July in the Neighborhood: Fringe theater festival, Christmas in July market, movie at the park

July is jam-packed with extra-local fun.

And a note to our newsletter subscribers: Most of these events might look familiar, but if you read to the end you’ll be rewarded with new Girl Scout-sponsored activities, open to all, and right here in the neighborhood.

Celebrate Tanabata, Japan’s star festival. According to legend, two lovers, separated by the Milky Way, reunite on the seventh day of the seventh month. Hillwood is celebrating on July 7 with music, crafts and more.

Do you have what it takes to be a Master Gardener? Learn about the classes and requirements for the UDC extension program on July 8.

Welcome back tomorrow’s stars of the stage. The fringe theater festival tradition has been giving up-and-coming playwrights and directors a platform for decades. District Fringe continues the tradition with its second year of performances at UDC from July 10 to 26. View the lineup and purchase tickets here.

The organizers are also extending a welcome to tomorrow’s theater fans. “Tall Tale of a Wolfman” (July 11, 25) and “The Sloth on Roller Skates” (July 18, 19) are geared toward the younger set.

And at the festival box office and pop-up bar in the Van Ness Main Street office (4340 Connecticut Avenue), patrons, performers and passersby can enjoy a drink and conversation.

Enjoy a big day out. That is July 18, and we’re going to have to break out the bullet points for this one!

• There’s a cleanup at Forest Hills Park and Playground, thanks to Van Ness Main Street and its Good Clean Fun initiative. Supplies are provided and volunteers of all ages are welcome, but please let a grownup tag along if you’re younger than 16.
• Shop small and local at Van Ness Main Street’s Christmas in July pop-up market. Vendors will be setting up outside the VNMS office at 4340 Connecticut Avenue.
• Another VNMS/Good Clean Fun-sponsored event is Music in the Park with World Music Collective performing at the Forest Hills Park amphitheater.
• July 18 is also Water Power Day at Peirce Mill, a chance to learn about how water moves our world, and about the tiny life in the stream next door.

Join more activities in Forest Hills Park. Yoga, anyone? It’s happening July 11, and class registration information will appear on Yoga on Connecticut’s Instagram page in the week before the event. Also, VNMS/Good Clean Fun are hosting the first movie night at the park on July 22. The featured film is Disney’s “Mufasa.”

(Forest Hills Connection is an editorially independent program of Van Ness Main Street.)

Girl Scouts welcome us to the fun. July 20-25 is the first national Girl Scouts convention in the District in 51 years, and while the main festivities are downtown, it’s likely several scouts will make the trek to Van Ness for a photo op with the street sign installed in their honor last summer.

Free activities sponsored by Girl Scouts Nation’s Capital, headquartered a few steps away from the Connecticut and Veazey Terrace intersection, make their presence even more likely. And the best part? You don’t have to be a scout to take part.

Check out the flyer for a schedule that includes STEM workshops Monday, July 20, Wednesday, July 22 and Friday, July 24; yoga Tuesday, July 21 and Thursday, July 22; and Girl Scouts trivia Saturday, July 25.