Hot Spot: FotoWeek D.C.

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Now that the excitement of Halloween is over, you might have some extra time this weekend to go out and explore D.C. If you’re looking for something free — the perfect price for college students —check out D.C.’s second annual FotoWeek or the World Korean Food Festival.

FotoWeek will take place Nov. 6 to 13, but many of the exhibitions and viewings will continue throughout the year. The workshops, lunchtime lectures and photo contests are the highlights, so try and hit those if you can. When you check out the website, you’ll probably get a little overwhelmed by the crazy amount of exhibitions going on, but anything you choose to attend should be fun. Renowned photojournalists, fine art and commercial photographers, curators, gallery owners and even photographers under the age of 18 will be speaking and displaying their art. Now some things do cost money, like the workshops, so check it out before you get there.

Friday night is the World Korean Food Festival, so if you don’t go to the FotoWeek launch party you can head over to the Korean Embassy for some delicious food. The festival brings together more than 15 Korean chefs, cuisine scholars and entrepreneurs. There will be a public demonstration and tasting of a variety of Korean cuisine. All the dishes will be prepared by professional Korean cuisine experts so expect to have some of the best Korean food in DC. You can RSVP at online.

If you’re looking for another free event and can plan ahead, you can try and score some tickets to the National Christmas Tree Lighting on the Ellipse. The tickets are free, but they’re given out in a lottery system that will be up until Sunday, Nov. 7. The tree will be lit on Dec. 9, so if you’re still in the District it should be a really fun event. There are tickets for 3,000 seats and 10,000 standing room admissions. Last year Sheryl Crow, Ray LaMontagne and Common performed, so it’s likely there will be more cool performances this year.

If you want to try and snag a ticket visit visit the website or call 877-444-6777. You can also try to get tickets to the National Menorah Lighting on Dec. 1 at NationalMenorah.org.