May in the Neighborhood: Celebrating Small Business Month, embassy tours, movies in pajamas, and more

It’s Small Business Month. Our suggestions for celebrating include:

• Trying out a new restaurant or dining out at a longtime fave.
• Shopping the microbusinesses selling wares at Van Ness Main Street’s Pop-Up Artisan Market on May 10th.
• Looking for plush bees at 15 businesses on the VNMS corridor and span their QR codes. The more codes you scan, the more chances to win donated prizes. (through May 17)

Travel around the world in two days. Passport DC’s Around the World Embassy Tour is on Saturday, May 3rd. And on May 10th, is the European Union Open House. Participating embassies showcase the art, music, dance and foods of their nations. We recommend bringing cash if you intend to try the various delicacies on offer.

On May 3rd, eight of the participating embassies will be at the UDC Student Center. And four nearby embassies – Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Pakistan and China – are welcoming visitors from 9:30 to 5 p.m.

Inside the Chinese embassy (3505 International Place)

The EU nation embassies in the neighborhood are Austria, Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic.

Musicians at the Austrian embassy (3524 International Court NW) in 2024.

Milling season begins at Peirce Mill. The May 3-4 weekend is the first time this year the mill will be up and running. The other twice-monthly milling days are listed here. Milling hours are typically 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Visiting hours are 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

See Hillwood in your pajamas. Hillwood’s Pajama Party Movie Night on May 9th is a kid-friendly chance to explore the museum and gardens, enjoy a picnic, then get cozy while watching a series of short films.

Does this wine pair well with this concerto? “The Musical Pairings” lecture series at Levine Music’s Upton Street campus concludes on May 22nd with what sounds like a thoroughly enjoyable experience. You’ll learn about research on music’s effects on our senses, and test the theories with provided wine, cheese and chocolate. Tickets for this 21-and-up event are $20 and are available here.

Take a moment to help out a local force of – and for – nature. If you don’t already know Kathy Sykes, it’s not difficult to find her. Most weekends she is leading volunteers in activities like planting native flowers that nurture pollinators, and removing non-native invasive plants. As a certified Master Gardener and Weed Warrior, it’s part of her mission to teach about the hows and whys of everything she does, so all experience levels are welcome.

Kathy Sykes, third from the left, with volunteers in 2023. (photo by Mark Moran)

Kathy is leading several invasive species removal events for Rock Creek Conservancy this month. On the volunteer calendar, look for listings with “Reservation 630” and “Broad Branch” (actually behind Politics and Prose) in the title and click through to register.

Kathy also has two Connecticut Avenue plantings scheduled for May 3rd and 4th, from 2 to 4 p.m. Email her at [email protected] to sign up. And, she is leading pollinator garden walks on May 3rd, 4th and 17th. Proceeds from the ticket sales support the plantings, a Van Ness Main Street program.

Forest Hills Connection is another program of Van Ness Main Street. We maintain our editorial independence.