Everyone in D.C. Gets a Passport This May
This morning in Explorer's Hall at the National Geographic Museum, Cultural Tourism DC announced the inaugural program of Passport DC. Working with a laundry list of partners, they've organized D.C.'s embassies, museums and cultural centers together to host street fairs, dance and music performances, food tastings, and art exhibits that show off foreign cultures from around the world, from May 3 - 17.
As Linda Harper, the Executive Director of CTDC describes it, the idea sprung to their minds while Mayor Adrian Fenty was campaigning for office and repeatedly told us how he believed Washington could be "a world class city." Harper and her crew said in reply, "But it is!" She noted that in addition to all the embassies, there are over 400 international associations, 700 international companies, not to mention the World Bank, IMF, and more than 20,000 foreign students in the metro area, so we're long overdue for a cultural festival that celebrates all of that.
Passport DC's cornerstone will be the annual EU Open House on May 3, which last year boasted 35,000 visitors in the six hour-long event, and will kick off the two week schedule. Other major activities include the International Children's Festival, a family oriented day of cultural activities on May 10, and the National Asian Heritage Festival, with martial arts demos, musical and art performances, and a lion dance competition, which will bring Passport DC to a close on May 17. This is in addition to exhibits on Japanese architecture, Indian dance, Russian figurines, and even a photographic exhibit of American jazz legends and how they acted as ambassadors worldwide.
One of the event's major purposes is bringing people inside the embassies we all walk by every day. Even living in the area, it can be tough to know when programming is going on and if it's open to the public -- and even when you find something, you have to overcome all the intimidation that goes with entering a hall where high-powered diplomats broker deals that change the face of the international landscape over afternoon tea. At the same time, embassies themselves have a hard time publicizing their events outside of a regular scene. CTDC hopes that Passport DC will be that "matchmaker" that finally brings the people, residents and tourists alike, and cultural events under the same roof.
The full list of programming is still in the works (the events aren't even on their web site yet). Organizations have until February 25 to sign up for the event -- Harper noted that three more just signed on this morning, and encouraged anyone involved with an international group to jump on the wagon. But if you're interested in seeing the kind of events CTDC comes up with, you can check out the ongoing Warm Up to a Museum series that continues throughout February.