Fire dancers Photo courtesy of the DC Department of Local and Small Business Development
The message is clear: DC is open: get outside and rediscover the city. We’re talking open until 3 in the morning.
DC Art all night, the District’s free nocturnal arts festival, is back in full swing for its 11th year. This year’s two-night event will take place on 22 high streets across the eight boroughs from 7pm to 3am on Friday 23 September and Saturday 24 September.
Look for expressions of all kinds from over 100 artists, including visual art, music, theatre, craft, fashion and poetry, plus a touch of the elements in the form of ice sculptures and fire dancers. There will also be local businesses and restaurant vendors.
“It’s the coolest party you didn’t know the government put on,” says Kristi Whitfield, director of the DC Department of Local and Small Development, which partnered with the DC Arts and Humanities Commission, the DC Public Libraries DC, the main streets of DC. programs, and several local BIDs to organize the event.
Organizers say Art All Night is a way to encourage local artists and encourage residents to get excited about the city after two difficult years and the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. “For many of the aisles where we hold this event, it’s the highest sales night they’ve had this year,” says Whitfield. “It comes out because it’s funky, it comes out because it’s fun. And you might see something you’ve never seen before.”
Musicians on H Street, northeast. The Dupont Underground Market. A go-go band outside the MLK library. Bounce houses and face painting for kids. How to decide where to go?
The only downside to this schedule, Whitfield says, is that there’s no way to do it all. “I will tell you that every year I complete my Art All Night trip to Congress Heights, because the music is absolutely incredible.”
“Art saves lives,” says Keyonna Jones, executive director of the Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center, in the 2021 Art All Night summary. video.
Jones was born and raised in DC, east of the Anacostia River. “I grew up as an outsider because there was never any space or anything really, that fed the hunger of a creative. So I didn’t even know I was a creative back then.”
Jones founded the Cultural Center in 2015, which has been a must-see stop during Art All Night for the past few years. This weekend, the center will host a silent disco, evening rooftop yoga, workshops, photo exhibitions and music. A children’s area, complete with a pony, with its partnership with The STAND foundation, is planned from 6 to 10 p.m., which will give way to what Jones calls “adult presentation time.”
“It’s so big, so inclusive and diverse, we have so much going on in the middle of the street all night; it is also one of our safest holidays. And I think that’s really important for our community and just because of the relationship of our neighborhood that we can really enjoy who we are, being ourselves, our music, our culture, our art,” says Jones. “It’s just a big party and [there’s] nothing like that.”
Find the full list of events, activations and maps at DCArtAllNight.org
