Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts

The mood crackles with excitement as performance time nears. Inside the Filene Center, patrons stride down gently sloped stairs, enter wide aisles, and settle into their seats. Outside the theater on the grass, couples close picnic baskets and adjust colorful blankets while children wiggle onto spots claimed as their own. For the nearly 4,000 people seated inside the house and the 3,000 on the lawn, there is a feeling of intimacy with the performance on stage and with the natural setting that surrounds them. Inside the Filene Center cool breezes and moonlight flow through vertical open-air expanses that alternate with panels clad with Douglas fir. Reminiscent of a fringe of gigantic trees, the timbers reflect sound from the stage back to the audience and provide exceptional acoustics in this partially enclosed theater. Outside, the audience enjoys the best of both worlds – the performance on stage and nature’s show found in the grassy meadows and lofty trees of this 118-acre park.

Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts began as a gift to the American people from Catherine Filene Shouse. Encroaching roads and suburbs inspired Mrs. Shouse to preserve this former farm as a park where people could find spiritual nourishment in the peacefulness of nature and in the performing arts. Mrs. Shouse donated land for the park, five existing buildings, and funds to build the Filene Center. In 1966 Congress accepted Mrs. Shouse’s gift and authorized Wolf Trap Farm Park (its original name) as the first national park for the performing arts. The Filene Center opened on July 1, 1971, despite a damaging fire only weeks before completion. For a decade Wolf Trap’s reputation blossomed as a world-class entertainment facility. Then, on April 4, 1982, tragedy struck again, and the Filene Center burned to the ground. In the spirit of "the show must go on," performances were held in a large tent until the rebuilt Filene Center opened July 30, 1984.

Today Wolf Trap’s success is due to a fruitful partnership between a government agency and a private organization. The National Park Service cares for the park, sponsors interpretive programs, and directs the operation and maintenance of the technical equipment and backstage facilities that serve the performing artists. The Wolf Trap Foundation, a private not-for-profit corporation founded at the request of the Department of the Interior, is responsible for artistic programming, tickets, public relations and marketing, fundraising, and educational programs. Together they foster the Wolf Trap experience – the audience and the performing artist coming together in a setting of natural beauty.

"Wolf Trap is a gift to people of all ages in all walks of life to enjoy the performing arts in a natural setting of woods, fields, and stream. It can grow in scope and meaningfulness to the extent of one’s imagination and support." Catherine Filene

The Wolf Trap Experience

Exciting performances, picnics, and a beautiful setting are just part of your experience at Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts. Through the cooperative effort and partnership of the National Park Service and the Wolf Trap Foundation, you can enjoy music, dance, and a variety of performances throughout the year. Together they offer festivals in the park and performances in the summer at the Filene Center. The National Park Service (NPS) operates the park and keeps it active all year with backstage tours, performances for children, interpretive activities, and the annual Holiday Sing-Along program. The park is open daily except December 25. It closes at dark except for patrons of the Filene Center.

Enjoying Nature

You may wish to explore the forest, stream area, and meadows of this 118-acre park to learn about native plants and animals. In the forest, watch for maples, oaks, wild cherry, and an occasional flying squirrel. Near the stream keep a lookout for muskrats, turtles, and frogs. Some 55 bird species have been seen in the park, including mockingbirds that entertain with lyrical songs.

Filene Center

On stage – dance, opera, symphony orchestra, jazz, pop, musicals, country-western, or bluegrass – the performing artists and their creative skills are paramount here, whether the evening performance is a grand-scale production or an entertaining country group. Behind the scenes National Park Service specialists are responsible for maintaining the high standards of technical operation that best support the artists, including sound reinforcement, lighting control, scenery movement, and special effects. Backstage, NPS provides comfortable lounges and dressing rooms that have led to Wolf Trap’s reputation among performing artists as a home-away-from-home.

Come early and relax. Walk in the coolness of the forest canopy, listen to the stream play its own symphony, and watch squirrels perform acrobatics among the tree branches. Why not shake off the day’s stress, spread out a blanket, and enjoy a picnic before the performance begins?

Theatre-in-the-Woods

Nestled in the forest near Wolf Trap Run, this aptly-named outdoor amphitheater introduces children to the world of live performing arts with presentations of music and song, a variety of dance, mime, puppets, and plays. The children’s excitement is contagious as they become involved with activities on stage. Workshops-in-the-Arts bring them even closer to the arts experience.