Friday, July 4, 2008

FUN, SILLY, ODD, INTERESTING and

bizarre are just a few words that can be used to describe the more than 500 performances scheduled for this year's Capital Fringe Festival. Basically, anything but normal ("Dorks on the Loose: It I Awkward," for example) is ideal. The festival runs Thursday through July 27 at venues across the city. 866-811-4111.http://www.capfringe.org. Tickets are free to $35; a one-time purchase of a $5 button is required to get into all shows.

WANT TO KNOW HOW it feels to be on stage playing puppeteer to a herd of gazelle? You can ask that and any other question Wednesday at noon when the Kennedy Center hosts a "Lunchtime Look-In" on Disney's "The Lion King." Bring your lunch and join cast members for an hour-long insider's look and discussion about the musical. At the Kennedy Center Theater Lab. 2700 F St. NW. (Metro: Foggy Bottom-GWU, with free shuttles.) 202-467-4600 or 800-444-1324. http://www.kennedy-center.org. $12.

WHAT IS GROWING IN YOUR kitchen? We aren't talking a potted plant or mold on last week's leftovers; we are talking something much more sinister: bacteria! Learn how to gather bacteria samples and test them to see what's growing around you. Keith Lampel of the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition at the Food and Drug Administration will help you understand your findings. Koshland Science Museum from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday and July 16, Sixth and E streets NW (Metro: Gallery Place or Judiciary Square). 202-334-1201. http://www.koshland-science-museum.org. $15 for both sessions, $10 for just Wednesday or $8 for just July 16.

WE ALL HAVE DREAMS, and the crazy aspiring knight Don Quixote's is to find honor. Instead he finds love in the Keegan Theatre's "Man of La Mancha" based on the Cervantes classic. At the Church Street Theater. Thursday-Saturday at 8, Sundays at 2, through Aug. 16. 1742 Church St. NW (Metro: Dupont Circle). 202-265-3767. http://www.keegantheatre.com. $30-$35.

THIS WEEKEND IS YOUR LAST chance to visit the land of the thunder dragon (Bhutan) at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival. The festival, which ends Sunday, runs from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. each day, with evening events beginning at 6. The Mall between Seventh and 14th streets (Metro: Smithsonian, except today when the station is closed for security, so use L'Enfant Plaza or Archives-Navy Memorial-Penn Quarter instead). 202-633-1000. http://www.folklife.si.edu. FREE

GO FOR A BLUE ribbon at the first county fair of the season. "Barn to be Wild" is the motto of this year's Fauquier County Fair, featuring livestock, entertainment, rides and a rodeo. The fair opens Thursday at 11 a.m. 6209 Old Auburn Rd., Warrenton. 540-351-6086. http://www.fauquierfair.org. $10; kids younger than 13, $5. Seniors are $5 from 11 to 4 on July 11 and everybody's $5 on July 13.

ANI DIFRANCO, FEMINIST and all around righteous babe (Righteous Babe is also the name of her record label) will stop by Wolf Trap Monday at 8 p.m. for her sixth performance on the Filene Center stage. 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna (Metro: West Falls Church, with shuttle). 703-255-1868 or 877-965-3872. http://www.wolftrap.org. $28 or $40.

WHEN ASKED WHY HE makes dances, choreographer Paul Taylor wrote: "Working on dances has become a way of life, an addiction that at times resembles a fatal disease. Even so, I've no intention of kicking the habit." He will put his addiction on stage again for all to see when the Paul Taylor Dance Company appears at Wolf Trap's Filene Center stage Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. 1551 Trap Rd., Vienna (Metro: Shuttle from West Falls Church). 703-255-1868 or 877-965-3872. http://www.wolftrap.org. $8 or $38.

AT AGE 5, Marty Stuart listened to Johnny Cash; less than 20 years later, he was on stage with the legend, playing guitar in Cash's band. He brings his mix of country and bluegrass to the Birchmere on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. 3701 Mount Vernon Ave., Alexandria. 703-549-7500 or 703-573-7328. http://www.birchmere.com. $35.

WHO NEEDS FIREWORKS WHEN you can have cake with Gen. and Mrs. George Washington? They might be reenactors, but the cake is real (and free with admission) at Mount Vernon's Independence Day celebration today from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Declaration of Independence will be read, and the Concert Band of America will play. 3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Hwy., Mount Vernon. 703-780-2000. http://www.mountvernon.org. $13; seniors 62 and older, $12; kids ages 6 to 11, $6; kids 5 and younger, free.

-- Compiled by Amy Orndorff