WASHINGTON — Joe Biden’s aviator sunglasses likely won’t be far away Saturday night when the president cracks some jokes at the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner. But not everyone will be laughing during Washington’s yearly spectacle — even if “Dark Brandon” makes another appearance.

That’s Biden’s political alter ego, his team’s attempt to flip the conservative slogan “Let’s Go Brandon” on his foes. Biden ended his comedy set last year by slipping on his signature shades and pretending to morph into his edgier persona.

Official Washington will do the same Saturday evening, with reporters and officials trading their wrinkled business attire of comfortable shoes and coffee-stained shirts and blazers for sleek tuxedos and shimmering gowns. As thousands of dinner attendees fill the Washington Hilton’s massive ballroom, the sound of the clinking of glasses and plates will be matched only by the polite — and sometimes boozy — chitchat around hundreds of round tables with bright white tablecloths.

Much will be at stake as business deals are floated and potential sources are wooed. But the same will be the case for Biden and “Dark Brandon” as they take the lectern around 10 p.m.

On the one hand, Biden’s correspondents’ dinner set, as all annual presidential quip-fests are, will be intended to be light-hearted — while also landing some pointed rhetorical jabs on his political foes. Yet history suggests falling too deeply into the “Dark Brandon” persona could backfire.

“These appearances are about trying to deal with both the needs of the campaign and the appropriateness in the moment of issues related to the presidency,” said Martha Kumar of the Presidential Transition Project, who studies presidential relations with the press. “It’s a combination of a serious discussion of important issues and some levity.”

Here are three things to watch for during official Washington’s annual celebration of the First Amendment — and itself.

Protest posture?

From college campuses to the Supreme Court to some of Biden’s own events, protesters have been disrupting things for weeks. The president has taken to letting activists have their say, briefly. The event has seen protesters outside before, on a range of issues.

When asked several times Thursday by a reporter if the typical security deployment around the venue will be beefed up, a Washington Metropolitan Police Department spokeswoman did not point to any such plan.

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