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Participants press for federal legalization of marijuana at the National Cannabis Festival on April 20, 2019. (Photo by Chester Simpson)
“To me, pot is just fun. And I’m glad to see the rest of the country is coming around to my way of seeing things,” Keith Richards said in interview in Rolling Stone magazine Sept. 3, 2015. Keith would have enjoyed the National Cannabis Festival at RFK Stadium on April 20.
Las Cafeteras (Photo courtesy of Las Cafeteras)
The LA-based chicano band, Las Cafeteras, performs free at the National Museum of the American Indian on Sunday, October 30th as part of the Mexican Dia de Los Muertos festival, featuring other performances, demos and artists. The Smithsonian Latino Center hosts the weekend-long festival.
Las Cafeteras will play at the museum’s Potomac Atrium at 3:30pm.
Las Cafeteras mix a variety of musical styles, new and old, for a unique blend of sounds and storytelling. Notably son jarocho, a folk music style from Veracruz, Mexico.
Watch them perform live at Seattle’s KEXP, including their infectious take on “La Bamba Rebelde”. And yes, that is a giant mandible doubling as a musical instrument!
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQsJniWQadM]
The band members are Denise Carlos, Leah Gallegos, Daniel French, David Flores, Hector Flores and Jose Cano.
Las Cafeteras
National Museum of the American Indian
Sunday, October 30, 2016
3:30-4:30pm
Free
All ages
Captain Cookie will be at Curbside Cookoff 2016 (Photo Credit: majunznk)
This year’s Curbside Cookoff takes place at Storey Park in NoMa. A veritable feast of food truck options, Curbside Cookoff seeks to give you food and entertainment while supporting a good cause, No Kid Hungry.
Besides food trucks and drinks, come out for the live music, vendors, artists and more.
Get your tickets now. A general entry ticket gets you entry and four tastings and a drink.
Curbside Cookoff 2016
Storey Park (NoMa)
Saturday, October 15, 2016
11am-4pm
$0-55
All ages (21+ to drink)
Kick the Food History Festival off right with “Cookies and Kindness with Dorie Greenspan” (Photo Credit: thethrillstheyyield)
The Smithsonian hosts its annual Food History Festival on Saturday, October 29th at the National Museum of American History, while also offering other pre-events to get you in the mood. Plus an after hours beer event on ‘The Great History of American Brewing’.
Thursday, October 27th
The Food History Gala: A seated dinner and fundraiser.
Friday, October 28th
Roundtables: A day of moderated discussions on the ‘politics’ of food and health.
Dine Out: Afterwards, almost 30 restaurants in DC and VA will offer a special dish inspired by American food history. Learn more here.
Saturday, October 29th
Food History Festival: Live demonstrations, talks, book signings and other ways to learn about food and its history in our country. Find the full schedule of the Food History Festival here.
The Great History of American Brewing ($40): Taste beers, try food and learn a bit of history over four historical tales. Breweries include Alewerks, Heavy Seas and Bluejacket, along with New Columbia Distillers. Get tickets here.
Smithsonian Food History Weekend
Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
Thursday-Saturday, October 27-29, 2016
Festival: October 29 (10am-5:30pm)
Free (The Great History of American Brewing and the Gala require tickets)
All ages
View of H Street NE (Photo by IntangibleArts)
This year’s H Street Festival takes place on Saturday, September 17th and will feature over 250 vendors, plying their food, drinks, wares and activities.
It will span a lengthy 10 blocks (bigger every year) between 4th St. NE and 14th St. NE.
Look out for the music, the beer gardens, a pie eating contest, dance performances, fashion shows, a DC Comics superhero costume contest and much more.
The festival won Washington City Paper’s Best Community Festival six years running. It does get quite crowded, with estimates of 125,000 adventurers from last year!
There is also a handy app from H Street Main Street you can download, to ensure you don’t miss anything. Search for and download ‘H Street Main Street’ from the iTunes App Store or Google Play.
UPDATE on 9/15/16: The Festival app has been updated with performance/music stage locations, lineups and times. Looks like there will be nine stages and something for everyone. Download the app now. You can also find the schedule of performances here.
H Street Festival 2016
H Street NE (between 4th St. and 14th St. blocks)
Saturday, September 17, 2016
12:00-7:00pm
Free (pay for food, drink and shopping)
All ages
DC likes dogs (Fala @ FDR Memorial)
Woofstock, presented by Barkly (a dog-walking service app) and The Big Bad Wolf (a pet retail store based in the DC area), comes to the DC Pavilion on Saturday, August 6th.
Music, food trucks, beer from RavenBeer in Baltimore, giveaways and a pet adoption event!
If you love dogs, you better head over there. Bring the pup!
You can also buy the event t-shirt here.
Music will include Party Like It’s…. and DJ Deviir. Food trucks include Smoking Kow BBW and Captain Cookie among others.
May the woof be with you.
Woofstock 2016
DC (Gallaudet) Pavilion near Union Market (1399 5th St NE, Washington, District of Columbia 20002)
Saturday, August 6, 2016
3-7pm
$5 (Dogs free)
All ages
Medellín, Colombia – come on in. (Photo Credit: Jeremy Bailey)
¡Viva Colombia!
DC will get the chance to indulge in the tastes and sounds of Colombia on Sunday, July 17th.
Come down to the DC (Gallaudet) Pavilion near Union Market for the International Colombian Festival. Colombian music, dancing, art and plenty of tasty food!
The festival will feature a series of bands from Colombia and a beauty pageant.
If it gets anything like Parque Lleras in Medellín, it should be a good time. If the food is anything like bandeja paisa, it should be amazing.
Bandeja paisa
International Colombian Festival 2016
DC (Gallaudet) Pavilion near Union Market (1399 5th St NE, Washington, District of Columbia 20002)
Sunday, July 17
10am-7pm
$15 (VIP $35)
All ages (children under 10 free)
While you’re pondering what to have for lunch, remember that Saturday, October 24th, The Smithsonian will host a Food History Festival at The National Museum of American History.
What is a Food History Festival?
Well, expect lots of live cooking demonstrations (innovating salsas and guacamole or Oaxacan cooking, anyone?), book signings from authors of a culinary persuasion, agricultural displays, hands-on activities at the Spark!Lab and the Victory Garden, and a few film screenings and discussions. The documentary film, Farmland, following six young American farmers looks to be interesting.
Check out the full schedule.
Even if you don’t like food (please, you love it), this still affords you the excuse to visit The National Museum of American History once again!
The Smithsonian Food History Festival
The National Museum of American History
Saturday, October 24
10:00am-5:30pm
Free
All ages
Tacos are good (Far East Taco Grill)
Food Trucks were all the rage in 2011 and 2012. And as some of the good ones came and went (like the Fojol Brothers’ three trucks) and new ones took their place, the allure of newness, the beat of a trend started to fade.
Just because food trucks aren’t the latest and greatest fad, doesn’t mean there aren’t still good eating options available.
Quite the opposite. Many of the food trucks parlayed their success into brick and mortar establishments. Like DC Empanada and TaKorean at Union Market or Chupacabra Taqueria or Sol Mexican Grill on H Street NE or Far East Taco Grill on the edge of Capitol Hill NE. Hint: Tacos. Invest in tacos.
There is no better forum to explore the current crop of food trucks in one place then at the monthly Truckaroo festival held at the Fairgrounds (near Nationals Park). Even though the Nationals’ season has ended, there is still at least one reason to head down to this SE neighborhood.
This Friday, October 9, marks the last Truckaroo of 2015.
Don’t miss out. There will be music and games and look for some of the good options among the 20+ trucks, like:
and one I’m curious about: Urban Poutine.
Truckaroo
Fairgrounds (M St and Half St SE) near the Nationals Park
Friday, October 9
11am-11pm
Free Admission (pay for food and beverages)
All ages
Teddy flys in for the Nationals’ Opening Day
Monday, April 6, marks the glorious return of Major League Baseball and the Washington Nationals.
Has it really been 5 months since Game 7 of the World Series? Did the damn Giants really win it all again?
The Nationals have bolstered their pitching staff to such a degree, they have to be the odds on favorite to make the World Series this year. Seriously; Strasburg, Zimmermann, Scherzer, Fister and Gonzalez…this will be a fun year. Especially if Bryce Harper finally comes into his own at the plate.
Let’s celebrate. On a school night.
Bluejacket is here to help. They are hosting a free Opening Day Fest from 11:00am-4:00pm at Lot O, next to Yards Park and the Trapeze school, on Monday, April 6. Note: The Nationals opener against the Mets starts at 4:05pm.
There will be a batting cage, a fast pitch booth, corn-hole, live music and some family friendly games.
Bluejacket will offer eight of their beers. This includes two new ones, Goldfinch (a hoppy Belgian blond ale) and Swirl (a sour strawberry brown ale). I don’t know how I feel about Swirl yet, it sound both amazing and unlikely at the same time. Let’s find out.
There will also be food, like burgers, sausages (from Red Apron Butcher), and brioche doughnuts and fried chicken sandwiches (from GBD). Okay!
It is free to enter, but the food, drinks and games will cost between $7-10. You can also buy a package deal in advance, which includes games, food and beer.
Opening Day Fest by Bluejacket
Lot O (next to Bluejacket and directly behind the Trapeze School at 4th & Tingey St. SE)
Monday, April 6
11:00am-4:00pm
Free admission (with $7-10 food and drink)
or the advance Triple Play Package ($30)
All ages (bring ID to consume alcohol)