Photo by s m.

In a party-pooping Facebook post on June 20, District residents learned that Adams Morgan Day would be cancelled this year. Last week, however, community business owners and residents rallied together to keep D.C.’s longest-running neighborhood festival alive and slated for Sept 13.

While the festival won’t be as grandiose as years past, it will still highlight the heart of the neighborhood. “We are getting creative and all ideas are on the table: A jumbo slice pizza-eating contest, drink specials, clowns and jugglers, musicians and mural painting,” A.Tianna Scozzaro, an Adams Morgan resident who has pitched in to “save the festival” told DCist.

While 18th Street will likely remain open to traffic, activities will happen along the neighborhood’s sidewalk and inside participating shops and restaurants. In just a week, 20 businesses have stepped up to the plate including Black Squirrel, Roofers Union, Cashion’s Eat Place, Amsterdam Falafelshop, Toro Mata, and Little Shop of Flowers, among others. The Washington Post first reported the news of the festival’s revival.

Ordinarily, Adams Morgan Main Street would be responsible for organizing the festival, but treasurer Jim Nixon explained the organization’s financial complications including bad checks, unpaid bills to vendors, incomplete bank records and money owed to the District government to WAMU. Mark Morgan, the organization’s former president is under investigation for mishandled funds.

The show, though, will go on.

“I am thrilled to see this grassroots event-building moment and proud to be a part of the conversations,” says Scozzaro.