Walk the National Mall, explore the free Smithsonian museums, and ride the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. All three are free or nearly free, open year-round, and within easy walking distance of each other along the two-mile corridor between the Lincoln Memorial and the U.S. Capitol.
In brief
Walk the National Mall, explore the free Smithsonian museums, and ride the elevator to the top of the Washington Monument. All three cost nothing or close to it, sit within easy walking distance of each other, and together cover the best of what makes Washington DC worth visiting.
1. Walk the National Mall
The National Mall stretches from the foot of the U.S. Capitol to the Potomac River and is the country's premier civic and symbolic space. It looks like a quick stroll from one end to the other, but tip to tip it runs about 2.5 miles. Plan a full day if you want to stop at memorials.
The Mall takes in the U.S. Capitol, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial, World War II Memorial, Korean War Veterans Memorial, and the Vietnam Memorial. All of those sites are free. National Mall and Memorial Parks is open 24 hours a day, which means you can skip the summer crowds entirely and go at night. The memorials are beautifully lit after dark.
More than 24 million people visit the National Mall each year. It hosts some of the city's biggest celebrations, including Presidential inaugural festivities, a Fourth of July fireworks show, and the annual Smithsonian Folklife Festival in late June and early July.
Getting there: The Smithsonian Metro stop on the Blue, Orange, and Silver lines drops you right in the middle of the Mall. Food trucks line up on Constitution Avenue, 17th Street, and 14th Street if you need lunch.
2. Visit the Smithsonian museums
Admission to all 19 Smithsonian museums in the Washington, DC area, as well as the National Zoo, is completely free, with no ticket purchase required for general admission. Most Mall museums are within walking distance of one another, making it possible to visit several in a single day on foot.
Monumental museum buildings line both sides of the Mall, putting the National Air and Space Museum, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Museum of American History within an easy walk of one another. Many travelers point to the National Museum of African American History and Culture as particularly impactful.
Two museums require free timed-entry passes reserved in advance. The National Museum of African American History and Culture requires a free timed-entry pass; advance passes are released 30 days out on a rolling basis. Same-day passes appear online at 8:15 a.m. Eastern daily, but they go fast. The National Air and Space Museum also requires a free timed-entry pass.
Through 2026, Smithsonian museums are presenting Our Shared Future: 250 for the United States' 250th anniversary. Most of that programming is included with the museums' normal free admission.
Tip: Smithsonian museums generally keep daytime hours around 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Confirm hours on si.edu before you go, since they can shift.
3. Ride to the top of the Washington Monument
The Washington Monument is a 555-foot marble obelisk built to honor George Washington, and it sits at the visual center of the National Mall. After passing through security, visitors ride an elevator to the observation level, where windows on all sides frame the U.S. Capitol, the White House, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery, and the Potomac River.
There is no admission fee, but there is a non-refundable $1.00 service charge per advance ticket. Tickets are released daily at 10:00 a.m., available 30 days in advance, and they often sell out immediately after being released in spring, summer, and fall. Book at recreation.gov as soon as your date opens.
The monument is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. It closes one day during the first week of every month for routine maintenance, as well as on Independence Day and Christmas Day.
The 897-step interior staircase is closed to ordinary public visits, so the elevator is the only way up. A typical visit lasts about 45 minutes to one hour.
Quick reference
National Mall: Free, open 24/7, no ticket needed. Metro: Smithsonian station (Blue/Orange/Silver lines).
Smithsonian museums: Free general admission. Most are walk-in; NMAAHC and Air and Space require free timed-entry passes booked at si.edu.
Washington Monument: Free admission, $1 reservation fee per ticket. Book 30 days ahead at recreation.gov. Open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
