Where to Find the Hippest Cultural Attractions in Washington, DC

Residents and visitors to Washington, DC have their pick of a broader array of free cultural offerings than anywhere else in the country.

That’s a bold statement — but one that is justified by the many festivals, private and public museums, embassies, theaters, clubs and parks offering free or low-cost events.

There is no central cultural calendar for the DMV — the metropolitan DC-Maryland–Virginia region.  Cultural Tourism DC publishes a daily calendar and a weekly newsletter.  They are a good start, but are not comprehensive by any means.  The best you can do is to subscribe to the various mailing lists of the places that interest you the most.

Visitors to DC can also look to listings in the Washington Post, Washington City Paper, or Washingtonian magazine but some of the most interesting, offbeat, and fun and free happenings won’t be found there.

I pride myself on knowing about cool and unusual events, but there is a guy who surpasses me tenfold.  That would be Ronn, the founder and organizer of the ArtHouse on Meetup.com. He has a knack for ferreting out the hippest cultural events in the DMV!  He organizes meet ups for hip house concerts, art openings, walking tours, foreign films and more.

Yes, Meetup.com is actually a great place to find out about fun events and get togethers, many of which are free.

Here is Ronn’s pitch: