Lack of pedestrian zone reduces Adams Morgan Day foot traffic

Adams Morgan Day organizers didn’t have the funding to close parts of 18th Street NW for pedestrian access for the second consecutive year, which Kristen Barden, executive director of the Adams Morgan Partnership BID, suspects affected foot traffic to this year’s event.

Approximately 7,000 attended Adams Morgan Day on Sunday, Sept. 14, according to Barden. In previous years, when 18th Street was closed,  Adams Morgan Day drew thousands more participants.

Adams Morgan Day celebrated its 47th anniversary as one of the oldest continuously running festivals in D.C., according to the festival’s official website. The festival brings businesses, artists, service organizations, music, and the community together for celebration. 

Adams Morgan Partnership BID sponsors the Adams Morgan Community Alliance, the official organization of Adams Morgan Day.

“It’s hard when you’re not closing the street to get in the crowds. In Porch Fest, when we close the street, we get around 50,000 [participants],” said Barden. PorchFest is an annual music festival, also sponsored by Adams Morgan Partnership BID.

Adams Morgan Main Street ran Adams Morgan Day until “their funding dried up about 10 years ago,” according to Barden. 

Barden said volunteers from the area created the Adams Morgan Community Alliance to replace Adams Morgan Main Street. Now, Adams Morgan Day is run entirely by volunteers, according to the Adams Morgan Day website.

Angie Whitehurst, community fellow of the American University Humanities Truck, remembers the inception of Adams Morgan Day. 

“It was the best festival in town,” Whitehurst said. “This year is very scaled down because of economics, budgeting, and the city prices.”

Barden said the cost of creating a pedestrian zone hasn’t changed much over the past few years. She said that it typically costs approximately $50,000 total to shut down the area of 18th St between Columbia and Kalorama Roads.

Business in Adams Morgan was largely unaffected by the event, according to Barden, saying “it was about the same as any other Sunday.” 

Similar to Barden, Rise Bakery Manager Laprea Roberson said business wasn’t any different: a typical slow Sunday. According to Roberson, the pedestrian zone definitely brought more people into the bakery.

“I remember from past Adams Morgan days when we had the street blocked, we did have lots of business.” Said Roberson. 

Despite the turnout, the Adams Morgan Day hotspots still seemed busy. At around 2:00 p.m., approximately 40 people were in Kalorama Park to watch Reggae live, more than 30 were listening to live music in Jubilee Park, and large crowds of people were packed shoulder to shoulder in the Artisan Stroll: the reserved area for vendors.

The pre-festival activities were also crowded.  More than 30 people followed Eddie Becker around the neighborhood for his Deep History Tour at 10:00 a.m., and the Go-Go Fitness stage was filled with dancers at 11:30 a.m.

Many participants didn’t seem to notice that 18th Street wasn’t shut down. When The Wash asked Jamal Love, owner of Art of Love Gallery, what he noticed about Adams Morgan Day, he said he loves “the aspect of having an event like this in a community. The people like it, and attend it.”

“The reason why I love Adam’s Morgan day is because not one person can claim ownership over it,” said social media volunteer Tara Vassefi. “It’s been great for us (The Adams Morgan Community Alliance) to do it (Adams Morgan Day) how we went to do it.”