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Down in the Reeds Festival Canceled Due to Lack of Cash

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The year’s Down in the Reeds Festival has been canceled due to lack of funding. The announcement came via email and social media this morning, Friday, May 12, from the festival’s organizers, stating “due to circumstances out of our control we were denied two significant grants that have carried the festival for the past couple years and there is no current financial way that we can move forward with the 2023 festival.”

According to Down in the Reeds’ Chris Naoum, the festival has previously relied on support from the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities and HumanitiesDC. (Last year they were also able to take advantage of the District’s Special Event Relief Fund by switching trash pickup to the Department of Public Works.)

“Some years we received both,” Naoum tells City Paper via email. “Some years we just received one and had to fundraise the rest on our own.”

Started in 2019 by the folks at the nonprofit Listen Local First DC, the free day-long music festival has taken place every year since (aside from the pandemic canceling the 2020 event), with the goal of celebrating the city’s cultural diversity and music’s healing powers. The genres and artists featured at Down in the Reeds have spanned a full spectrum of sound and style, aiming to draw audiences from all wards and backgrounds. And, following Listen Local First’s mission, the festival sought to provide opportunities to D.C.’s musicians.

“That means … putting substantial resources into providing a platform where artists can grow within their community and beyond on a national level,” the team writes in the cancellation statement. Listen Local First DC events, such as Down in the Reeds, have provided local acts with touring opportunities, brand sponsorships, and more, they write. The 2023 event was scheduled to take place on Oct. 14 at the Parks at Walter Reed.



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