Martin Luther King Jr. Birthday Events in Washington, DC

Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday is an opportunity to celebrate King’s call to public service and Washington, DC has plenty of festivities in store for visitors to the nation’s capital during the long three day weekend.

"Let Freedom Ring" at John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2700 F St., NW, Washington, D.C. 20566). January 18, 2010, 6 p.m. The Kennedy Center and Georgetown University host a musical celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy. The concert featuring two-time Grammy Award–winner India.Arie also includes the Let Freedom Ring Choir. Free tickets will be given away two (2) per person in line in the Hall of Nations at 10 a.m. on a first-come, first-served basis.


• 2010 Annual Civil Rights “Film Festival”. January 15-18, 2010, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The Frederick Douglass National Historic Site (1411 W Street, SE, Washington, DC) will honor the birthday and life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. with their annual film festival. Feature films will include the screening of the Eyes on the Prize Series and A&E: Martin Luther King Jr.: The Man the Dream (Biography).
  
  
• Lincoln Memorial. January 18, 2010, 1:00 p.m. 23rd and Independence Ave., NW, Washington, DC. It was on the very steps of the Lincoln Memorial where Dr. King uttered those now famous words, “I have a dream” and in his memory, students will come together to hold a special ceremony commemorating Martin Luther King, Jr. For additional information, please call (202) 426-6841.
  
  
• National Cathedral Martin Luther King Program (Wisconsin & Massachusetts Avenues). January 18, 2010, 2-4 p.m. The pulpit at the Washington National Cathedral is the last one from which Dr. King delivered a Sunday sermon before his assignation. The Cathedral is honoring MLK a musical celebration. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, call (202) 537-2159.
  
  
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday Weekend Family Festival. January 16 - 18, 2010, 10 a.m. - 5:30 p.m.National Museum of American History (14th Street and Constitution Ave, Washington, DC). In commemoration of the Dr. King’s birthday honoring the National Museum of American History will host a three-day family festival featuring music, historic theatre, and interactive activities. The program includes the museum’s award-winning interactive play Join the Student Sit-Ins, which invites visitors to take the role of protesters during the sit-in movement that began at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth’s Lunch Counter, which is now one of the Museum’s landmark objects. The words of Dr. King will be brought to life in the dramatic presentation To the Mountaintop in the museum’s Flag Hall, which will follow performances by the a cappella singing group In Process.
  
  Additionally, on Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 2 p.m. in Carmichael Auditorium, the museum and the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture present an interview with Carlotta Walls Lanier, a member of the Little Rock Nine, the students who integrated Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1959.