H St. Festival This Saturday

Photo Courtesy of VotePrime on Flickr

One of the best things about early autumn in DC is the neighborhood festivals that can be found pretty much every weekend around the city.  Obviously I’m biased, but I think the H St. Festival has really become one of the best ones around. Rather than offering your run- of-the-mill meat on a stick and face painting, the H St. Festival really highlights the permanent businesses in the neighborhood.

Things get started this Saturday at noon, and the fun continues until 6pm.  The Festival grounds are divided into four sections:  Urban Works (focusing on the redevelopment of H St.), Urban Wear (design and fashion), Urban Sports (a playground that, in addition to the more traditional moon bounce, will also feature a boxing ring and a climbing wall) and Urban Arts (including speed chess and 15 really cool art cars).  The Festival will stretch along H St. from 10th St. to 14th St.

One of the really neat things about the H St. Festival is that it is often the neighborhood’s first introduction to not-yet-opened restaurants which use the event to provide samples of what they’ll be offering when they do open.  This year is no exception and we can expect bites from a new Ethiopian restaurant, Curbside Cupcakes, Dangerously Delicious Pies and Toki Underground (the new dumpling and ramen shop going in above the Pug), among many others.  In addition, Aaron McGovern (owner of Russia House and the soon to be opened beer garden on H St.) will be on hand grilling sausages and pouring beers.

Of course, one of the biggest draws is the music, courtesy of the Rock n’ Roll Hotel, which The Hill is Home shared with you here.  The concert stage will be at the east end of the street or just head into the Hotel for more music, brought to you by Brightest Young Things.

And if that weren’t enough, H St. will be proving itself worthy of its designation as the Greenest Street in Washington, with DC Greenworks showing off its green roofs, rain barrels and rain gardens and bringing in Casey Trees and Fragers to create our own temporary urban forest!

This isn’t even half of everything that’s happening on Saturday, so make sure that you come out and support our local businesses this weekend!  For more information please check the Festival’s website which is being continually updated.

One last note about getting there: leave your car at home!  WABA is sponsoring a FREE bike valet at the H St. Connection at 10th and H.  This is a secure, indoor location for you to park your bike while you explore the festival.  In addition, there will be shuttle buses running from Chinatown/Union Station and from Barracks Row/Eastern Market from 11:30 am until 6 pm. The Hill is Home will have a transportation update later this week.