Drummers, Mediterranean music, karaoke, jewelry vendors, jazz, Indian food, belly dancing and a City Paper dunk tank are just a few of the attractions one will find at the Adams Morgan Day Festival, happening Sept. 10 from 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This is the 28th year for this cultural street festival, promoted as a celebration of the creativity and diversity of the Adams Morgan neighborhood and featuring three stages for musicians, dancers, drum troupes, actors and other performers. There is also a dance plaza, a kids' fair and a whole street of arts, crafts and ethnic food vendors. The events stretch down 18th Street between Florida Avenue and Columbia Road and are free for the public, rain or shine.
Many of the bands and performers are based in the Washington, D.C. area, or are made up of locals whose goals mirror that of the festival. Doc Powell, founder of the Malcolm X Drummers and Dancers that will perform in the dance plaza, said the group has performed with the festival for almost 25 years.
The troupe includes dancers from Trinidad, Nigeria and Washington, D.C., and was started in Malcolm X Park in Northwest D.C., where it can often be found performing and attracting an eclectic audience on Sunday afternoons.
"Some of us live in this area, so we are a local community group and we want to display our talents," Powell said. "Many of the people that come to the festival may not have seen this kind of cultural dance genre."
The Irish rock band Potato Famine, scheduled to perform on the cultural stage, is based in D.C. and says one of its main goals is to "spread the best aspects of Irish culture, hospitality, music and humor."
Most musical tastes should be satisfied by the many acts on the two largest stages. The stage on the Florida Avenue end of 18th Street will feature the Dance Institute of Washington and Caribbean, Brazilian, Latin, jazz and salsa artists throughout the day, while the Columbia Road stage will feature more rock and blues bands. There will be karaoke at the Peyote Caf? at 2319 18th St. for those who want to display their own skills, as well.
The basketball courts at the Marie Reed Community Learning Center on 18th Street will also be transformed into a dance plaza.
"It's not just for the performers, but for the public too," said Lisa Duperior, co-chair of this year's festival. "People just get up and start dancing."
The dance plaza will feature a belly dancing demonstration, a Panamanian folklore and dance group, and several D.C.-based groups, such as the Northeast Academy of Dance and the D.C. Dance Collective. Duperier said the dance plaza was first introduced last year and was "wildly popular" with the festival crowd.
The cultural stage on Euclid Street and Columbia Road will offer everything from the contemporary Christian rock of New Day to the Brazilian drum corps Samba Travao. This stage will also present a drum circle from the Sitar Center, a community art center for children.
Students who baby-sit can bring their charges by for the kids' fair near Marie Reed Community Learning Center. There will be a jester, a children's dance troupe, a magic show and Chinese dancers, as well as games like putt-putt golf and a moon bounce. The festival is also looking for volunteers to help set up and run the festival, especially the kids' fair.
Students who would like to volunteer should check the festival Web site at www.ammainstreet.org to get more details and to sign up.
DID YOU KNOW?
Adams Morgan is one of D.C.'s most thriving spots and rightly deserves a whole day celebrating its greatness. If the thought of just showing up on 18th Street with no game plan feels a little daunting, here is a crash course in everything you'll need to know to show up feeling like a pro.
-Adams Morgan now contains the second largest Salvadoran population in the U.S., as well as one of the largest Ethiopian populations in the region.
-At one point, Adams Morgan was an affluent neighborhood known for its proximity to Dupont Circle. During World War II, the row houses were used for boarding and the neighborhood slowly declined. Following desegregation, Adams Morgan suffered from "white flight" and became one of D.C.'s prominent non-white districts. Gentrification is taking care of that pesky little problem as we speak.
-Adams Morgan is known as D.C.'s equivalent to New York City's Greenwich Village.
-Bukom Caf?, an African restaurant and nightclub, features some of the tastiest goat meat this side of the Potomac, for relatively decent prices as well.
-Watch out while leaving a club, bar or restaurant after last call. Between the huddled masses yearning to eat Jumbo Slice or the frat guys armed in myriad striped button-down shirts, walking anywhere can be an obstacle course. Try walking in front of the cars (the "skateboarder's route") but steer clear of kamikaze cop cars. Also, despite how populated the neighborhood is with the collegiate crowd on a weekend night, the place can get moderately sketchy after 2:30 a.m.
-Idle Time Books is one of the few establishments not related to food along 18th Street. Be sure to drop by during Adams Morgan Day to check out the cream of the literary crop, plus nifty used books.
