25th Annual Washington Folk Festival

Taking place in Glen Echo Park (MD) on Saturday, June 4th through Sunday, June 5th, the 25th Annual Washington Folk Festival presents the public with folk music, dance and craft traditions that are a part of the greater Washington area. Highlights include: full participatory dances in the Spanish Ballroom, storytelling, music for family audiences, and folk crafts from local artisans.

The festival is free to the public. Saturday’s hours are 12 to 11 p.m. and Sunday is 12 to 6 p.m.

Viva! Vienna! 2005

Vienna, Virginia's Memorial Day Festival, "Viva! Vienna", sponsored by The Rotary Club of Vienna, will take place this Saturday, May 28th through Monday, May 30th. This event serves as a major fund raising opportunity for the Rotary Club so that it may, in turn, provide support for charitable, educational, and community groups throughout the year.

Various local musicians and other acts will be performing on the Fidelity Investment (Main) Stage and the C & E Printing Children's Stage throughout the duration of the festival.

The festival will take place at 133 Church Street, NE, Vienna, VA 22180 and will run from 10 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Saturday, May 28th (Food and Entertainment only), 12:30 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Sunday, May 29th (Vendors, Food & Entertainment), and 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday, May 30th (Vendors, Food & Entertainment). Alcohol is prohibited in the ViVa! Vienna! Festival.

A shuttle bus will operate all three days of ViVa! Vienna! On Saturday and Sunday the shuttle will begin service at noon and continue until 9:00 p.m. On Monday, the service will be available from 10 p.m. to 6 p.m.

The 2005 National Memorial Day Concert

The 2005 National Memorial Day Concert will be broadcast live on PBS from the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, May 29, 2005 from 8:00 to 9:30 pm ET (check local listings).

This year's concert commemorates the 60th Anniversary of Iwo Jima and honors our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It will feature actors Joe Mantegna, Gary Sinise, and Charles Durning, singer and actress Vanessa Williams, country performer Trace Adkins, opera singer Harolyn Blackwell, General Colin Powell and other guests, along with conductor Erich Kunzel and the National Symphony Orchestra.

Radio Clarendon Accepting Music

A new internet radio station is getting started in Clarendon, with plans to eventually become a low-powered FM station. Run by Sona Virdi, formerly of the Clarendon Alliance, Radio Clarendon is currently accepting submissions from artists who are interested in having their music played on the station.

If you're interested in submitting your music, the required forms for submission are available on the station's web site. There's also an email address for people who have additional questions about the station.

If you know of other people who might be interested, please forward the details along.

Celia Cruz Exhibit at the American History Museum

Beginning this month at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, a retrospective, "Azúcar! The Life and Music of Celia Cruz," explores the Cuban singer's life (1924-2003) and five-decade career through costumes, wigs, shoes, photographs, video, and music.

Celia Cruz's career took her from humble beginnings in Havana, Cuba, to the United States, where she became the undisputed "Queen of Latin Music." She was one of the few women to succeed in the male-dominated world of salsa, a musical genre born in New York City that combines Afro-Latin rhythms with blues, jazz, and rock. She made more than 80 recordings and collected five Grammys, the Presidential Medal of Arts and three honorary doctorates. Curated by Marvette Perez, this bilingual exhibition will eventually travel throughout the country.

The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History is located on the Mall at 14th Street and Constitution Avenue NW. It is open daily from 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and admission is free.

Additional information about the life and career of Celia Cruz can be found in this article from The Washington Post.

Weekly Hip Hop Shows at Jaxx

Local promoters Rum Punch Media and DVD/Video magazine, Off the Ground, have recently joined forces to present a weekly hip-hop show (normally held on Saturday nights) at Jaxx Concert Hall and Night Club in Springfield, VA.

This Friday, May 27th the lineup at Jaxx includes the Best Damn Rap Tour with J-Live, C Rayz Walz, Vast Aire of Canibal Ox and Vordul Mega of Canibal Ox, Karneige, 4th Pyramid, and Mike the Finite.

Tickets can be purchased in advance for $14 or at the door for $18.

Doors open at 9:00 p.m. and the music starts at 9:30 p.m.

Street Sense Benefit This Saturday

This Saturday, May 21, [Velvet], Monopoli and Gist play The Black Cat in Washington, D.C. to benefit Street Sense, a newspaper with a mission "to make the public more aware of issues related to poverty and homelessness while also providing homeless men and women with an economically beneficial opportunity and a forum to be published." According to their website, homeless men and women sell the paper, paying 30 cents (to cover publishing costs) for each paper and then selling each for $1, earning 70 cents for every paper sold.

This will be the first-ever benefit concert for the non-profit publication.Tickets are available online ($8 plus service charges) through Ticketmaster, here.

Networking Happy Hour

Please join us this Wednesday, May 18th for our monthly ArlingtonMusicScene.com happy hour at Iota Club and Cafe in Arlington, VA. The event runs from 6pm to 8pm and is free.

Held the third Wednesday of every month at IOTA, these happy hours are designed to give musicians, music industry professionals, music fans and anyone else who would like to attend, the opportunity to network outside of the typical show scene. Basically, the happy hours are meant to be an opportunity for people to get together once a month, have a couple drinks and talk music or whatever you'd like. If you get there and don't recognize anyone, look for the people with the masking tape nametags.

18th Annual Taste of Arlington

Taste of Arlington is an annual outdoor festival that brings the community together for an afternoon of food and fun while also supporting a local non-profit organization, Community Residences. The event takes place on Sunday, May 15th from 12 Noon - 5 pm, rain or shine, in front of Ballston Common Mall.

Beginning at Noon, Arlington’s own Spanish Children’s Chorus (El Coro en Enfantil en Espaòol) will kick-off the event by performing their musical numbers on the Main stage followed by entertainment provided by the Arlington Center for Dance and local musical groups Brother Shamus (4:00 pm), Radio Mosaic and Bicycle Thieves (2:00 PM).

Admission to Taste of Arlington is free. Ticket books with 8 tastes each for food and beverages can be purchased for $20 in advance or $25 at the event. Advanced ticket purchases can be ordered on-line and in person at the following locations: Arlington BB&T Branches (see www.bbandt.com for locations) and also at Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery in Ballston Common Mall and Lebanese Taverna Market on 4400 Old Dominion Dr., Arlington.

Parking for Taste of Arlington is available all day for $1 at the Ballston Public Parking Garage and the event is located on the Metro Ballston-MU (Orange lines) station and on Metrobus route 38B.

Stones Tickets

For those of you with a spare $63, $102, $163, or $403, feel free to purchase a ticket for the October 3rd Rolling Stones MCI Center show when they go on sale tomorrow at 10:00.