An festivalgoer dances at DC Funk Parade in 2016.

Kyle T. / Flickr

This post has been updated.

Big, boisterous music events have returned to the District, and this weekend, two of the D.C. area’s most popular ones are back in person — Funk Parade and Broccoli City. Here’s what we know about the two (unrelated, but coinciding) local events.

DC Funk Parade

Update, 5/6/22: Funk Parade organizers announced Friday evening that the 2022 event has been postponed due to inclement weather. A make-up date has not yet been announced.

The D.C. region is expected to receive up to 4 inches of rainfall through the weekend, along with temperatures dipping into the 50s.

Original:

The event that came to its co-founder, Justin Rood, in a dream, got its start eight years ago as a celebration of the music, dance, art, food, and fashion along the the U Street Corridor, aka “Black Broadway.” The event took a hiatus in 2020 and came back in a hybrid format last year.

This year, instead of a traditional parade, DC Funk Parade will culminate in live performances at three spots on U Street. On Saturday, May 7, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., local artists will perform at:

  • The African-American Civil War Memorial (Vermont & U St NW; This is the festival’s main stage)
  • Lee’s Flower Shop (11th & U St NW)
  • The Reeves Center (14th & U St NW

While the event technically kicked off last weekend with the release of a Funk Parade-themed beer at Right Proper Brewing Company and a tour by author and Black Broadway historian Briana Thomas, the big event is Saturday.  Right Proper (624 T St NW) will serve food and beer, including the parade-inspired “Magic of Music” blonde ale, throughout the event.

The MusicianShip, the nonprofit behind The Wammie Awards that provides music programming for thousands of D.C. youth, has produced the Funk Parade since 2019. While the weekend’s events are free, donations and proceeds from food and drink sales go toward providing free summer programs for local kids.

“While the format will be modified this year due to restrictions brought about by the pandemic, it will continue to celebrate one of the District’s most prized music genres, its musicians, and related cultural experiences,” said Eric Liley, The MusicianShip’s CEO and executive director, in a press release.

Musicians this year include: Micah Robinson, Autumn LaBella, Cramer, Rue Brown, Cauznfx, YAJ, Izis La Enferma, DJ ZO, Roquois, Night Train 357, Uncle Mary, Nia Monaé, Skip Step, Naptown Brass Band and Critical Condition Band (CCB).

Broccoli City

For the first time in its 10-year history, the music portion of the Broccoli City Festival will span two days, featuring major concerts at the RFK Stadium Festival Grounds on Saturday and Sunday. The festival will feature a smattering of local musicians, personalities, and DJs along with headliners like 21 Savage, Ari Lennox, Gunna, and Wale — though, the latter almost backed out of the event entirely after a “failure in communication” with the event organizers, a group of four HBCU alums from D.C. and North Carolina. (They worked it out and Wale’s name was moved higher up on the lineup.)

Pre-sale tickets sold out within hours, and tickets now range from $110 per day to around $500 for all-weekend VIP passes.

The festival is being advertised as BLK Change Weekend, “created to mobilize people, companies and community organizations to work together to create a more equitable world for Black millennials,” per a press release. The weekend will come with a series of social justice-focused events to accompany the performances.

The four-day weekend kicks off with the annual BroccoliCon and Career Expo, which offers networking opportunities and panel discussions Thursday and Friday. On Saturday, the organizers will host a fitness event ($20) in Anacostia Park that includes a 5K run, yoga and workout sessions. Other related programming includes a “BC All Night” dance party at Joy Club DC on Friday night and a small business marketplace.

After weather patterns amplified the noise at an EDM festival at the RFK site last weekend, the concert will end at 10 p.m. Sunday instead of 11 p.m. (Saturday’s performances will run until 11 p.m.), according to NBC4 reporter Mark Segraves.

Are there any COVID-19 restrictions or traffic advisories related to the events this weekend?

So far, D.C. hasn’t issued any traffic advisories or road closures for either event.

While Funk Parade’s organizers haven’t listed any health protocols online, the event format was changed to encourage distancing and avoid large crowds in one place.

The Broccoli City website says the organizers expect around 85,000 people to attend all the weekend’s activities, and the site’s health page simply says: “DC Gov’t has lifted all event Covid-19 restrictions!!!!!!!!!”

While restrictions have lifted, health officials are still encouraging people to get vaccinated and boosted, and to wear masks indoors and in large crowds, given the prevalence of new variants and increase in case counts nationwide.

This post has been updated with the postponement of the Funk Parade.

Filed Under: Arts and Culture, broccoli city, broccoli city festival, dc funk parade, funk parade,