The 17th Street High Heel Race in October 1997 – Photo: Randy Shulman/Metro Weekly
Here’s what’s happening at D.C.’s LGBTQ bars from Saturday, Oct. 17 through Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026 — including DJs, drag, happy hours, and the onset of the year’s Halloween parties.
Listings are provided by participating venues and are subject to change. Metro Weekly makes every effort to ensure accuracy but is not responsible for errors or schedule changes. Check with venues for the latest details.
A League of Her Own
Local DJs and dancing • 21+ • No Cover
Bunker
Bunker Presents: Ponyboy, 10pm-3:30am • Tech House with DJ Ponyboy • $6 drinks, 10-11pm • 21+ • $20 Cover starting at 11pm
Crush Dance Bar
Open 2pm-3am • DJs Alex Love & b_x_r_n_x_r_d, 10pm • $3 vodka, 10-11pm • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 1pm-late • Super Queeros SKDC Whitman Walker Fundraiser, 3-5pm • Showtunes Replay, 5-9pm • Con Acento, Latinx Drag and Dance Party, hosted by Evry Pleasure, 9:30pm • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 2pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • Latin Happy Hour upstairs, hosted by Mari Con Carne with DJ Alvamp, 4-9pm • DJ Sean McClafferty 9pm-close • 21+ • No Cover
Pitchers
Food, video games and outdoor patios • DCFM, 2-6pm • Local DJs • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 2pm • XL Happy Hour, 2-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • CLASH drag show, hosted by Tatianna and Crimsyn with rotating performers, 11pm • SWEET SPOT in the Shark Tank • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 2pm • XL Happy Hour, 2-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • Official Stonewall Kickball Afterparty in the Shark Tank, 4-8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • Karaoke with Marcus, 9:30pm • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 2pm-late • Weekday Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $5 rail drinks • Musical Mondays Showtunes, 9pm-late • $4 draft beer and $4 Truly draft • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 5pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 5pm • XL Happy Hour, 5-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • 21+ • No Cover
Crush Dance Bar
Open 5pm-midnight • All-day Happy Hour: $6 well drinks; $9 Crushes, Tito’s, pitchers of beer and NUTRL • Trivia hosted by J Street Trivia, 7pm • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • Latin Karaoke with Flavio, 9:30pm • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 4pm-late • Weekday Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $5 rail drinks • Flashback retro music with Jason Royce and free Goldilocks Trivia, 8pm-late • $9 specialty cocktails; $4 draft beer and draft Truly • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 5pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 5pm • XL Happy Hour, 5-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • TRANSBEAR in Trade Classic, 9pm • 21+ • No Cover
Crush Dance Bar
Open 5pm-midnight • Happy Hour until 8pm: $6 well drinks; $9 Crushes, Tito’s, pitchers of beer and NUTRL • Drag Bingo with Lena Lett and Tula • Music by DJ Jason Royce, 8pm • $6 well drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • Karaoke with Jonathon, 9:30pm • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 4pm-late • Weekday Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $5 rail drinks • Survivor Season 51 watch party, 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 5pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Pitchers
Half-price burger night • Televised sports • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 5pm • XL Happy Hour, 5-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • SISSY THAT WEDNESDAY CABARET SHOW in Trade Classic, 9pm • MX. TRADE Competition in Trade Classic, 10pm • 21+ • No Cover
A League of Her Own
LezzBingo with prizes and video games • Drag show afterward • 21+ • No Cover
Bunker
Murder on the Dance Floor: Washington Blade’s Best of DC After Party, 10pm-2:30am • Pop and Tech House with DJ Kzilla • $6 drinks, 10-11pm • 21+ • No Cover
Crush Dance Bar
Open 5pm-2am • Happy Hour until 8pm: $6 well drinks; $9 Crushes, Tito’s, pitchers of beer and NUTRL • Katseye After Party with DJ Majr, 10pm • Throwdown Thursday Drag Show hosted by Venetian, 10:30pm • $3 vodka, 10-11pm; $6 well drinks, 10pm-midnight • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • Shirtless patrons drink free, 10-11pm • Free drink for patrons in underwear, midnight-12:30am • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 4pm-late • Weekday Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $5 rail drinks • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 5pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Pitchers
Thirst Trap Thursday drag show with Cake Pop • Trivia with Crimsyn • Gaming, food, and outdoor patios • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 5pm • XL Happy Hour, 5-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • MONSTER MASH DEMENTED DISCO, 9pm in Trade Classic • 21+ • No Cover
A League of Her Own
Local DJs and dancing • 21+ • No Cover
Bunker
CLUBPOP, 10pm-3:30am • Pop and House with DJ Adamusic (Los Angeles) • $6 drinks, 10-11pm • 21+ • $15 Cover starting at 11pm
Crush Dance Bar
Open 5pm-3am • Happy Hour until 8pm: $6 well drinks; $9 Crushes, Tito’s, pitchers of beer and NUTRL • DJ Matt Bailer & Alex Love, 10pm • $3 vodka, 10-11pm • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 4pm-late • Weekday Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $5 rail drinks • Vitamin C drag show, hosted by Citrine the Queen, 10pm • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 4pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • 21+ • No Cover
Pitchers
Five bars, video games, DJs and dancing • Food and outdoor patios • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 5pm • XL Happy Hour, 5-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • Free pizza and $8 pitchers of beer • The Jax & Evry Show, hosted by Evry Pleasure and Jaxknife Complex, 7pm • RuPaul’s Drag Race viewing, 8pm • WTF Friday with DJs WESSTHEDJ and Ed Bailey in the Shark Tank and rotating guest DJs in Trade Classic • 21+ • No Cover
A League of Her Own
Local DJs and dancing • 21+ • No Cover
Bunker
Brat from the Grave, 10pm-3:30am • Hyperpop with DJ Miscalculated • Special performance by Venetian • $6 drinks, 10-11pm • 21+ • $20 Cover starting at 11pm
Crush Dance Bar
Open 2pm-3am • DJs Alex Love & Sidekick, 10pm • $3 vodka, 10-11pm • 21+ • No Cover
Green Lantern
Happy Hour, 4-8pm: $3.50 rail drinks and domestic beer; discounts on premium drinks and draft beer • 21+ • No Cover
JR.’s Bar
Open 1pm-late • Howl-O-Ween Block Party, 1-7pm • Showtunes Replay, 5-9pm • Banshees Rock n Roll Drag Show, hosted by Jane Saw, 10pm • 21+ • No Cover
Number Nine
Open 2pm • 2-for-1 Happy Hour: order the first drink before 7pm and receive the second before 8pm • Latin Happy Hour upstairs, hosted by Mari Con Carne with DJ Alvamp, 4-9pm • VJs BacK2bACk 9pm • 21+ • No Cover
Pitchers
Five bars, video games and outdoor patios • Kitchen open late until 1:30am • Local DJs • 21+ • No Cover
Trade
Open 2pm • XL Happy Hour, 2-9pm: drinks served in XL cups for the regular price; beer $5.50 • CLASH drag show, hosted by Tatianna and Crimsyn with rotating performers, 11pm • CTRL DANCE PARTY in the Shark Tank • 21+ • No Cover
Steph Tolev -- The Canadian comic behind Netflix's Filth Queen barrels through brash, unfiltered, intensely physical stand-up (9/19)
Matt Rogers -- The gay Las Culturistas co-host unwraps a brand-new holiday comedy show with his signature blend of pop-culture fixation and gleeful excess (12/16)
THE ALDEN THEATRE
McLean Community Center
1234 Ingleside Ave.
McLean, Va.
703-790-0123
mcleancenter.org
The Vanishing -- George Sluizer's chilling 1988 Dutch thriller about a man's obsessive search for the girlfriend who disappeared without a trace (10/8, 10/21)
Tea with the Dames -- The 2018 documentary brings Judi Dench, Eileen Atkins, Joan Plowright, and Maggie Smith together for tea, memories, and candid reflections on their extraordinary careers (10/22)
Be Kind Rewind -- Michel Gondry's 2008 comedy about video-store clerks who accidentally erase their inventory and remake every movie themselves on a budget of nothing (11/4)
Bathtubs Over Broadway -- The 2018 documentary uncovers the bizarre, forgotten world of lavish corporate musicals commissioned by America's biggest companies (11/19)
The Joyfully Jolly Jamboree -- Broadway puppet director Joshua Holden channels vintage television specials into a whimsical holiday mashup of handcrafted puppets, original songs, choreography, faux commercials, and a sing-along (12/12)
Doktor Kaboom: Under Pressure! -- Interactive science experiments and comedy turn the physics of pressure into lessons about mental and emotional resilience (1/28)
Passing Strange -- Spike Lee's 2009 film captures singer-songwriter Stew's Tony-winning rock musical about a young Black artist's search for identity, authenticity, and "the real" (2/11)
AMERICAN VISIONARY ART MUSEUM
Reality TV works in mysterious ways. An ostensible loss can quickly and unexpectedly be transformed into a win, especially in the hands of a queen who's prepared. RuPaul's Drag Race favorite Salina EsTitties, a.k.a. Jason De Puy, was heartbroken, she says, that her run on the recent All Stars season 11 came to an end in her first round of competition.
The feisty Latina performer, who first competed on Drag Race proper three years ago, returned for All Stars with fierce new looks and a fierce attitude, but still missed the cut of queens who made it out of their bracket to the Merge, where finalists would compete.
Storytelling means survival in Hannah Khalil's feminist fable Hakawatis: Women of the Arabian Nights, staged in an engaging production by Mekala Sridhar at Spooky Action Theater.
Hakawati is, in fact, the Arabic word for storyteller, invoked in the play by the imprisoned brides of a tyrant king, who, for months, has been marrying and murdering brides nightly, punishing womankind for one wife's infidelity.
Offstage in his royal quarters, his latest bride, Scheherazade, is making her attempt to seduce him with stories, thus saving herself and any brides remaining in their cell. Those last five brides stewing in captivity can only hope Scheherazade spins tales alluring enough to captivate the king.
You must be logged in to post a comment.