Arts & Entertainment

Calendar: Aug. 31

Parties, concerts, exhibits and more through Sept. 6

Published

14 years ago

August 30, 2012

Erin Durkin

Ben Harper plays Wolf Trap Wednesday night. (Photo courtesy Wolf Trap)

TODAY (Friday)

Town (2009 8^th St., N.W.) hosts Bear Happy Hour tonight from 6-11 p.m. This event is for people 21 and older. There is no cover charge. For details, visit towndc.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8^th St., S.E.) is having its happy hour tonight starting at 5 p.m. All drinks are half off until 7:30 p.m. After 9 p.m., admission is $10. The dance floor opens at 11 p.m. with DJ Tim-Nice and DJ Cameron. For details, visit thebachelorsmill.com.

Special Agent Galactica plays Black Fox Lounge (1723 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight from 6-9. Music includes songs made famous by Pat Benatar, Judy Garland, Stevie Nicks, Nancy Sinatra and Ray Stevens. Admission is free. For more information, visit pinkhairedone.com.

Black Cat (1811 14^th St., NW) holds its Dr. Who Happy Hour tonight starting at 7 p.m. The evening includes drink specials and there is no cover. For more information, visit blackcatdc.com.

Phase 1 has its weekly dance party with DJ Jay Von Teese tonight at 7:30. Cover is $10. For more information, visit phase1dc.com.

Rodgers and Hammerstein’s multiple Tony-winning classic “The King and I” will be performed tonight at Wolf Trap (1551 Trap Road, Vienna) starting at 8. Tickets range from $20-$80. For more information, visit wolftrap.org.

Saturday, Sept. 1

Burgundy Crescent, a gay volunteer organization, is helping in food preparation and packing groceries for Food and Friends (219 Riggs Road, NE) this morning at 8. Later today, the group volunteers with the Lost Dog and Cat Rescue Foundation at Falls Church PetSmart (6100 Arlington Blvd, Falls Church) at 11:45 a.m. The organization is looking for dog handlers for its adoption events. For more information, visit burgundycrescent.org.

Town (2009 8^th St., NW) hosts DJ Randy White tonight at 10. Cover is $8 before 11 p.m. and $12 after 11p.m. There are $3 drinks before 11 and the drag show begins at 10:30. For more information, visit towndc.com.

Black Cat (1811 14^th St., NW) holds its “Hellmouth Happy Hour” tonight at 7. Drink specials are available as attendees watch one episode of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” There is no cover for this event. Later in the evening, Black Cat hosts its “Moon/Bounce Dancing Affair,” a high energy dance night with hip hop, ‘90s pop and others. Admission is $7 and the doors open at 9:30. For more information, visit blackcatdc.com.

Sunday, Sept. 2

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) holds its weekly Martini Sundays and Homowood Karaoke tonight. Karaoke starts at 10 p.m. and there’s no cover. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

WTF returns to Town (2009 8th St., N.W.) with its party “FreakShow” tonight at 10. The party includes unusual attractions including shows, games and bearded ladies. Cover is $5. For more information, visit towndc.com.

Monday, Sept. 3

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts its Martini Monday tonight at 10 p.m. There’s no cover charge and martinis are $5. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.

The Bachelor’s Mill (1104 8^th St., S.E.) holds a Labor Day cook out tonight from 6-10 at its upstairs bar with karaoke hosted by Karlton. The downstairs dance floor opens at 10 p.m. featuring DJ Rodney. Cover is free. For more information visit thebachelorsmill.com.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., NW) holds its HIV+ Newly Diagnosed Support Group tonight at 7. It is a confidential support group for anyone recently diagnosed with HIV and the group welcomes all genders and sexual orientations. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Tuesday, Sept. 4

Award-winning musician Ben Harper gives a rare performance tonight at Wolf Trap (1645 Trap Road, Vienna) beginning at 7:30. The French “Rolling Stone” named Harper Artist of the Year. The performance features a special appearance by Rickie Lee Jones. Tickets range from $35-$50. For more information, visit wolftrap.org.

Whitman-Walker Health provides HIV Testing this evening at Miriam’s Kitchen (2120 West Virginia Ave., NE) beginning at 4 p.m. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.) hosts its Safer Sex Kit-packing program tonight from 7-10:30. The packing program is looking for more volunteers to help produce the kits because they say they are barely keeping up with demand. Admission is free and volunteers can just show up. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) hosts its Flashback dance night with DJ Jason Royce starting at 10 p.m. tonight. No cover. For more details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Whitman-Walker Health (1701 14^th St., NW) holds its Coming Out-Women support group tonight at 7 p.m. This is a 10-week confidential discussion group for women who are exploring their interest in other women. It is open to all women regardless of age or experience in the coming out process. Registration is required to attend. For details, visit whitman-walker.org.

Wednesday, Sept. 5

The Washington premiere of “Raid of the Rainbow Lounge” happens tonight at the Marvin Center Amphitheatre (800 21^st St., NW) at 7-9:30 p.m. The documentary recounts events surrounding the controversial raid of a Fort Worth, Texas gay bar in 2009. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Thursday, Sept. 6

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W) is hosting its weekly Best Package Contest tonight at 9 p.m. There is a $3 cover and there are $2 vodka drinks. Participants in the contest can win $200 in cash prizes. The event is hosted by Lena Lett and music by DJ Chord, DJ Madscience and DJ Sean Morris. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

The D.C. Center holds its “Freedom from Smoking Class” for members of the community who are trying to quit smoking this evening starting 6:30. The class is an adaptation of the American Lung Association’s group clinic that has helped thousands of smokers, however it has been modified to be more relevant to the LGBT community and people living with HIV/AIDS. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Travel

Traveling by barge through France

Exploring foodie paradise of Lyon

Published

20 hours ago

June 18, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

The Daniele Barge

Blog #1: I was excited about my trip even though Gate 1 Travel notified me there was a change in the itinerary. France decided to close the Burgundy canal for long overdue repairs, so we would be traveling on the C. du Rhone au Rhin. I boarded my Air France flight arriving in Paris on time. Contrary to what I was told to expect, customs went really smoothly.

Day 1: Because customs went quickly, I waited 45 minutes for my pre-arranged driver, to take me to the Gare de Lyon, where I boarded my fast-train to Lyon. A two-hour trip. In Lyon it was a long walk to the hotel, The Radisson Blu, but only because I exited the station on the wrong side. Finally got there, checked into a room on the 36^th floor with a spectacular view of Lyon. Then took a stroll around the area, a short nap, and finally it was time for dinner and to meet the rest of the traveling party. There would only be 13 of us in the group. Five of us from D.C./Rehoboth, and eight others. I met our guide Patricia, who is from Portugal, and spoke fluent French and English. She is charming, and clearly very knowledgeable. She worked with Gate 1 for many years. We stayed at the hotel for our welcome dinner. It was a great meal, and over drinks, each of us was asked to introduce ourselves to the group. Aside from the five of us, there were three women traveling alone, one gentleman alone, and two couples. They were from New Jersey, New York, Florida, Houston, and Nebraska. I was sitting across from the woman from Nebraska. Conversation at dinner was pleasant but I quickly realized one person was apparently a MAGA. Wonder if you can guess where she was from, lol. But we also found if we didn’t talk politics, which we agreed not to do, things were fine. After dinner we all headed to our rooms for a good night’s sleep.

DAY 2: We woke to beautiful weather. I headed to the included breakfast at the hotel, which was really very good. After breakfast we boarded a bus for a tour of Lyon. We had a full-size bus for just the 13 of us. Our guide for the half day tour, was Vincent, and he is charming and young, and told us his fiancé lives in Lyon. He was incredibly knowledgeable. We began at the Basilica, which is being repaired on the outside, but the inside is, wow! Incredible stained glass, and there was a service going on in one of the smaller side chapels which I l listened to for a bit. The Basilica is high on the hill and the views of Lyon are spectacular from there. Then we headed to the old city and walked around for an hour, ending up at the smaller cathedral. Directly in front of it they had set up a great market, mostly food, which would be there for a week. Lyon is a foodie paradise, with, we were told, a restaurant, or at least coffee shop, for every 250 people. We then had a choice of staying in town, or going back to the hotel on the bus, which I did. The afternoon and evening were free time to do as we pleased. I headed to the Les Halles du Lyon Paul Bocuse, named after the famous chef, to take a look around. It is a large market with small restaurants connected to most of the stalls. It was charming. I then headed to the huge three-story mall across from our hotel and walked around for an hour. Then caught up on some emails, and writing, and met my friends, Paul and Martin, John and Dan, for dinner at 6. We went to a really nice Bistro, which John had found, two tram stops away from the hotel, and enjoyed some drinks and a relaxed dinner. The owner of the place found us a waitress who spoke great English, which made ordering really easy. After a two-hour great meal, we headed back to the hotel. Riding a tram in Lyon is easy, you just need to use your credit card. It is an honor system. Back at the hotel I headed to my room and packed, our luggage had to be outside the door by 8:00 am the next morning. I set my alarm for 6:30 so I had time to eat at the buffet breakfast. Then it was on the bus to head to our barge.

Baltimore

This John Waters interview has been edited for readability — but perhaps not human decency

Pope of Trash dishes on Trump, plane etiquette, last meal, and more

Published

4 days ago

June 15, 2026

Baltimore Banner

John Waters in 2022. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

By WESLEY CASE | At 80 years old, John Waters is still the ideal dinner guest — incisively sharp, quick-witted and funny as hell.

The chic Baltimore native proved it again and again in a recent Zoom interview, calling from his summer home in Provincetown, Mass.

The occasion was the Blu-ray releases of two of his movies — the 1977 dark comedy “Desperate Living” and his enduring 1988 musical “Hairspray” — on June 23 by the Criterion Collection, which publishes restorations of films it deems culturally important. The Criterion stamp of approval has become the gold standard among cinephiles.

“It’s like getting an award,” said Waters, who wrote and directed both films.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.