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Photo courtesy of H Street Festival.
Discover the Secrets of H Street Festival on September 16
September 8, 2023 @ 10:44am
This year’s Northeast festival is teeming with the best of local arts, culture, food and drink.
Want to know the best hidden gem in D.C.? For many D.C. lovers, it’s the H Street Festival. Slated for September 16, this annual arts festival features music of different genres, dance, interactive children’s programs, fashion, heritage arts and more.
“It’s like opening presents on Christmas morning and seeing what’s inside the different boxes as you walk down the corridor,” says H Street Festival Coordinator and Main Street Special Projects Manager Wuiping Yap.
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Since launching 18 years ago, the H Street Festival has morphed from a small block party into a massive celebration with more than 150,000 attendees. Today, the festival stretches 11 blocks and spotlights new and veteran local businesses.
H Street itself has also seen a massive expansion. The corridor had many vacant commercial buildings that are now filled with new businesses and residential spots.
This mass influx of business, patrons and residents is partly attributable to the H Street Festival.
Every year, local companies, bands and buildings show off what they bring to the community. As attendees move throughout the event, they are introduced to new businesses they may not have seen before.
“I want [attendees] to come back days after the festival because this is not a one-day event,” says Anwar Saleem, H Street festival director and executive director of H Street Main Street. “We look at the festival as most opportunistic. So, yes, you can get that experience that day, and you may not need to frequent all the businesses because your stomach and eyes can only hold so much. But if you wish to see something [after the festival concludes], we hope you will think: ‘I remember I saw this business down here; let me go try it out,'”
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This year, get ready for one of the best festivals yet. More than 40 bands, including local musicians, will be performing. While exploring the festival’s different blocks, you can connect with vendors from around the area selling food and arts and crafts – some of whom are start-ups or home businesses.
“You can hop in and out of each place and have a drink, or just walk in and walk out without having the pressure of ‘Okay, I need to sit down here and eat a full meal,'” Yap says.
It is not only a way to connect businesses to patrons, but it also connects people who might not normally interact.
“Everybody deserves some sort of break, fun and entertainment,” Yap says. “That’s when you don’t have the class divide. You can make $200,000, you can have huge problems, and you still walk the H Street Festival and cross paths, peacefully. The H Street Festival [holds the potential for] major human connection.”
Even though the festival is only open a few hours on one day each year, it is one of the most anticipated neighborhood events in the area. Clear your calendars for September 16 and get ready to find your new favorite local businesses and create bonds with people from all over the DMV area – and, of course, H Street locals, too.
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The 2023 H Street Festival is slated for September 16 along the H Street Corridor in Northeast D.C. Learn more at hstreetfestival.org and follow them @hstfest.
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