Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SERVING THE GW COMMUNITY SINCE 1904

The GW Hatchet

Serving the GW Community since 1904

The GW Hatchet

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Metro Briefs

Adams Morgan celebrates diversity with fair

Thousands of people strolled around Adams Morgan Sunday afternoon for the 28th annual celebration of the cultural and economic diversity in the Northwest neighborhood.

First held in 1978, Adams Morgan Day featured many entertainment and dance acts alongside vendors selling international foods and crafts. Patrons from all over the District walked down 18th Street, which was blocked off for use as a pedestrian zone, munching on funnel cakes and browsing African jewelry.

AdamsMorgan MainStreet Group, a collaboration of neighborhood residents and business owners, organized the event to promote the uniqueness of the neighborhood. Lisa Duperier, a spokesperson for the group, said organizers were expecting about 22,000 people to attend the festival, which ran from noon until 7 p.m.

Each stage in the festival had a distinct musical flavor, ranging from the Florida Street stage with Latin and Caribbean jazz to the Columbia stage featuring jazz, bluegrass and Latin American rock acts.

The festival also included the International Dance Plaza and a Kid’s Fair portion of activities at the neighborhood Marie Reed School. The Dance Plaza showcased international dances and hosted salsa, mambo and belly dance lessons.

Graduate student Joshua Abel traveled from Foggy Bottom to check out what the festival had to offer.

“(I came) just to see D.C. – what the whole cultural part of the city is,” he said.

Casee Kulp, a senior at the University of Iowa who is part of the Washington Center, a nonprofit organization which puts together D.C. internships for college students, volunteered at the festival. Stationed by the iconic Madam’s Organ blues bar, Kulp said the event was crowded since its start at noon.

“It’s been pretty constant all day,” Kulp said.

Bill Mackenzie arrived at 7 a.m. to start his day as an even coordinator. Mackenzie, who just moved to Silver Spring, Md., after living in the Adams Morgan area for 17 years, was working the event for the first time, although he had been attending the event for the past 20 years.

“They used to have better bands. They used to have more rock ‘n’ roll bands,” Mackenzie said. “I guess you could say they used to have bands more to my taste.”

-Lizzie Wozobski and Kaitlyn Jahrling

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