With the National Guard still patrolling throughout the District, local leadership and D.C. pride shone bright this weekend, as hundreds of thousands of people flooded Northeast to celebrate community and resilience at H Street Festival on Saturday.
Featuring a block expansion, new businesses, and 20 years seniority, Saturday’s celebration highlighted the breadth of the Northeast corridor to the tune of about 250 vendors and an estimated 160,000 attendees, all basking in the District as a cultural hub for creativity and economic development.
“H Street Fest is what D.C. is all about: highlighting our quarter, marking our quarter, and strengthening it economically,” Anwar Saleem, executive director of H Street Main Street, told The Informer. “People have a tendency of looking at the negative sides of predominantly African American [neighborhoods]…and this right here shows the positive side of our community, the beauty of our community, and what it has to offer.”
With people from all over the map joining the festivities, the 2.5-mile corridor — one block east of Union Station train facility to Benning Road — was packed and alive with engagement on Sept. 20.
While various vendors and businesses from around the region lined the streets, local talent and live entertainment lit up across more than a dozen stages, where DMV natives – including Angela Butler, Terri Hunter Echols, and self-employed dancer Drako Marciano– enjoyed the likes of go-go music, karaoke, and dancing to cultural hits, in addition to some diasporic exposure.
“I come every year, I grew up in the area,” Butler, 60, said pointing northward. “I love the Black art that is here, and I like the African style of clothing and food that is sold by the vendors.”
Beyond the increase in foot traffic and dance battles, Marciano says H Street Fest heeds a much needed call for communal support and unity, at a time when the District is in need of, what he refers to as, a “relief of life.”
Noting persisting issues of gun violence, coupled with widespread mistrust of local and federal law enforcement, the Litty legacy Entertainment Company founder touted the annual festival as a path towards something greater in D.C., particularly for Black Washingtonians.
“It’s too much…that’s making us, our people, [feel bitter and unsafe],” Marciano told The Informer. “[H Street Fest] brings the city together. If you bring it together, you bring unity, you bring peace, you bring something that…nobody thinks is possible.”
Black Businesses Thrive During H Street Fest
As one of the District’s most signature events, H Street Festival offers a boost to economic opportunity even beyond the one-day event, said Saleem.
While acknowledging continuous plans for growth, the executive director highlighted popular businesses like The Daily Rider bike shop and Caribbean cuisine Jerk at Nite – both veteran festival vendors that eventually developed into full-scale brick-and-mortars on H Street.
“So far in 2025, we have had 12 new businesses open up on H Street. In 18 months, we have had 18 new businesses to open,” Saleem told The Informer. “We want more people and businesses to see what H Street has to offer.”
The presence of Black entrepreneurship on Saturday was undeniable, earning a nod of approval from Hunter Echols, a native Washingtonian who recalls the storied impact of job turnovers and gentrification on the H Street corridor.
On the 13th block, newly minted Ethiopian restaurant Ethio Vegan (EV on H) prepared food for sale, while, at the western terminus, popular eatery DYvine BBQ & Southern Cuisine in Motion – based in Dumfries, Virginia – had a line 10 people deep less than 30 minutes post-kick off.
Where the African restaurant Lydia on H sits, a half-block west of the intersection of H Street, Benning Road and Bladensburg Road NE, owner Chef Victor Chizinga set up tables and chairs and celebrated his fourth year at the annual festival, adding, “It’s a good time to catch up with the revenue.”
Albert C. Hillman Barber Shop on 1106 H St NE shares a similar benefit, even without having a booth or tent set up on Saturday.
“We have been busy,” said Dexter Riley, 57, who has worked at the shop for years. “I have had 10 people so far today, five regulars and five walk-ins. The walk-ins are because of the festival. We have that and it isn’t even 1 p.m. yet.”
Other afternoon hits included returning vendors like Black Betty’s BBQ, D’Bohomama, and Jessica Logan, a Virginia-based artist who deems H Street Festival “such a positive experience.”
Meanwhile, Tyler Lee of Fairfax, Virginia told The Informer he came to deliver a message “at a time when the word ‘Black’” has come under fire from some in the national space.
Thus, he and his partner sold t-shirts, baseball caps, bracelets and shorts with the slogan “Black is Love.”
“We are here to change the narrative,” Lee, 32, said.
The additional features of musical performances and African drumming led Hunter Echols to laud the day of events as a reflection of the “roots of H Street,” a place she remembers to be predominantly Black.
Further, she noted the importance of preserving a safe space that has historically overcome adversity, originating with the birth of the festival that followed the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s assasination, when 1968 uprisings left the community largely economically dormant.
“[I hope people see] that H Street is still a vibrant community,” said the Northwest native, “that H Street is a safe community…that there is still a community feel there.”
Onwards, Upwards: How H Street Fest Can Shape D.C.’s Landscape
Reflecting on former District traditions such as Georgia Avenue Day, Unifest (expecting a comeback next month), and Moechella, Marciano emphasized the power of healing and connectivity that can come from cultural celebrations.
Having “lost two kids to the streets,” including 15-year-old Chase Poole, who was fatally shot after a Moechella celebration in 2022, he noted the impact of street violence in D.C. – where, according to a 2023 Alliance for Gun Violence Fact Sheet, 73% of all homicides are gun-related.
The creative entrepreneur says events like H Street Fest can offer a different outlook to address some of these stark realities.
“Without chaos, you cannot find a solution to a problem,” he continued, admitting his initial skepticism to attend Saturday due to the fatal event that claimed his son’s life. “This is the solution.”
After stepping to Michael Jackson on the corner of 10th Street, Marciano gazed across the scene and described it as a place of rejuvenation, adding a need to see more citywide engagement in the walk towards “love, unity, all that.”
Similarly, Saleem’s vision for the annual event is simple: to get bigger and better year after year.
With a nod to the continuous surge of local talent “keeping it fresh,” the executive director shared his process to elevate is already underway – steadfast in ensuring economic mobility thrives among the city’s dedicated drivers.
“If [African Americans are] going to have any success in society, we have to become economically strong, and the way to do it is…we have to have businesses that are successful on a local level,” Saleem told The Informer. “I think [H Street Fest] is something that can be duplicated throughout the city, if we do it right.”