The DC Lineup for this weekend: baseball, bands and a big pillow fight

The first weekend of April presents opportunities to learn about a wide range of subjects like science, automobiles, baseball, orchids, Japanese-American history and Ukrainian Easter eggs. Other options include letting loose at a giant pillow fight, participating in a children’s storytime and enjoying classical or pop music concerts.

As the saying goes, “April showers bring May flowers.” This weekend — April 5 through 7 — will accordingly start off with rain and temperatures in the mid-50s on Friday, according to the weather forecast. Then temperatures should warm up to the upper 60s or low 70s with cloudy conditions on both Saturday and Sunday.

1. Education: The second ACCelerate: ACC Smithsonian Creativity and Innovation Festival is this weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the National Museum of American History, 1300 Constitution Ave. NW. Virginia Tech and the Smithsonian Institution are hosting the event to highlight science, engineering, arts and design. There will be 38 installations organized around three themes: “Exploring Place and Environment”; “Exploring Health, Body and Mind”; and “Exploring Culture and the Arts.” This year’s exhibitions include “Promoting Health Through Human Robot Interaction” and “Hands-On Simulation Education to Combat Nursing Shortage, Infant Mortality.” Throughout the festival, there will also be an outdoor sound arcade and projection mapping installation with sculptures that visitors can stimulate using LED wands. Like the first fest in October 2017, the event is free and open to the public.

2. Local Music: Commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots and the resulting LGBTQ rights movement with DC’s Different Drummers, a musical ensemble that features lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender musicians but is welcoming to all. Its Capital Pride Symphonic Band is performing Pride in Concert this Saturday at 7 p.m. at the Church of the Epiphany, 1317 G St. NW. A representative of the Capital Pride Alliance, which serves the LGBTQ+ community through events and outreach, is the master of ceremonies for the concert. Tickets cost $25 for adults and $15 for students and seniors.

3. Family Fun: The Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum invites families to kick off the start of the major league baseball season with its free Baseball Opening Day Family Festival on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 2 Massachusetts Ave. NE. The day’s activities include 19th-century baseball re-enactors; bat-making demonstrations from the owner of a company that makes baseball bats; an American Sign Language-interpreted storytime about William Hoy, a deaf ballplayer who came up with many of the sport’s non-verbal signals; a craft station to decorate a 3D baseball card; and a picnic area to enjoy food from vendors. The family day also marks one year until the opening of the Postal Museum’s exhibition Baseball: America’s Home Run, which will showcase hundreds of stamps with historical images of the game.

4. Recreation: Join a global community of massive pillow fights at an event sponsored by the DC chapter of the International Pillow Fight 2019. Participants will meet at the Washington Monument on Saturday from 2 to 4 p.m. London, New York, Chicago, Vienna and Vancouver are among the many other cities taking part in this free, worldwide event. Some rules include only using soft pillows and swinging lightly. The point is to have fun, plain and simple, organizers say.

5. Culture: The 36th annual Ukrainian Easter Bazaar & Pysanka Workshop is this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Ukrainian Catholic National Shrine of the Holy Family, 4250 Harewood Road NE. A buffet lunch with Ukrainian food will be served beforehand at 10:30 a.m., followed by Ukrainian arts and crafts and a bazaar featuring pysanka (Ukrainian Easter egg) kits, how-to books, videos and traditional foods. The cost to attend the egg-decorating workshop from 2 to 4 p.m. is $20 for adults and $12 for children under 12; on-site registration is from 1 to 2 p.m.

6. History: The 21st annual National Cherry Blossom Freedom Walk — “Fractured: The Faces of Family Separation” — will take place Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon. Highlighting the experiences of Japanese-Americans during World War II, the annual event honors more than 33,000 distinguished Japanese-American soldiers who served in the military and approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent who were forced by the U.S. government to relocate during the war. The program starts at the National Japanese American Memorial to Patriotism During World War II at the intersection of Louisiana Avenue, New Jersey Avenue and D Street NW. A 9:30 a.m. performance by the New Daiko drummers of Virginia will precede the walk. There is no charge to attend, but donations are welcome.

7. Literature: Kramerbooks & Afterwords Cafe commemorates the 50th anniversary of Eric Carle’s classic children’s book The Very Hungry Caterpillar with a breakfast storytime on Saturday from 10 to 11:30 a.m. at 1517 Connecticut Ave. NW. Craft making follows the reading. Entry costs $12 and includes a kid’s breakfast entree, juice or milk plus some extra treats tied to the book’s theme. Food for adults is available for an extra cost from the cafe’s breakfast menu.

8. Expo: The Washington Auto Show kicks off Friday at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center, 801 Mount Vernon Place NW. More than 600 cars from 35 domestic and foreign manufacturers will be showcased at the event, which will also feature a family fun zone, Art-of-Motion exhibit, an electric vehicle exhibit and more. Hours this weekend are Friday from noon to 10 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; the show will continue daily through April 14. Tickets for one day of the show cost $12 for adults and $5 for ages 6 to 12. Most of this weekend’s VIP tours have sold out, but tickets are still available for tours at 6 p.m. Saturday (with lifestyle blogger Fadra Nally) and 11 a.m. Sunday (with automotive journalist Les Jackson). Entry is $42 per VIP event.

9. Family Fun: Smithsonian Gardens Orchid Family Day on Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. gives families a chance to learn about orchids, make a paper orchid to take home and listen to music, all in the Kogod Courtyard at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, 8th and F streets NW. The event is free, with food for purchase throughout the day at the Courtyard Cafe. The event highlights Orchids: Amazing Adaptations, an exhibition co-produced by the Smithsonian American Art Museum, the National Portrait Gallery and the U.S. Botanic Garden. The exhibit, which opened Feb. 16, continues in the Kogod Courtyard through April 28.

10. Seasonal Festival: Friday’s second annual Blossom Bash — part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival — features pop star Meghan Trainor. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the performances start at 7:30 at The Anthem, 901 Wharf St. SW. Singer-songwriter MAX and pop rapper Jake Miller are the show’s opening acts. Individual tickets start at $55, with the option for a family four-pack at $37.50 per ticket. … The National Cherry Blossom Festival continues at The Wharf on Saturday with Petalpalooza, which showcases live music, a beer garden, fireworks and more along the Southwest waterfront’s piers. This free event starts at noon and runs until 9:30 p.m., with the fireworks show closing out the night at 8:30.