The music duo Bluebrain comes to talk at the Hirshhorn Wednesday. (TRACY A WOODWARD - WASHINGTON POST) Free this week: Brian Wilson collaborator Van Dyke Parks performs at Millennium Stage and Ryan and Hays Holladay of Bluebrain discuss Doug Aitken’s new “Song 1” at the Hirshhorn.

Monday

Van Dyke Parks

The pop mastermind and frequent Brian Wilson collaborator — most famously on the long-delayed “Smile” album — performs at the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage.

Tuesday

Hip-hop noir

Nelson George, a movie producer, journalist, culture critic and author, discusses and reads from his recent book, the noir novel “The Plot Against Hip Hop.” A book signing follows.

Wednesday

‘Song 1’ talk

Ryan and Hays Holladay, known for the GPS-assisted album apps they create as the duo Bluebrain, discuss how Doug Aitken’s video “Song 1,” which is being projected on the exterior of the Hirshhorn Museum, uses sound to remap the urban landscape.

Thursday

Festive jazz

As part of Howard University’s Jazz Week, the U.S. Army Blues Big Band performs at the Andrew Rankin Memorial Chapel.

Friday

Flower hike

Enjoy a walk along the C&O Canal in Bethesda while a guide points out such local wildflowers as the Virginia bluebell, Dutchman’s breeches, trout lily, toadshade and others.

Saturday

Southeast illuminated

Head to Anacostia for LUMEN8Anacostia, a day’s and night’s worth of performances by dancers, actors and visual artists, as well as art displays in occupied and vacant buildings.

Sunday

‘Castles in the Sky’

This 10th annual anime festival features screenings of “Ponyo,” “Porco Rosso,” “Princess Mononoke” and “Spirited Away.”