Art All Night Takes Over 8 DC Neighborhoods

It was one sleepless night of art all around town.

A free all-night arts festival which took place in eight DC neighborhoods, Art All Night took place in the District on Saturday, September 29 with an intriguing lineup of visual and performing arts exhibits, workshops and performances.

Replicating Paris’ artistic event, Art All Night began in DC’s Shaw neighborhood in 2011, and this neighborhood remains the home of the largest number of artists and venues presented annually as part of the festival, though it has extended to Congress Heights, Historic Dupont Circle Main Streets, H Street Main Street, Minnesota Avenue Main Street, North Capitol Main Street, Tenleytown Main Street and the Ward 7 Business Partnership.

Art All Night, which ran eight hours, from 7 p.m. on September 29 until 3 a.m. on September 30, with some neighborhoods starting early, was sponsored by the Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD) and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities (DCCAH), and was attended by upwards of 50,000 people.

Attendees experienced performance-based art, live visual displays and live music by local artists. Highlights of the evening included parades, DIY art projects, photography projections, fashion shows, dance parties, murals, and free glow-in-the-dark giveaways.

Featured artists and performers this year included a roster of internationally renowned artists, including Robin Bell, Craig Kraft, and Aneikan Udofian, and performers like Grammy-award nominated Christylez Bacon, The Orioles’ Ray Apollo Allen and Ethiopian superstar Yehunie Belay all exhibiting and performing in one neighborhood for one night only.

*Images credit Lysious Ogolo (@realnamelysious)