#capitol riverfront

New Post has been published on http://www.apartmentshowcase.com/blog/local-fun/2015/06/dc-jazz-festival-takes-the-stage-this-week/

DC Jazz Festival Takes the Stage This Week

And they say pigs don’t fly. The DC Jazz Festival, an annual arts highlight in the city, has gone and done it. Organizers have finally changed the verbiage on the festival homepage, or at least scrapped the old part they had up. And it also appears that for the second straight year the event is sporting a new website as well.

This statement was probably on the old site somewhere, but it still sums up the festivities pretty well:

Since 2005, the DC Jazz Festival organization has provided enriching and entertaining jazz performances and programs that introduce students and adults from all walks of life to jazz, our nation’s singular original art form. The festival presents a selection of the jazz genre’s most acclaimed artists as well as emerging artists, and provides enhanced exposure for the rich treasure trove of musicians from the Washington, DC area.

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At a club near you: The festival’s Jazz in the ‘Hoods will see artists perform at some 40 venues in 20-plus neighborhoods across the city, including several shows at Bohemian Caverns (above) in Northwest’s U Street Corridor. (ctj71081 via Flickr)

Other than that “our nation’s singular original art form” line (really?), it’s a pretty good description of what the festival is all about: jazz, jazz and more jazz. And it’s coming to you from June 10 to 16.

On tap this year are more than 100 performers on what the festival considers its four main stages: DC JazzFest at The Hamilton Live, Events DC Presents: DC JazzFest at The Yards, Jazz ’N Families Fun Days and Jazz in the ’Hoods, though obviously, multiple locations make up this last “stage.” Those familiar with Jazz ’N Families Fun Days will recognize that this stage is located at The Phillips Collection.

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Performers this year include The Bad Plus and Joshua Redman, the Charlie Hunter Trio, Femi Kuti & the Positive Force, Marshall Keys, and in what seems like a permanent residence, Paquito D’Rivera. Ticket prices are all over the place, from free to the $60 range.

Here is the full schedule. Corporate sponsors this year include Sage Communications, The Washington Post and The Yards. Many (if not most) of these venues are near a Metrorail station. So if you rent an apartment in the city – or not – and are in the mood for some saxophone, come out and enjoy this festival.

New Post has been published on http://www.apartmentshowcase.com/blog/events/2015/03/national-cherry-blossom-festival-paints-the-town-pink/

National Cherry Blossom Festival Paints the Town Pink

We cover the event annually, this paean to all things cherry blossomy and Japanese. And this year is no different.

The annual National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C., is a several-week celebration whose roots were planted way back in 1912, when Mayor Yukio Ozaki of Tokyo, Japan, gifted Washington, D.C., with 3,000 cherry trees as a symbol of friendship between the two countries (they tried this once before in 1910, but the 2,000 trees sent had to be eradicated due to disease).

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As always, the organization has a loaded website espousing all things cherry. The event, presented by Events DC, is taking place March 20-April 12; a theme this year is “Our Natural World.”

By George: The festival’s parade, which organizers say will include “celebrity entertainers,” will cover 10 blocks along Constitution Avenue. Most of the route will be free for spectators. (S Pakhrin via Flickr)

There are tons of events at this year’s festival, and if you want to view them all, take a gander at the site. We’ll highlight a few anyway.

On March 21, the National Cherry Blossom Festival Opening Ceremony takes place at Warner Theatre from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. Tickets are free, but if you buy online, you’ll be hit with a $5 processing fee (walk-ins will be able to attend up until 4:45 p.m., if seats are still available).

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On March 28, the Blossom Kite Festival returns to the National Mall. On the grounds of the Washington Monument, come watch a competition or bring your own kite to fly; this is a free event.

On April 11, the National Cherry Blossom Festival Parade takes place from 10 a.m. to noon, the callithump proceeding down Constitution Avenue between 7th and 17th Streets, N.W. Standing along the route from 9th Street to 15th Street is free, but grandstand tickets from 15th to 17th will cost you $20 or $27 a pop (tykes under two can sit on your lap for free).

That same day, stay for the Sakura Matsuri Japanese Street Festival, the largest one-day Japanese cultural festival in the United States. This lively event, taking place between 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m. on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., between 9th-14th Streets, features more than 50 cultural groups, food, vendors and 30-plus hours of performances on four stages. Tickets are $8 if purchased in advance, $10 online the day of the festival or if purchased at the gate, and $5 after 3 p.m.; children 12 and under get in free.

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A new event this year is the Anacostia River Festival on April 12, from noon to 4 p.m. at Anacostia Park. This free event will celebrate all things Anacostia River: her ecology, history, and the people living and working next to her. There will be musical performances, tours and hands-on art and boating workshops.

You’d think a festival of this size has lots of sponsors, and you’d be right. It reaches out to the suburbs, too. All of the events I’ve listed are near a Metrorail stop, so getting there should not be a problem. And the site itself is flush with maps.

So all you apartment renters out there in the metro area, herald the arrival of spring and go celebrate Japanese culture at the National Cherry Blossom Festival.

Navy Yard/Capitol Riverfront/Half Street SE DC/Whatever you want to call it

The neighborhood, Navy Yard, apparently used to be a thriving neighborhood full of businesses and commercial space because of the Washington Navy Yard and it's proximity to the Capitol and waterfront. But once the river had become overly polluted in the 20th century and the Navy Yard moved campuses, the economic and neighborhood activity slowed significantly. Eventually, with the completion of the elevated portion of I-395 in 1965, creating a physical barrier between Capitol Hill and Navy Yard, the neighborhood became economically unstable; crime rates skyrocketed and it became a pretty bad part of town. In the 90's, many nightclubs popped up in the area (and on Half Street especially) but nothing could help the neighborhood.