For those taking part in the Washington social whirl leading up to the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner, it is helpful to know a few basic facts: There will be ample canapés and cocktails, and the occasional broken glass, at the parties before the big night; there will be plenty of television anchors, reporters and talking heads holding forth on current events; and, inevitably, you will run into Bill Nye, the science guy.

Mr. Nye, a Georgetown resident and affable advocate for all things scientific, was a fixture at the festivities in advance of Saturday’s dinner, which has been buffeted by a series of norm-breaking changes.

First came the unsurprising news that the Trump administration, including the president himself, had no intention of participating in the event. Then an appearance by the scheduled host, the comedian Amber Ruffin, was canceled after the association said it wanted to focus not on “the politics of division,” but on celebrating journalism — which is nice, but sounds like a lot less laughs.

But something funny happened on the way to the dinner being a bore: Not only did the parties continue in Washington, but they proliferated into a morning-to-midnight array of breakfasts, brunches and boozy bashes.