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Folk singer Tom Chapin will perform at the Intersections Festival.

February in DC is typically one of those months you might be tempted to spend indoors. The mercury rarely climbs as high as you’d like, and the blanket and couch can seem quite alluring. But give into that urge, and you’ll miss out on a lot of great local offerings.

Intersections Arts Festival at the Atlas
Undoubtedly, the biggest event coming to the H Street Northeast Corridor in February is the Intersections Arts Festival at the Atlas Performing Arts Center. I recently spoke with Artistic Director Mary Hall Surface about the festival’s many attractions. I have to say up front that the breadth of offerings is extremely impressive. They truly have something for everyone. Surface said a major focus behind the festival is to bring together artists and audiences of all ages, races and cultures, and to then discover how and where our lives intersect. As a result, the organizers worked with a mandate to bring together artists from different traditions, organizations that have never collaborated, and a diverse mix of dance, theater, film, music and spoken word performances.

Some performances will seek to bridge generational gaps. The familiar Capital City Symphony (www.capitalcitysymphony.org) will perform with the DC Youth Orchestra (www.dcyop.org). Others will feature artists moving out of their comfort zones to try something new. Grammy-nominated rapper Christylez Bacon (www.christylez.com) is working with a playwright to create a “hip hopera.” If that isn’t your style, you can catch folk singer Tom Chapin’s (www.tomchapin.com) performance.

In total, the festival features over 35 different groups and over 500 artists. Over half of those artists and groups have never performed at the Atlas, but all are based in the DC metro area. This means that they will bring new audiences to the Atlas, and every new audience member is a potential ongoing patron for the H Street Corridor. To help bring the audience into the larger corridor, the Atlas is working with H Street restaurants to offer discounts to festival attendees and vice versa.

The festival, which runs over the three weekends from Feb. 19 through March 7, will also feature three late-night dance parties, where revelers can enjoy the artistic stylings of various performers. There is also a family day on Feb. 20. The organizers are very excited and hope to make the festival an annual tradition at the Atlas.

Tickets are mostly $10-$15. The most expensive are $40. Some are $5, and many are free. There is also a full easypass available for $300 that grants you admission to every event. Single weekend easypasses are available for $150. For more information and tickets, visit www.intersectionsdc.org or call 202-399-7993. The Atlas is located at 1333 H St. NE.

Valentine’s Events on H Street
The H Street Country Club (1335 H St. NE, www.thehstreetcountryclub.com) is offering a special three-course Mexican meal with wine or a pitcher of margaritas for $80 for two people. Diners can also order a la carte from the Country Club’s traditional Mexican menu. The purchase of two entrees per couple entitles you to half-price bottles of selected wines and a free round of mini golf.

Granville Moore’s (1238 H St. NE, www.granvillemoores.com) is planning a special beer dinner with a Belgian flair.

I expect that the Argonaut (1433 H St. NE, www.argonautdc.com) will also offer a special menu for the evening, but no details were available at press time.

New or Notable Happenings at Familiar Places
The Argonaut (1433 H St. NE, www.argonautdc.com) recently began running an every-Thursday-night family style southern fried chicken special with traditional sides (the regular menu will also be available). Head down with friends or family to take advantage of the pricing that gets better as you order more chicken.

The Pug (1236 H St. NE, 202-388-8554) celebrates its third anniversary Feb. 13 with a fundraiser for the Lustgarten Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. Stop by and raise a pint for a good cause. A $20 donation at the door gets you unlimited drafts for two hours.

Local Middle Eastern eatery Souk (1208 H St. NE, souk-dc.com) recently applied for a new liquor license. Down the street, patrons of Taylor Gourmet (1116 H St. NE, www.taylorgourmet.com) can now sample the newly introduced roast pork sandwich, but get there early. When I stopped by on MLK Day, they had sold out of the roast pork.

Arrivals and Departures
A friend recently advised me to check out the newly opened carryout Sullivan’s Southern Style Seafood (1110 Bladensburg Road NE). I tried the fried clam strips and the shrimp po-boy. The clam strips were tasty, and the po-boy promised to induce many a future craving. The prices are slightly higher than you might expect for a carryout, but the freshness and quality of the food explains why. This is real restaurant food that just happens to be served at a carryout.

Industry Gallery (1358 Florida Ave. NE, Second Floor, industrygallerydc.com) is the newest addition to the H Street Corridor’s burgeoning arts scene. The gallery focuses on 21st century design and is located immediately above Conner Contemporary (1358 Florida Ave. NE, www.connercontemporary.com).

Toyland (421 H St. NE), the new bar I mentioned last month, may be open by the time this goes to press. I stopped by a soft opening the other night, and I think people will be impressed. The space seems larger than it did as Pap and Petey’s, and there is plenty of comfortable seating.