Summer festival season is about to hit full volume around D.C., with this year's calendar getting a big boost from America 250 celebrations.

Yes, but: Not every event is stars and stripes. Our lineup is packed with festivals for music lovers, foodies, families, and everyone in between (and we've got a separate guide for the big patriotic events).

Driving the news: Local concert giant I.M.P. just announced Tom Morello's Power to the People Festival at Merriweather on Oct. 3, with presale tickets going live at 10am today.

• The lineup mixes rock royalty and activist icons, including Bruce Springsteen, Joan Baez, Foo Fighters, Dave Matthews Band and Cypress Hill. Tickets start at $125 and include a donation to VoteRiders.

Arts & Culture

🎥 DC/Dox (June 11-14): The city's documentary film festival — over 60 features and nearly 40 shorts — brings screenings and filmmaker conversations to venues around D.C. Tickets vary

🏳️‍🌈 Capital Pride (June 12-21): D.C.'s massive Pride celebration returns with concerts, block parties, citywide events and the big parade. Tickets vary; many events are free

🔱 Clipper Race Fleet Week (June 14-22): International racing yachts dock at The Wharf with public yacht tours, waterfront events and sailing festivities. Free

Music & Dance

🥁 Petworth PorchFest (May 30): One of the best neighborhood music fests, with musicians of all stripes turning porches into stages. Free

🎸 Vans Warped Tour (June 13-14): The iconic punk and alt-rock festival returns with throwback acts and new-school bands at RFK. Tickets $150 and up

✊ Home Rule Music Festival (June 20): D.C. takes center stage at this culture and music fest with local artists playing go-go, punk, indie and more at venues across the city. Tickets vary, some free

Food & Drink

🍢 DMV Asian Night Market (June 6): The new festival stars 50-plus vendors, a pad thai eating competition, and more in Manassas Park, Virginia. Free

🔥 Giant Capital BBQ Battle (June 27-28): The annual smokefest fills Pennsylvania Avenue with pitmasters, live music and cook-off competitions. Tickets $21 and up

➡️ Want more festivals? Check out the full guide.

The Trump administration will spend $466 million to upgrade Union Station, including bigger concourses and facility fixes.

Why it matters: Amid Trump's beautification push across D.C. landmarks and parks, the Union Station overhaul may become one of the most consequential projects, given the train hall's role as the city's front door.

The big picture: Union Station is looking nicer these days, bit by bit — Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's announcement yesterday came in front of the restored Columbus Circle fountain. Another pending project would add nighttime facade lighting.

• Yet unknown: Where the station's ambitious multibillion-dollar modernization project stands and whether the Trump admin will get onboard.

Driving the news: The feds promise near-term improvements to cleanliness and increased security, plus:

• Upgrading the Amtrak lounge, passenger waiting area and "ticketing experience."
• Repairing an aging roof, parking garage and other interior zones.
• Touching up the "passenger concourse and customer experience," although details weren't available.
• And then there are plans for "family friendly infrastructure," which mirrors language from a recent campaign at airports to add things like kids play areas and nursing pods.

What we're watching: The long-term modernization of Union Station, which includes plans to triple passenger capacity and become a high-speed rail hub.

• Led by the Union Station Redevelopment Corp. (USRC), the megaproject tried to gain traction post-pandemic, hiring Doug Carr, a key official who helped build New York's Moynihan Train Hall.
• Duffy's Transportation Department yesterday slammed the Biden administration's "boondoggle plan to pour over $10 billion" into a "far-fetched expansion."
• Carr, the USRC's CEO, still advocates for the project, which, by his last estimates, would've cost about $8.8 billion over 13 years.

Carr said in a federal press release that the new funding lays "the foundation for the future Station Expansion Project."

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🎤 Following this week's announcement of the Great American State Fair performers, several artists dropped out, some citing organizer Freedom 250's affiliation with the Trump administration.

• No longer participating: Morris Day of Morris Day and The Time, rapper Young MC — who posted on social media that the artists were "never told about any political involvement with the event" — and The Commodores, who posted that they don't want to "publicly affiliate with any single political party."
• Country singer Martina McBride also pulled out, saying she signed on believing the event was nonpartisan. "That turned out to be misleading." Bret Michaels dropped out, citing division and safety concerns. Go deeper.

🏎️ Free tickets for general admission to D.C.'s Freedom 250 Grand Prix go live today (through June 7).

🐴 Four bronze horse statues near the Lincoln Memorial are getting a golden glow-up. The Trump administration gave a $5 million contract to a Maryland studio to repair the statues and coat them with a gold leaf layer. (NOTUS)

👋 American University prez Jonathan Alger will step down next month to serve as the first America 250 Fellow. Business school dean David Marchick will serve as interim president. (WTOP)

🍕Congrats to D.C.'s Slice & Pie, which was just named the second-best slice shop in the United States — three years running! — by Italian guide 50 Top Pizza.

DMV locals — how are you feeling about all the 250th birthday activities happening around town this summer?

• Are you dreading the traffic and hits to your commute? Or are you counting down the days until all the events pop off on the National Mall?
• Let us know your thoughts via this poll — and your responses could be included in an upcoming story!

Wake up, babe — new animal vocab word just dropped: porcupette.

Why it matters: A porcupette, aka a baby porcupine, is now on exhibit at the zoo!

State of play: A prickly little bundle of joy entered the world last week when the National Zoo's porcupines Beatrix and Quillbur welcomed their fourth offspring.

• The porcupette joins siblings Quillow, Fofo and Quilliam.

Fun fact: All baby porcupines look anatomically the same until they're six months old, so the zoo sent off one of the newborn's quills to be DNA tested.

• TBD whether we have a Quill Smith (boy) or a Barb (girl) on our hands here.
• But either way, that baby is lookin' sharp!