April will have a lot of opportunities to dust off the winter cobwebs and get moving with a month of special events from Montgomery Parks including Sunset Yoga and Salsa in the Park. There also will be Chess in the Park. The special events calendar also will include music, locally crafted beer and food with the return of Acoustics & Ales.
There will be opportunities to improve cocktail-making skills with the Craft Cocktail series: The Spirits of Spring. There will also be opportunities for fun and learning at the Josiah Henson Museum & Park One Year Anniversary.
April Montgomery Parks events will include:
- Sunset Yoga. Thursdays, April 14, 21 and 28. Long Branch-Arliss Neighborhood Park. 6:30-7:30 p.m. Free instruction will be provided by Thrive Yoga studio for beginner yoga. Learn new poses that will enhance your mind, body and soul through step-by-step instructions offered in English and Spanish with pose modifications. No equipment or registration is necessary.
- Salsa in the Park. Thursday, April 14. Columbia Local Park. 5-8 p.m. Salsa in the Park will feature free dance lessons from Salsa with Silvia and live music by local band Ocho de Bastos. The event will have food and beverages (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic) for purchase from local vendors. Community organizations will be providing fun activities, giveaways and resources. Invitamos tanto a los salseros como los amantes de la música en vivo, a que vengan a experimentar y apreciar la rica cultura de la música y el baile latinoamericanos en Salsa en el Parque.
- Acoustics & Ales. Friday, April 22. Elm Street Urban Park. 5-7:30 p.m. Adults and children welcome. Enjoy non-alcoholic beverages as well as craft beer from True Respite Brewing and 7 Locks Brewing will be available Food will be available from Pop Up Poutine Food Truck and Giacomo’s Brick Oven Pizza. The musical guest will be Ted Garber. Registration is not required.
- Josiah Henson Museum & Park One Year Anniversary. Saturday, April 23. Josiah Henson Museum & Park. 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Light refreshments will be served and there will be a $1 admission. The historic park opened in April 2021 and is the first museum in the United States dedicated to Reverend Josiah Henson. It is built on the former plantation in North Bethesda where he was enslaved prior to self-emancipating to Canada.
- Craft Cocktail Series: The Spirits of Spring. Wednesday, April 27. Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park. 6-8 p.m. The Woodlawn Manor Cultural Park’s Craft Cocktail series will open with “The Spirits of Spring,” featuring locally distilled organic liquors from McClintock Distilling. Learn how to muddle, mix and strain the perfect cocktail for every occasion. Whether making a drink for one or for a whole party, this class will prep you for it all. Registration for the class is $48 per person and includes admission, all ingredients and supplies and a take-home recipe card. Participants must be 21 or over.
- Acoustics & Ales. Friday, April 29. Fairview Road Urban Park. 5-7:30 p.m. Adults and children welcome. Non-alcoholic beverages, as well as craft beer from AstroLab Brewing and Silver Branch Brewing Company, will be available. Food will be available from Catalyst Hot Dogs. There will be a special musical guest.
- Chess in the Park. Saturday, April 30. Fairview Road Urban Park. 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Players ages 14 and under are invited to participate in an outdoor, drop-in chess tournament. Registration is recommended, but not required. Parents, families and spectators are encouraged to watch. Pop-Up Patisserie will be onsite selling food and drinks.
