This is another post combining the last couple of weeks, and they’ve been a busy couple of weeks but great fun. As I’ve mentioned before, September means the festivals have descended on the streets and neighborhoods of DC. The first one I went to was the Adams Morgan Day festival, and I think the last one may be the Taste of DC coming up in a couple of weeks.
- One stage at the Adams Morgan Day was focused solely on the music of Brazil. At least it was for the length of time I was there (and looking it up, Brazil day was the Friday before on September 7). Several blocks on 18th street were blocked off for the vendors and food, and I wandered listening to music, eating a delicious ceviche tostada and even ended up finding a great gift for my sister for Christmas! Which unfortunately I can’t talk about since she may read this.
- H Street Festival came next – and what a crazy party that block party is. The crowds are packed tight on the street, and if you wanted to hurry through a couple of blocks to find some friends like me, well…then you should be prepared to not be in a hurry. But it was great. Much better weather than last year where it rained a bit and was overcast. This year it was bright, sunny and warm. I found my friends and they had scored such a great table in the window of a restaurant where we could watch without being jostled around. Then we went to a rooftop bar that had such a great view of the festival. The service was unfortunately sorely lacking (clearly this bar was not prepared for the crowds), but once we were able to find seating and watched with a bird’s eye view.
H Street Festival
- Book festival! I may try to do a separate post on the National Book Festival, but it’s definitely worth a mention on the festival list. I’d only intended to stay Saturday for the morning – but ended up there all day with only a break for lunch and picking up Salman Rushdie’s new memoir Joseph Anton: A Memoir
. My inner nerd (okay, not-so-inner) is always excited for this. These are fantastic writers who are all in one place to talk and take questions and sign. I saw several writers in the genre I’m currently working in (YA), including the rock star John Green, and also sat at the Fiction & Mystery tent for several writers I knew of and had read, such as Patricia Cornwell (who it seems is working on a follow-up to her Jack the Ripper study) and…Mario Vargas Llosa. I also waited in line for an hour, but it was worth it to get his signature in my book (which I also recommend): The Dream of the Celt: A Novel
. And as always, being around all these fantastic writers is inspiring. It’s hard to think “I want to stay and listen to another one, but I also want to get home to write!” Oh, and not to mention there was a standing ovation for a welcome to Vargas Llosa when he came on stage to talk.
Mario Vargas Llosa (center)
Okay, this was a bit of a longer wrap-up then I’d intended, so I’m just going to stop with three. Which is fine, because they were three very fun events. I think I will do a longer post on the book festival. But the festival season is not over. There’s still the Turkish festival and Taste of DC. And who knows what else I might discover? I found out a new to me festival, Fiesta DC, that was on Sunday. I stopped by and wandered through it on my way to the National Book Festival, so I’ll keep an eye out on what else is out there.
Have a great week everyone!
