H Street Festival

I showed up a bit late to the party this past Saturday but still made the most of the two hours I had from 5−7pm. If I had known there was going to be so much going on, I would have made my way there earlier! H Street was shut down for about 10 blocks! Food trucks, beer gardens, music… three of my favorite things all rolled into a pretty packaged event! It was wall to wall people, but that’s to be expected. I counted at least 20 different food trucks– carribean, BBQ, tacos, and lobster rolls plus many more. Lots of beer specials at the nearby restaurants. Music was mostly reggae and hip hop but they did have a belly dancer and some drum playing. Lots of art too. Great way to showcase this up and coming area and it’s easy to get to from Union Station!

Wear your Kevlar and don’t get too drunk, hipsters. Local predators have been emboldened by the national anti-​cop movement and will surely be hunting for prey.

Always a good time– one of the better festivals held in DC. It’s a great opportunity for people to come out to H Street and see what’s new since it’s getting better every month! Parking is a serious nightmare though so I suggest you take the metro to union station or NoMa and walk, even though it’s kind of a hike. And if you live in the neighborhood like I do, I suggest you park your car the night before and don’t move it!

I have mixed feelings about this festival– the advertising made it sound awesome, and I was very excited about the music, contests, etc. But somehow while we were there it seemed more like a collection of mediocre vendors. I’m still giving it four stars because there were SOME things going on, and there were a ton of people there having fun. Anything that gets everyone to come out to H Street and day drink is okay in my book. It was a fun excuse to check out all the bars in the area.

I attended the festival last year and it was very crowded, but had a lively array of different musicians and food options. Definitely make sure you have cash on hand because one of my friends needed to get money out of the ATM by the festival and we had to wait in line more than 20 minutes to get up to one of the ATM machines and then one of them ran out of cash. Avoid the line by stopping at an ATM prior to the festival. To get to the festival we got off at the Gallery Place Chinatown Metro station and then boarded a bus to get to H Street. The buses came pretty frequently but were very crowded. We weren’t able to fit on the first couple of buses, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long for another one to come. Overall, a fun festival to check out.

They need to repackage this event as a chance to come out and find out about the amazing musical talent that we have in DC. Ok… maybe that is exactly what they did but I missed the memo. Everyone should get that memo because you might come out of there hyped about new music finds and amazed to be reminded that DC is a hub of musical talent.
I had a great time listening to the sounds of redline graffiti and RDGLDGRN (I Love Lamp is awesome!). I actually stopped in my tracks when I heard NuEra. They hit the song Wildflower (more commonly known as «Let her cry, for she’s a lady»). To paraphrase Coming to America «Those boys can sing!!!».
The food was great and the energy was amazing. Everyone was so happy to be there and it showed. Random conversations and shared moments with strangers are always a good time.
Also, food good!

We have never been to H Street so we were excited to see it along with enjoying the festival. We walked over from Dupont Circle, which turned out to be a pretty hefty hike :) However, there seemed to be a lot of other people walking with us so we didn’t feel too ridiculous.
Once we got there, it was about 3:00 by now, it was CROWDED! We went to the Adams Morgan Day Festival the weekend before but we arrived right before they started at noon, so it was a little mild with regards to the crowd. We really got to see everything and it wasn’t too jammed with people.
The H Street Festival I’m sure would have been the same had we came earlier but, wow, was it crowded. The lines were long at the food vendors and pretty soon our mission was to not lose each other and we just wanted to get from one end to the other. Once we did, we didin’t feel like going back through. Along our journey I did see some things that I really liked, they had a lot more stages with music, there were several beer garden areas, and there was a lot of food to choose from.
Note to self, go EARLIER next year for the festival. However, I can’t wait to come back to H Street soon to check out some of the restaurants, pubs and shops!

The 2012 festival was the best street festival I’ve been to in DC! Loved all the food options– wide variety of food trucks, stands, and h street restaurant pop up tents. The entertainment was excellent. And it was a great community event. The only way this event could have been improved upon would be if H street was moved to a metro accessible location. Too bad that will never happen!

Fun.

Ditto with the WOW. This festival ROCKS and is ten times better than the Adams Morgan Festival. Yes, there were annoying hipster types, but I honestly couldn’t care less! It was THAT good.
Lots of BBQ, smoke getting into your eyes, music from all sides of the street, moms and dads with their kids, etc., there was a lot to see and enjoy. :D

Wow, I love checking out festivals and this was by far the best one I’ve ever been to! H Street is an up-​and-​coming, unique neighborhood that blends all cultures, historic/​new DC, great food, great nightlife, and a ton of other things! They recently finished trolley tracks that stretch down H Street all the way to Union Station. The festival itself was beyond my expectations. The vast variety of food was delicious, the vast variety of bars gives everyone options, the art was ridiculous (in a good way), and the music was GREAT! They have at least 4 different stages with a variety of music that will please everyone; jazz, old skool hip hop, heavy metal, electronic, etc! It’s a fairly young and hip crowd but everyone’s there; all nationalities, ages, and cultures. I’m already planning for the 2012 Festival. I’m calling in my crew from NJ and all over the nation!