The holiday season is well underway in Washington, DC and there’s been quite a few events and occasions to see or do already. Here’s a bit of what you can expect in the District during December:
Each year, Christmas trees spread throughout the city and light up the streets and parks. The two main trees in central DC are the Capital tree and the National tree. Both have lighting ceremonies, both typically in the first week of December, but do note that the National lighting requires a ticket and involves a concert while the Capital lighting is a much smaller affair. The tree is lovely, however.
DC is also a major university town and young professional hotspot. If you are interested, alumni events are just as prevalent as office parties. Personally, I attended the DC Hoyas Holiday party for a lovely evening at F. Scott’s followed by Tombs after.
For more active holiday festivities, I recommend ice skating at either the Sculpture Garden or at Washington Harbour. Both are enjoyable opportunities to show off your skating skills or lack thereof. Penguins (aka skating training wheels) are available for the skating impaired of all ages.
The National Cathedral also runs excellent seasonal programming that can truly help get you in the mood for the holidays.
For example, each year the National Cathedral hosts limited-time productions of Handel’s Messiah. This year, there were three showings of what the Cathedral describes as “some of the season’s most joyous music, performed by a team of international soloists with the Cathedral’s own combined choirs and Baroque orchestra.” Films, prayers, caroling, pageants, and personalities made up the rest of this year’s special events calendar.
Sports are my final suggestion for holiday fun in DC. Both the Wizards and Capitals have extremely active schedules at this time of the year, and both are in climate-controlled arenas (I refuse to freeze for the NFL, thank you very much. Sorry, Redskins). Get some friends or coworkers together and enjoy a game as part of your holiday calendar.
Happy Holidays!
Photos: Emmie Derback, Nikon 3200, 135mm lens and iPhone 5, no app.
anchored & adrift 