Clear your calendar - It's going down! Schedule Blocks kicks off on May 20th, and you're invited to take part in the festivities. Splash HQ (122 W 26th St) is our meeting spot for a night of fun and excitement. Come one, come all, bring a guest, and hang loose. This is going to be epic!
Clear your calendar - It's going down! The Emancipation Day festivities will take place on Saturday, April 13 and the parade will start at 2:00 PM at 10th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. The concert kicks off at 3:00 PM and will feature an all-star lineup of some of the best artists in the game! The concert at Freedom Plaza will also feature many of DC's own homegrown talent. Stay tuned for more updates and visit the "Save the Dates Section" for more information!
Every year, in the month of April, DC celebrates Emancipation Day and its historical impact on the city. Emancipation Day is observed in the District of Columbia to mark the anniversary of the abolition of slavery in the Nation's Capital. This year marks the 157th year in which slavery was abolished in our city.
On April 16, 1862, eight months before the Emancipation Proclamation, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Compensated Emancipation Act, which granted freedom to 3,100 enslaved individuals living in the District of Columbia. They were the first in the United States to be freed from slavery. On January 4, 2005, legislation was signed to make Emancipation Day an official public holiday in the District of Columbia.
As part of this year's Emancipation Day celebration, we are bringing some amazing talent to DC!
On Saturday, April 13, join Mayor Muriel Bowser and OCTFME for a free, fun-filled day! The parade starts at 2:00 PM at Pennsylvania Ave NW between 10th Street and 14th Street NW. The concert kicks off at 3:00 PM at Freedom Plaza and will feature an all-star lineup of artists including Faith Evans, Mýa, Doug E. Fresh, Master Gee of the Sugar Hill Gang, Kenny Lattimore, Ayanna Gregory and Frederic Yonnet. The concert at Freedom Plaza also features many of DC's own homegrown talent such as EU featuring Sugar Bear, DJ Rico, Little Bacon Bear, Spur of the Moment Band, Passion Band and more. The festivities will end with fireworks over Freedom Plaza!
We are excited to celebrate with you, and more importantly, hear from you! Let us know how you are celebrating Emancipation Day this year - take a photo, tag us (@Entertain_DC) and use the hashtag #DCEmancipationDay. Visit the "Save the Dates" section at the bottom of this page to RSVP! See you there!
Angie M. Gates
Director
DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment
Join Director Angie Gates at the 3rd Annual Broccoli City Weekend Conference! As part of this year's conference, attendees will engage in a dynamic exchange of ideas, solutions and resources to drive local impact on a global scale. #BroccoliCon is April 25-26, 2019 in Washington, DC, and the hub for 750+ of the world’s most influential leaders to gather to focus intently on leveraging resources and relationships to address the greatest challenges facing urban communities today. Through a strategically curated program of 50+ workshops, panels, fireside chats, demonstrations, and networking events, Broccoli City Weekend Conference engages participants throughout all 8 Wards.
On Sunday, April 14, celebrate the Anacostia River, Anacostia Park and #AnacostiaPark100 at the fifth annual Anacostia River Festival, presented by the 11th Street Bridge Park and the National Park Service! For a taste of local DC, come celebrate the Anacostia River and the 100th birthday of Anacostia Park. Take a canoe out to explore the River, ride in the bike parade, play lawn games with your family and experience Southeast DC’s local arts scene at this special FREE event. For further information visit: bridgepark.org/ARF
Taking place on April 12 -13, 2019, the DC Web Fest is “more than a film festival”- it is a gathering place for creators and patrons to engage and learn from each other. In its 7th year, the 2019 DC Web Fest is poised to be the most successful yet. With 52 official selections in 6 categories, the DC Web Fest entertains, educates, and promotes new and innovative forms of modern art and technology. The categories include Web Series (American and International), Podcasts, Screenwriting/Blogs, Digital Art, Trailers & Shorts, Virtual & Augmented Reality, and Games/Apps. In addition to the festival activities, there will be food and drink provided by KIND, Sweetgreen, The Broccoli Bar, Google Catering, The Australian Embassy in the USA, and Wild Kombucha.
The #EntertainDC Office is pleased to recognize Giovanna Chesler as our April 2019 Filmmaker of the Month! Giovanna Chesler directs documentary and narrative films that address themes of the body, sexuality, and gender. Her films have been exhibited at over a hundred film festivals worldwide and in museums and gallery spaces. Giovanna is an Associate Professor and Director of the Film and Video Studies Program at George Mason University and in 2019, the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities awarded her a Fellowship in Media Arts. Giovanna has directed ten films including her recent short fiction drama, The Pick Up (2018), awarded Best Short Fiction Film (Audience Award) at the Cineffable Paris International Lesbian and Feminist Film Festival. The film also won Best Short Film (Audience Award) from Image+Nation in Montreal and won a Special Jury Award in Screenwriting from the Big Muddy Film Festival.
The #EntertainDC Office is pleased to recognize Museum of the Bible as our April 2019 Location of the Month! Making its grand opening to the public in November 2017, Museum of the Bible’s 430,000-square-foot building is located just three blocks from the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. Museum of the Bible aims to be among the most technologically advanced and engaging museums in the world. Showcasing rare and fascinating artifacts spanning 3,500 years of history, the museum offers visitors an immersive and personalized experience with the Bible, and its ongoing impact on the world around us.
The Washington, DC International Film Festival (Filmfest DC) is back
for its 33rd year of bringing new and exciting international cinema to Washington, DC
audiences. This year’s festival will take place on April 25 through May 5 and will highlight major films such as "DC Noir," "Foodflix," "Traveling While Black," and "Echo in the Valley." Popular festival sections will include "The Lighter Side" (comedy), "Trust No One" (thrillers), and "Global Rhythms" (music and dance) and "Justice Matters" (social justice issues) that will return with new international releases. For more information visit: http://www.filmfestdc.org/
In FY18, the #EntertainDC Office launched a creative economy job training support program in partnership with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) Local 22. The program provides District residents financial subsidies to defray the costs of IASTE technical training classes, and offers District resident IASTE members the opportunity to acquire the professional certifications required to rise up the IATSE classification tier. In turn, members can qualify for higher paying jobs and therefore pave a pathway to the middle class. On the first Thursday of each month, come out for IATSE's Open House located at the Local 22 office in Washington, DC. For more information, click HERE.
Seniors in the District were often frustrated by the cost for cable and internet services. As a direct result of recent franchise negotiations, on February 14th, 2019, Comcast launched their Internet Essentials Program. The Internet Essentials Senior Pilot program in Washington, DC is designed to help low-income senior citizens access broadband internet at home for $9.95 a month + tax. There are no credit checks, no installation fees, no term contracts, 15Mbps, in-home WiFi included and the option of purchasing a laptop computer for $149.99 + tax. For more details regarding Internet Essentials, visit: https://internetessentials.com or call 1-855-846-8376.
Our mission is to produce and broadcast programming for the District of Columbia’s public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable channels and digital radio station; regulate the District of Columbia’s cable television service providers; provide customer service for cable subscribers; and support a sustainable creative economy and labor market for the District of Columbia.
