The Good Week | June 25, 2026

It’s easy to forget how much is tucked into the places we pass every day. You don’t have to head into DC to find something memorable, whether that means art, live music, a creative class, a good local shop, or a reason to try something new. And with several of our neighborhood Red Line stops closing soon for the summer, close-to-home plans feel especially appealing.

This week has plenty of ways to make the most of Bethesda, Potomac, and the nearby neighborhoods. We hope having these local finds in one place makes it easier to notice, enjoy, and enjoy what’s right here.

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Art, music, performances, and a few reasons to spend the evening ou

🖼️What’s So Funny?

Two Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonists fill the gallery with sharp, funny, and sometimes startling visual commentary on America at 250. Featuring original drawings and enlarged signed editions by Nick Anderson and Mike Luckovich, the exhibition treats the comic strip as both a beloved American art form and a mirror for the absurdities of the moment.
👉 Learn more

The Mansion at Strathmore is hosting an opening reception for Connecting with Nature, an exhibition from Studio Art Quilt Associates that showcases contemporary quilts as a dynamic, evolving art form.

The show highlights hand-dyed fabrics, bold surface techniques, and inventive approaches to textile design. The reception is free, but capacity is limited, and the exhibition remains on view through July 31.
👉 RSVP for the reception

For one night, Glen Echo Park's Ballroom Back Room becomes a flamenco cave — intimate, close, and electric. Furia Flamenca Dance Company performs with live guitar, cante, and thunderous footwork, inspired by the tablaos and legendary cave performances of Sacromonte in Andalusia. The audience sits close enough to the artists that every heel strike and cry of song lands as something shared. Tapas and sangría available. $25+
👉 Buy tickets

Strathmore’s Live from the Lawn series opens with Strutman Lane, bringing theatrical funk to the outdoor Gazebo Stage for the first free concert of the season. Bring a picnic or grab food from the BBQ tent, then settle in for a relaxed summer night outside.

The free Wednesday series continues through Aug. 12 with flamenco-pop, Americana rock, bluegrass, Creole roots, powerhouse vocals, and the annual UkeFest finale.
👉 See the full summer lineup

One of the standout works in Glenstone’s Andrea Bowers exhibition is Petra Kelly’s Revolutionary Piano, an artwork honoring the German Green Party founder and the power of music to bring people together.

Bowers’ broader practice has long explored activism, social justice, political movements, and collective action. In this piece, the piano becomes part artwork, part gathering point: visitors and professional pianists can activate it, with nearby sheet music featuring protest songs from throughout American history.

Admission to Glenstone is free, but timed-entry reservations are typically required
👉 Plan your visit

Food experiences, tastings, and classes that make the week revolve around something delicious

Summer House is leaning into smoke, fire, and seasonal ingredients for a hands-on cocktail night with its bartending team. Guests will make a lineup of summery drinks that balance smoky depth with bright, refreshing flavors, while picking up techniques they can use at home.

Each cocktail is paired with BBQ-inspired small plates, turning the evening into a full progression of sips, bites, and bold summer flavor. $118.
👉 Reserve your spot

Main Street Connect is hosting a hands-on Ayurvedic cooking workshop with Melissa Maxwell, a certified Ayurvedic health counselor, somatic yoga and life coach, retreat leader, and author.

The afternoon begins with warm tea and an introduction to healing spices, seasonal eating, and food energetics before participants cook a simple, nourishing meal together. The workshop closes with a mindful eating practice, relaxed conversation, and Q&A — a gentle way to slow down, support digestion, and reconnect with daily rituals. $25
👉 Save your spot

Hands-on classes and social activities where you can learn something new or step a little outside your comfort zone.

This five-session class invites beginner and intermediate artists to loosen up with bold color, texture, and shine. Using acrylics, gold leaf, glitter, and glass, participants will explore abstract painting techniques that encourage experimentation over perfection.

The class is taught by Dunnie Onasanya, a VisArts associate artist and faculty instructor whose vibrant, intuitive abstract work often incorporates glass and gold leaf. Her practice spans art education, canvas painting, interior design, and commissioned work, with an emphasis on art as a tool for healing and creative expression. $325
👉 Register for the class

Every year, comic and game shops across the country celebrate tabletop role-playing games with free starter sets, new adventures, and an open invitation to try something you've probably been curious about. Big Planet's Bethesda shop is in — stop by to pick up free games while supplies last.

If you've never played, this is the lowest-stakes entry point there is: no commitment, no experience required, just dice, imagination, and the chance to discover why people get genuinely obsessed with this stuff.
👉 Stop by the shop

This one-day workshop treats photography as a way to slow down, look more closely, and create images with personal meaning. Instructor Melissa Stonehill guides participants through simple prompts exploring light, texture, emotion, and the joy of seeing.

All digital cameras are welcome, including cell phones, and students will leave with printed photos. $80
👉 Register for a session

SW7 is kicking off a casual summer book club with The Girl with the Suitcase by Lesley Pearse, a quick World War II-era read set in London.

Read along now, then join the shop in mid-July for a drinks-and-discussion gathering with other local readers. DM SW7 if you’d like to join.
👉 Join the book club

Move your body, get outside, and stay active this week.

Bethesda’s free Fitness in the Parks series continues with a CorePower Yoga Sculpt class at Caroline Freeland Park. The outdoor workout combines yoga flow, strength training, cardio, and upbeat music, with moves like squats, lunges, and bicep curls layered into the sequence.

Bring a mat, towel, water, and optional handheld weights. Parking is available across the street at the Bethesda Row garage, with a Bethesda Circulator stop nearby.
👉 Register for the free class

Start Independence Day with MCRRC’s Red, White, and Blue 5K, a run/walk on a long-standing Potomac course built around movement, community, and a little holiday spirit before the rest of the day begins.

Bib and chip pickup runs from 6:30–8 am, with an opening ceremony at 7:30 am and the 5K start at 8 am. All finishers receive a commemorative cooling towel. Parking is at Potomac Presbyterian Church, a short walk from the start and finish. $27
👉 Register for the 5K

Montgomery Parks is hosting beginner yoga classes on the water every Monday evening this summer — no registration, no experience required. Just show up with a mat and a water bottle, and spend an hour breathing fresh air and moving through a gentle, meditative practice as the sun goes down over the lake.

Drop in for one evening or make it your summer ritual.
👉 Bring your mat

Earlier picks still ahead — and still worth catching.

🎶 Salsa at The Square — Thursdays through Aug. 27, 6–9 pm — Free beginner-friendly salsa instruction followed by Latin music and social dancing at The Square in Rockville.

🎭 Sherlock Holmes, Ghost Stories, and a Country Manor — June 12–28 — A supernatural Sherlock Holmes play at Arts Barn in Gaithersburg.

🧘 Start Wednesday With a Morning Flow — Wednesdays through Aug. 12, 8:30–9:30 am — A gentle outdoor yoga series designed to start the day with movement, breath, and calm at Kensington Cabin Local Park in Kensington.

🎭 Montgomery College Summer Dinner Theatre — Select dates June 20–Aug. 2 — Dinner theatre season featuring Into the Woods and Anything Goes in Rockville.

🍻 Spend a Saturday Tasting Local Brews — Sat, June 27, 1–5 pm — Local beer, wine, snacks, and raffle prizes at Knowles Station in Kensington.

🏺 Try Your Hand at Sculpture — Sat, June 27, 1:30–3:30 pm — An adults-only workshop on shaping clay with more personality and dimension at The Clay CoOp in Rockville.

✍️ Make It a Literary Sunday — Sun, June 28, 10 am–6 pm — A full-day literary salon with workshops, readings, discussions, and a closing reception at The Writer’s Center in Bethesda.

🏛️ Step Inside a 200-Year-Old Lockhouse — Sun, June 28, 12–3:30 pm — A rare chance to tour one of the C&O Canal’s historic lockhouses at Lockhouse 6 in Bethesda.

🍸 A Delightfully Deadly Night at the Theater — July 2–Aug. 23 — A Tony-winning musical about ambition, inheritance, and a very inconvenient line of succession at Olney Theatre Center in Olney.

🌿 Learn the Art of Kokedama — Tue, July 7 — A hands-on plant workshop where you’ll make your own moss-wrapped hanging plant at Rewild in Potomac.

🫖 Take Tea in a Historic Manor — Sat, July 11, 2–4 pm — Afternoon tea with sandwiches, pastries, fruit, and a historical twist at Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park in Sandy Spring.

🎶 Be Part of the Washington Folk Festival — Sun, Aug. 23 — Volunteer opportunities at Glen Echo Park for one of the region’s longest-running free cultural events.

🎄 Strathmore’s Holiday Lineup Is Here — December 2026 — Holiday concerts ranging from Celtic Christmas music to Broadway favorites and big band classics at Strathmore in North Bethesda.

If you stop by any of this week’s spots, let them know you heard about it in The Good Week.

If something landed well—or if we missed a place you think deserves attention—tell us at [email protected].

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See you next week.

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