Wolf Trap: Washington's favorite picnic
As the summer season makes its way around the corner, Washingtonians, too, like to head to the great outdoors and relax on a hot night under the stars. Throw in a picnic, a bottle of wine, and some live music, and you’ve got the perfect evening – right at Wolf Trap in Northern Virginia.
This open-air music venue is THE summer activity for people of all ages. A full summer calendar begins Memorial Day weekend with concerts almost every single night through Labor Day, hosted at the Filene Center concert stage. After that, there are year-round concerts indoors at the Barns, another section of the Wolf Trap National Park.
People can purchase tickets to sit on real seats within the roofed Filene Center, or pay less for lawn seats outside the Center. Lawn seats are incredibly popular for spreading a blanket and having a picnic, rain or shine (bring umbrellas!), and there’s no limit how much space a person can take. If you’d like to see the artists on stage, you can also walk up to the back of the Filene Center to view.
Wolf Trap’s artist lineup include a variety of folk, classical, Broadway, opera, world, jazz and pop music, and even dance. The National Symphony Orchestra plays concerts with solo artists, such as renowned violin prodigy Joshua Bell and slightly cheesier tunes such as Bugs Bunny and James Bond themes.
There’s also the Wolf Trap Opera Company, highlighting talented young artists about to embark on a professional opera career by giving performances throughout the summer. Riverdance makes its finale tour in the beginning of June, and a small version of Cirque de Soleil appears the weekend after.
Some other major artists, including Sheryl Crow, Harry Connick Jr., The Gipsy Kings, Arethra Franklin and the Steve Miller Band are scheduled for the summer. Some older-generation artists are also performing, such as the Beach Boys, Pat Benetar, REO Speedwagon, and even an appearance of Cats! still bring out the youthful '80s in everyone for an enjoyable, retro evening.
Most evening shows start at 8:00pm, but gates open 90 minutes prior and people will arrive even before that to reserve lawn space and begin unwinding for the weekend. Everyone, including infants, requires a ticket. Parking is available, but public transportation is the way to go if you don’t have a lot of picnic equipment to carry. A shuttle takes passengers from the West Falls Church Metro and back starting two hours in advance. Due to rail work throughout the summer, patrons should check the Wolf Trap Web site for more information.
For kids and families, the Children’s Theatre-in-the-Woods is a spectacular entertaining ground from late June through August. Nestled among trees, the live stage brings youth ballet, Irish dancing, and various plays and performances targeted at children in kindergarten through sixth grade. The shows are typicall at 10:00 or 11:15am. Tickets are $8 a piece.
Posted by Rin-rin Yu
