For the third year in a row, Washingtonians will have the chance to explore many of the city’s cultural treasures and historical neighborhoods as part of D.C. Open House, which takes place Oct. 4 and 5.

Presented by Cultural Tourism D.C. and its members, D.C. Open House will feature more than 30 free walking tours and free admission at more than 50 cultural and arts organizations and museums.

Among the highlights will be walking tours of Capitol Hill, U Street and Georgetown; free admission to the National Museum of Women in the Arts, the Kreeger Museum and the Black Fashion Museum; and an opportunity to explore — by bike or foot — the Potomac River shoreline as part of the two-day-long Washington Ridge Crossing.

During D.C. Open House, the City Museum will serve as the event’s welcome center — from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day — and provide information about the District’s attractions.

For a complete listing of events and times, go to www.DCOpenHouse.org.

Press Club Auctions Cartoons for Charity

Tonight’s National Press Club event is being called the biggest joke auction in town — and the club is taking it as a compliment.

With more than 150 cartoons donated by 120 artists, this year’s Cartoons & Cocktails event is set to be the largest auction in the event’s 16-year history.

The charity event features a live and silent auction of signed original works donated by top political cartoonists from across the country. Hosted by National Press Club President Tammy Lytle and 2003 Pulitzer Prize Cartoonist David Horsey of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, the event will run from 6 to 9 p.m. tonight at the National Press Club, 529 14th St. NW. The silent auction will begin at 6 p.m., with the live auction starting at 7 p.m.

One returning feature of the evening will be a “live drawing” during which cartoonists are given a surprise subject and about an hour to draw a cartoon on the spot. These cartoons will make up the final auction of the night.

“It’s great fun,” said event Chairwoman Carol Knopes. “They all borrow each others’ pencils and try to out-do each other … it’s kind of a cartoon slam.”

Proceeds from the event will be split among Young D.C., an independent monthly newspaper by and for D.C., Maryland and Virginia teens, National Press Club Scholarships and the Cartoonist Rights Network, an organization that aides international political cartoonists who face threats, imprisonment or even death for their work.

Some of this year’s featured cartoonists are Tom Toles of the Washington Post, 2000 Pulitzer Prize Winner Ann Telnaes and Bob Englehart of the Hartford Courant. Auctioneers include Al Hunt of The Wall Street Journal and Mark Plotkin of WTOP radio.

Tickets are available at the door for $35. For more information, call (703) 284-2823.

— Bree Hocking and John McArdle