If you need any more signs that things are going back to normal, look no further than the swarms of people returning to outdoor music festivals in D.C. over the next three weekends.
And while music is front and center at the National Cannabis Festival, Project Glow and Broccoli City Festival, a strong lineup of tunes is no longer enough to reel people in. These day- and weekend-long festivals, all of which are taking place on consecutive weekends starting April 23 at the Festival Grounds at RFK Stadium (2400 East Capitol St. SE), are teeming with “experiences,” “installations” and “activations.”
This year, festival-goers will get to sample food from big-name chefs from some of the area’s finest restaurants, immerse themselves in art exhibitions or take part in wellness activities — all before they get to a day of chilling while listening to old, current and future favorites.
For those focused on the music at these festivals, the array of talent is as strong as ever. In addition to some of the globally renowned artists who will perform over the next few weekends, these locally organized festivals will highlight the best this region has to offer, including go-go luminaries, soulful R&B, and up-and-coming techno and house DJs. Here’s what to expect.
National Cannabis Festival
Like many policy people around D.C., Caroline Phillips wanted to make a difference. Phillips was working in human rights advocacy until 2015 or so, when she and her hometown were presented with a new policy challenge to confront: the legalization of marijuana.
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While there’s still plenty of hand-wringing over it (see the ongoing debate about “gifting” shops), Phillips is focused more on ensuring equity in who gets to profit from such sales. She recalls being moved by activist movements such as MTV’s famous “Rock the Vote” campaign, so she and her organizing team of primarily women of color figured the best way to get the message out about the disparity in the world of weed was to throw a party.
The National Cannabis Festival started in 2016 and has taken place annually (it took 2020 off due to the pandemic) at the grounds at RFK. More than seven years after D.C. residents voted to legalize possession of marijuana, you might assume you’d be able to smoke or otherwise consume it at a festival that celebrates the leafy green plant, but Congress still prohibits legal sales in the city, and things remain complicated.
The marquee portion of the weekend will be on April 23, and will still be your best bet to find carefree communion with other enthusiasts as you enjoy music and all the usual festival fun. But if you want more information to untangle what’s going on with marijuana in D.C., check out the National Cannabis Policy Summit at the Ronald Reagan Building on April 22 (10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; free with registration), where activists and policymakers will discuss the present and future of marijuana in the city. Or if you’re less interested in the bureaucracy of it all, head to the National Cannabis Championship at Echostage on April 24 ($55). There will be an awards show honoring the finest growers in the Mid-Atlantic accompanied by a performance from rapper Slick Rick.
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The festival has hosted a reliable mix of big names in hip-hop such as De La Soul and Talib Kweli, and this year brings in Wiz Khalifa and Ghostface Killah and places them alongside a wide-ranging lineup of local bands including D.C. go-go legend Backyard Band, which has played every iteration of the festival.
“They’re the first go-go band I ever saw live,” Phillips says. “Being able to put them onstage was very meaningful because we believe that go-go music is the heartbeat of our city. And we believe that go-go music should be on every stage of every festival in this city.”
In addition to the music going on all day, you can look forward to this year’s biggest addition to the fittingly named munchies zone: a culinary pavilion that features talks and food from chefs behind some of the hottest spots around the city, including Darnell Thomas of Maydan and Kevin Tien of Moon Rabbit. While there will be some finer dining options, attendees will also find the return of eating contests including ice cream, hot dogs and pizza, or exclusive DC Brau beers made for the occasion such as Legalize It Lager and Smells Like Freedom IPA. (In compliance with city laws, you won’t be able to purchase or consume any cannabis or THC-infused edibles.)
April 23 at noon. nationalcannabisfestival.com. $85.
Project Glow
Glow has been spreading the gospel of electronic dance music in D.C. since 1999, giving trance and house fans early tastes of Tiesto, Armin van Buuren and Paul van Dyk. Its founders threw special events at the D.C. Armory, with headliners including Avicii, before opening Echostage a decade ago. In 2021, DJ Magazine readers voted the Northeast D.C. club the top venue in the world.
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But when Glow has been involved in large outdoor events, its organizers have looked outside of D.C.: to Jiffy Lube Live, where Glow worked with Live Nation for the Identity Festival, or to Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course for the Moonrise Festival, which returns this August for the first time since 2019. A performance by Tiesto in the parking lot of Love, a now-closed nightclub in Ivy City, is as close as they’ve come to an open-air festival in Glow’s hometown. “It’s hard to find spaces here,” says Pete Kalamoutsos, Glow’s co-founder and CEO. “A lot of it is federal land.” So when the chance came to hold an event at the city-managed Festival Grounds, Glow leapt at the opportunity. “I wanted to do something in D.C. proper,” Kalamoutsos says. “I think it’s long overdue. This has been 20 years in the making.”
In 2020, Glow was acquired by Insomniac Events, the national production company behind major EDM festivals Electric Daisy Carnival in Las Vegas and Beyond Wonderland, held most recently in California and Washington state, and known for its extravagant stages and immersive settings. Insomniac has putting on festivals “down to a science,” Kalamoutsos says. “Normally, at a festival, whatever’s onstage is what you’re getting in terms of an experience — maybe there’s an LED wall, that’s it. What makes Insomniac so unique is all the attention to detail they put on, with decor and transporting you to a different world when you enter the site.”
Project Glow’s layout includes two main stages — the Eternal Stage and the Pulse Stage — and Unity Square, which features vendors, art installations, a Ferris wheel and the Boombox Art Car, a boombox-shaped stage for up-and-coming and local talent. The lineup features 30 performers per day among the three stages, and a spectrum of performers that includes bigger names like Diplo, Above and Beyond, and Martin Garrix, and artists on the verge, such as John Summit and locals Late London b2b Misha. The festival has teamed with local organization GOODProjects to help the community: Volunteers who participate in neighborhood cleanups and other activities can earn tickets to Project Glow.
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There are pre- and post-parties planned, too. Echostage has Slander booked for a pre-party Friday night, and after-parties with Diplo on Saturday and Martin Garrix and Justin Mylo on Sunday. Soundcheck, Echostage’s intimate sister venue downtown, hosts James Hype on Thursday, Walker and Royce the night before the festival, Whethan after the festival on Saturday and John Summit on Sunday night.
Project Glow has been more than a year in the making, Kalamoutsos says, but he’s not planning to slow down after it’s over. “We’re going to do another Project Glow this year on the East Coast,” he says, without giving specifics. “It will be announced after the festival.”
April 30-May 1 from 1 to 11 p.m. projectglowfest.com. $90-$285.
Broccoli City Festival
You might not have expected one of D.C.’s finest annual music festivals to have sprung from a holiday — much less one you’re more likely to forget than to observe. But Broccoli City Festival, which has brought loaded lineups of the best and brightest in hip-hop, rap and R&B to D.C., took its inspiration from Earth Day.
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It all makes sense when you see the calendar of wellness events that co-founders Darryl Perkins, Jermon Williams, Brandon McEachern and Marcus Allen surround their music festival with. Following the cancellation of the festival in 2020 and 2021, this year brings the return on May 6 of BroccoliCon, which is aimed at boosting financial literacy for aspiring Black entrepreneurs as well as learning about the environmental costs of business. Or if you want to get your exercise done before a weekend of hanging around and partying to the music, there will be the BC Fit Fest, which will feature activities including a 5K fun run and group yoga at the Anacostia Park skate pavilion on May 7.
“We didn’t see people that looked like us, talked like us, having conversations about environmental sustainability or community health,” says Perkins, who is Black. “At the same time, having fun doing it and know that our communities are impacted by environmental justice issues as well as health issues — so, how are we bringing attention to this and having a good time as well?
“The festival is great. … But it’s always about how are we shifting culture toward health, wellness and sustainability? So that was always the big picture for Broccoli City. How are we making it cool to be healthy? How are we making it cool to be active and engaged in your community?”
It’s easy to expand your focus when you’ve got the whole music thing pretty locked down. This year’s music lineup features a tight mix of local stars and upstarts including Ari Lennox, Rico Nasty and Alex Vaughn alongside global sensations such as Wizkid and Summer Walker.
May 7-8 at 1 p.m. (doors open both days). bcfestival.com. $109.50-$499.50.
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