SATURDAY DECEMBER 26

The African Heritage Dancers & Drummers have been wise to Kwanzaa since the beginning. From the time Maulana Karenga brought it into the world in 1966, the troupe has celebrated the holiday’s Africa-centered seven principles and reinforced its own connections to family, community, nation, and, ultimately, the motherland. They started out by inviting family and friends to their cozy Northeast studio. A third of century later they’ve had no choice but move their celebration to a larger space to accommodate the growing invitation list. Besides a performance by its founders, the lineup for the 32nd Annual Kwanzaa Celebration includes traditional African, jazz, and modern dance by the Andrew Cacho African Drummers and Dancers and the D.C. Youth Ensemble, storytelling by Baba “C,” poetry by Mary Grier, and a speech by Wilhelmina Rolark of the United Black Fund. Celebrate and unify in the spirit of the first principle of Kwanzaa, “Umoja,” with a traditional candlelight ceremony and performance art with the veterans. At 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 26, at the Lincoln Theatre, 1215 U St. NW. Free. (202) 328-6000. (Ayesha Morris)