The Adams Morgan community will celebrate its culture and diversity this weekend with its 30th annual Adams Morgan Day Festival. Adams Morgan Main Street, a coalition that works to keep Adams Morgan alive and vibrant, will host the event from noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.
AU students are already very familiar with the wonders of Adams Morgan and its nightlife, but this festival gives students the opportunity to see Adams Morgan in another light. AMMS has put together an extremely diverse performance lineup, coupled with mainly local vendors and artists, all of which will be packing 18th Street N.W., between Columbia Road and Florida Avenue, with a cultural overflow.
AMMS Executive Director Janet Lugo-Tafur said she thinks the festival is representative of the neighborhood diversity.
"Our goal is always to promote our quarter and find projects that will improve our neighborhood. The festival is one of those," she said.
Over 30,000 are expected to attend this year's more than 100 hours of programmed entertainment, hand-selected from the best of D.C., Lugo-Tafur said.
"We really try to make sure we represent local D.C. artists," said said. "We have different mediums of art, plus we ... choose only the best we can of local bands first."
The day starts off early with "Arts on Belmont," which begins at 10 a.m. on Belmont Road off of 18th Street. Belmont will be packed with ceramics, woodwork, glasswork, art. Shoppers can also expect to see jewelry and photography along the sidewalks outside the neighborhood's row houses until 7 p.m. The vendors are changed each year, and competition is increasing to get in. Set up throughout the main street will be various stages, paying tribute to the cultural hotspot of D.C. The performers will be mainly Adams Morgan locals, since the area boasts some of D.C.'s best talents, Lugo-Tafur said. The spots that were not filled by locals went to D.C. bands, giving visitors a chance to see D.C.'s up-and-coming scene.
Garrett Harkins, a sophomore in the School of International Service, said he thinks the festival sounds intriguing.
"I think it's an interesting way to see the culture of Washington, D.C., while having fun with friends at the same time," he said. "And, it's free."
Attendees have multiple options for entertainment. The Columbia Stage, located at 18th Street and Columbia Road, will feature bands hourly starting at 11:15 a.m. The music genres include everything one could hope for: rock, soul, hip-hop, funk. And if that isn't enough, one can check out the Florida Stage, located at 18th and Vernon Street.
The Florida Stage offers instrumental music, featuring salsa, jazz and reggae, among other genres. This stage represents another group of cultures from the former, boasting bands such as Clube Do Samba, Movimiento and Orquesta La Leyenda. These performances continue from noon to 6 p.m.
While one would assume two stages with differing performances could represent Adams Morgan, AMMS doesn't agree. There will also be a "Jazz Oasis" taking place at Kalorama Park all day, if one is looking for a more quiet area or are just a big fan of jazz. Close by on Euclid Street is the appropriately named "Cultural Plaza," where there will be indie groups, flamenco dancing, drum circles and anything else you couldn't find in the other areas.
There will also be a dance plaza, located on the basketball courts at Marie Reed School. Irish dancers, belly dancers, salsa dancers, tribal dancers - they're all an aspect of Adams Morgan's culture, and they'll all be there. With 10 diverse dance acts scheduled, visitors can stop by anytime between 11:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. The performers encourage participation from the audience with welcoming beats and even a few dance workshops.
All that dancing is sure to make one hungry, but there's certainly no need to despair. On top of a street where there are restaurants to fulfill any craving, there is an original assortment of food vendors at your service. One will find not only the classic Adams Morgan restaurants but also many vendors representing the cuisine of nations worldwide.
Lugo-Tafur said she expects a great number of college students among the crowds Sunday to take advantage of the free entertainment and get a glimpse of Adams Morgan's cultural wonders.
"We get a lot of college students that attend," she said. "You can find all this within a five block radius: over 200 vendors and over 100 hours of combined entertainment from noon to 7 p.m."
You can reach this staff writer at kboghosian@theeagleonline.com.
