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The Lady Raiders Step Squad perform at the DC Funk Parade on May 12, 2018. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
After being forced to cancel the 2020 Funk Parade, The MusicianShip announced it is bringing the festival back for 2021 with a hybrid experience.
With a timeline for widespread vaccine access still uncertain, Funk Parade will forego its traditional Parade, Day Festival, and Night Festival in favor of virtual and smaller, socially-distanced events.
A reveler leads a march in the Funk Parade on May 11, 2019. (Photo by Mark Caicedo)
The rain started before it ended — but just barely. The “it” in this case being DC’s annual Funk Parade and Festival, which took place last weekend along the city’s U Street corridor. A celebration of music, art, dance, and community, the Funk Parade, now in its sixth year, adopted #DontMuteDC as its theme for 2019.
A wood thrush! (Photo by Trish Gussler)
Parklife DC will honor DC bands and venues with our inaugural awards program, named for our new mascot, DC’s own state bird — the Wood Thrush. Our Thrushie Awards are inspired by our mission to review live music concerts.
The Funk Parade March, free and open to the public, rolls down U Street NW, DC, on May 6, 2017. (Photo by John Sonderman)
Editor’s Note: Funk Parade recent introduced a general festival wristband, providing priority entry into select evening music venues during its showcase on May 12. Funk Parade also will host its first-ever Featured Showcase at the Lincoln Theatre, featuring Ari Lennox, Mannywellz, and more.
Buy the General Music Fest Wristband online here, and buy your tickets to the Lincoln Theatre Showcase online here.
For other details, Parklife DC presents the full text of a press release issued by Funk Parade on Thursday below.
Revelers dance at the Main Stage of Funk Parade 2017. (Photo by John Sonderman)
Editor’s note: Parklife DC was glad to receive word Friday that the fifth annual Funk Parade will proceed on Saturday, May 12, after being rescued by a massive-last minute fundraising effort. We present the official press release from Funk Parade in its entirety below. Visit www.funkparade.com for all details!
Washington, DC — It’s on.
The 5th Annual Funk Parade will happen Saturday, May 12, after last-minute fundraising raised over $60,000 in just a few weeks. Organizers had announced March 6 the event was unlikely to take place because of a massive budget shortfall.
The 2017 Funk Parade marches through the city on May 6, 2017. (Photo by Ted Eytan)
The following press release was published by Funk Parade on March 11. Parklife DC shares it in its entirety in support of Funk Parade’s crowdfunding effort.
A longstanding DC music institution has stepped in to help save a new one.
Chuck Levin’s Washington Music Center, the independent music and equipment retail giant which has called the DC area home for 60 years, has pledged to match new crowdfunding contributions to save the DC Funk Parade. The campaign can be found at https://www.youcaring.com/funkparade.
Members of Batala Percussion band performing at 2014 Funk Parade in DC on May 3, 2014 (Photo by Pabak Sarkar)
The second annual Funk Parade promises to be even funkier than the first.
The street and music festival certainly impressed enough people in its inaugural year to convince Mayor Muriel Bowser to close U Street NW on Saturday, May 2 for the daylong festival.
“The U Street Funk Parade embodies the spirit of the District,” said Mayor Bowser in a press release on April 3. “It brings our communities together and honors the city’s cultural heritage that we’ve all come to know and love.”
The Funk Parade organizers sought to close down U Street for their parade last year as well, but they were denied by then-Mayor Vince Grey. With this year’s closing, U Street will shut down for the first time in 17 years, according to reports.
“We’re grateful to the city and Mayor Muriel Bowser for acknowledging U Street’s historic significance to the District as the soul of music, culture and celebration, a place that’s unlike anywhere else in the city,” said Justin Rood, co-founder of Funk Parade, in the press release.
Rood and fellow co-founder Chris Naoum of Listen Local First have been running an Indiegogo campaign to raise $15,000 for the Funk Parade. As of this morning, it has raised roughly $9,300 toward that goal with only four days of fundraising remaining.
The organizes estimate last year’s Funk Parade drew more than 25,000 participants with more than 100 hours of music programming from more than four dozen acts in 30 locations throughout the day. The literal Funk Parade marched down V Street NW last year after Grey denied its application to march down U Street.
Funk Parade activities planned for May 2 include a day fair, the parade, and a music festival.
The following info is from the Funk Parade Indiegogo site:
Day Fair (12-5pm): Before the parade, the neighborhood will host a day fair, full of music, dance, art, and spontaneous acts of soul and creativity. It’s a chance to gather and celebrate and prepare for the mighty parade!
The Main Event – Funk Parade (5-7pm): See dancers, your friends and neighbors, a marching band behind them, and a drum corps. See costumes and getups and shiny things. Hear beat-boxers and junkyard drummers. See pot-bangers and clappers and kids on their parents’ shoulders. Horn players wander in and out of the crowd. A thunderous syncopated procession of groove, winding its way through the neighborhood, calling the city to the funk.
Music Festival (7-10pm): After the parade winds down, the U Street neighborhood’s historic venues open their doors for the city to hear some of the best music DC has to offer. One night, one city, one groove: the subatomic particle of love.
The Funk Parade
U Street Corridor
Saturday, May 2
12-10pm
Free
All ages
