The good times will be rolling in the District this weekend: More than 1,000 people have registered for DowntownDC On Wheels, a first-of-its-kind roller-skating jamboree.

During the event, which starts Friday afternoon and lasts through Sunday evening, F Street NW will be closed to traffic between 8th and 9th Streets so that roller skaters can zip down the middle of the street.

“It’s really an attempt to get people to come back to downtown D.C., and also provide some fun and entertaining activities,” says Neil Albert, president and executive director of the DowntownDC Business Improvement District, which is organizing the event. “We’re hoping that the community of skaters in D.C. will come out and enjoy free skating.” (Albert is training for two marathons, so out of an abundance of caution, he will not be lacing up his skates at the event.)

Attendees need to register online in advance; you can reserve an hour-long session for skating on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Some skates will be available to borrow, but organizers recommend bringing your own.

During DowntownDC On Wheels, a local group, Rolloway Productions, will provide skate lessons and performances. While wheeling around is the main event, organizers will also play on-theme movies including Roll Bounce and ATL, DJs will blast fun tunes, and there will be Shake Shack food on-site to help fuel the activities.

Local DJ Adrian Loving will provide the skatetrack from 7 p.m.-11 p.m. on Friday. “I haven’t played a roller-skating jam in a long time,” he says. “I’ve been saving records for roller skating, because it’s a special thing. I grew up with it. I’m excited to play outside and play on a system, and hopefully people will enjoy the vibe.”

If it’s been awhile since you enjoyed a roller-skating vibe, Loving describes it as “mid-tempo bounce music — it can’t be too fast, and it can’t be too slow.” Years ago, when he would hang out at skating rinks, he remembers hearing songs like The J.B.’s “Monorail” — so maybe that one will make the cut. “There’s gonna be some old stuff and some new stuff in there,” says Loving, who’s been DJing in the Washington area for about 25 years. “Come prepared to enjoy yourself. The vibe is going to be very bounce, very rock skate.”

Roller skating, once the stuff that middle-school birthday parties were made of, has experienced a revival during the pandemic. The activity became popular on TikTok, and for months, finding a pair of skates to buy was more challenging than staying upright on them.

“Roller skating became the official sport of the pandemic,” says Saletta Coleman, who’s active in the D.C. skating community and an associate producer for the HBO documentary United Skates. “It’s outdoors, where you can breathe fresh air. You don’t need a group of people to do it; you don’t have to have a team. That’s how it all came about: People needed to get out, and they were alone and isolated, and music and movement makes you feel good.”

Coleman plans to stop by this weekend’s event and is happy to see the District celebrating skating. It’s the second such attempt to revive the city’s scene, after 2019’s Capital Skate Fest at the D.C. Armory. The roller-skating community is “alive and well” here, she says, with one major problem: The city hasn’t had an indoor rink since the National Roller Skating Rink in Adams Morgan closed in 1992. The outdoor rink in Anacostia is the only one in the District, and nearby rinks in Maryland and Virginia are still vibrant. Seeing the city host DowntownDC On Wheels is promising, she says.

If you get inspired at the event and want to stick with skating, Coleman notes that lots of teachers are offering lessons via Zoom, and it’s easy to polish your skills at home. “You’d be surprised where people are learning to skate — in the kitchen, next to the stove, anywhere they’ve got a couple of feet around them,” she says. “I encourage people to not be afraid of roller skating: It is completely attainable for anyone at any age.”

As for what she loves about the sport? Mainly, the camaraderie and music. “I’m not much of a drinker or smoker, so nightclubs never appealed to me,” she says. “Roller skating is cardio and amazing music — as much of it as you want.”

DowntownDC On Wheels takes place on F Street NW between 8th and 9th streets NW. Open Friday from 4 p.m.-11 p.m., Saturday noon-11 p.m., and Sunday noon-6 p.m. FREE