASH SOBHANI live in Washington DC | 8 PM

The Birchmere | Marshall Crenshaw with James Mastro | 7:30 PM

The Anthem | Sarah McLachlan | 8 PM

The Capitals (8-7-1) went 1-2 on last week's road trip, highlighted by Jakob Chychrun's 100th career goal and Ovechkin's 901st in a 4-1 win over Carolina, but bookended by losses in Tampa and Florida that kept them stuck in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division. Logan Thompson remains a bright spot in net with a stellar 1.56 GAA and .934 save percentage, and the team returns home Saturday for a three-game homestand starting with the Devils. The Wizards (1-11) are mired in a 10-game losing streak after dropping overtime heartbreakers and blowouts alike, but rookie Alex Sarr is giving fans something to cheer about with back-to-back double-doubles (40 points, 26 rebounds across two games) while the team sits dead last in the Eastern Conference. Saturday's home game against Brooklyn offers both teams a chance to right the ship in front of DC crowds.

Happy birthday and thank you to all of our readers! This newsletter wouldn’t be possible without your support. Share this email with three people to get a shoutout on your next birthday.

Mikayla from Georgetown - Sarah from Alexandria

Till next time,