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Holiday Gift Ideas: Tickets to Washington DC Live Events
December 03, 2015
by Alyssa
Holiday Gift Guide Washington DC
If you’re holiday shopping for friends or family in Washington, D.C., this year you can give the gift of something memorable with tickets to a live sports, concert, or theater event. There’s a little something for everyone coming to the capital in 2016, including concerts from diverse acts like Justin Bieber, Black Sabbath, Bonnie Raitt, and Journey and the Doobie Brothers. Broadway favorites like Annie and Kinky Boots will delight theatergoers, comics Lewis Black and Tracy Morgan will leave fans in stitches, and dance performances from the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater and Washington Ballet are guaranteed to amaze audiences. For diehard sports fans, the year will bring many opportunities to cheer on the Capitals, Wizards, and Nationals at home.
Check out the tables below for the ticket price breakdown of some of our top holiday gift ideas. All ticket prices based on active listings as of Dec. 2.
For pop music fans, tickets to see Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Selena Gomez will be hot items this Christmas. If you’re shopping for a classic rock fan, consider getting them passes to see the co-headlining Journey and the Doobie Brothers concert in July. Black Sabbath will also be in the D.C. area next summer for one stop on its final concert tour, but The Who will be in town in March for the band’s 50th anniversary tour. In 2016 there will also be chances to see blues greats Bonnie Raitt and the Tedeschi Trucks Band live in Washington, and R&B vocal group Boyz II Men will spend two nights at the Kennedy Center in the spring. For a unique holiday gift for rock fans, grab passes to the March Shamrock Festival at RFK Stadium, featuring Flogging Molly and the Dropkick Murphys.
Top Washington DC Theater
No. |
Event |
Date(s) |
Venue |
Median Price | Get-In Price |
1 |
A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder |
1/3-1/30 |
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater |
$190 | $57 (1/14 and 1/28 matinees, most affordable) |
2 |
Alvin Ailey Dance Theater |
2/1-2/7 |
Kennedy Center Hall of Nations, Kennedy Center Opera House |
$268 | $89 (2/1, most affordable) |
3 |
Annie |
3/15-3/20 |
National Theatre |
$149 | $99 (3/16-3/18, 3/19 and 3/20 evenings, most affordable) |
4 |
Kinky Boots |
6/14-7/10 |
Kennedy Center Opera House |
$215 | $100 (6/19 matinee, 6/26, most affordable) |
5 |
Lewis Black |
4/28-4/30 |
Warner Theatre |
$165 | $70 (4/29, most affordable) |
6 |
Ringling Bros. B&B Circus |
3/31-4/17 |
Verizon Center, EagleBank Arena |
$59 | $21 (3/31, most affordable) |
7 |
Tracy Morgan |
4/22 |
Kennedy Center Concert Hall |
$155 | $44 |
8 |
Ron White |
3/11 |
Strand-Capitol Performing Arts Center |
$129 | $119 |
9 |
Matilda the Musical |
1/1-1/10 |
Kennedy Center Opera House |
$143 | $669 (1/6 matinee, most affordable) |
10 |
Washington Ballet |
Ongoing |
Kennedy Center Eisenhower Theater |
$139 | $107 (2/25-2/28, most affordable) |
If you have a comedy lover on your holiday shopping list, opt for tickets to an upcoming stand-up show from Tracy Morgan, Ron White, or Lewis Black. Any dance aficionados on your list will relish the chance to witness live performances from famed American dance troupes in the city this year, including the Alvin Ailey Dance Theater or the hometown Washington Ballet. If you’d like more traditional theater tickets, you should look into upcoming performances of Broadway hits A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder, Annie, and Kinky Boots. When shopping for families with children, you can buy tickets to the musical adaptation of Roald Dahl’s Matilda or to the perennial favorite Ringling Bros. B&B Circus.
There’s no shortage of upcoming games to please Washington, D.C. basketball fans in 2016. In the spring, the ACC Basketball Tournament will be in town for almost a week, and there are tickets available for single sessions as well as for the full tournament. The Washington Wizards’ season is already in full swing, and tickets to highly anticipated matchups against the Cleveland Cavaliers and the Golden State Warriors will be a hit with any NBA fans on your shopping list. For younger hoops fans, you can’t go wrong with passes to see the Harlem Globetrotters show off their incredible skills on the court.
Things are also heating up on the ice at Verizon Center this season for the Washington Capitals. Tickets to early 2016 games against division rivals the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, and Philadelphia Flyers are guaranteed to be on the wish lists of every D.C. hockey fan this year. If you’re shopping for a diehard Washington Nationals fan, shop for seats at Nationals Park for opening day against the Miami Marlins. Other great options for later in the season are April and August series against the Atlanta Braves, or the August Battle of the Beltways against the Baltimore Orioles.