Washington DC is packed with major events this September. The 22nd annual DC JazzFest wraps up its five-day run Sept. 2-6 at The Wharf and venues across the city. The H Street Festival takes over H Street NE on Sept. 19, and WalkingTown DC runs free guided tours through Sept. 26.
In brief
Washington DC is packed with major events this September. The 22nd annual DC JazzFest runs Sept. 2-6, with its signature outdoor finale at The Wharf on District Pier Sept. 5-6. The H Street Festival takes over H Street NE on Sept. 19, drawing roughly 150,000 people for free. WalkingTown DC offers 60+ free guided tours through Sept. 26.
The big September 2026 events in DC, one by one
DC JazzFest: Sept. 2-6 at The Wharf and across the city
The DC Jazz Festival announces the complete lineup of the 22nd annual DC JazzFest, set to take over Washington, DC from September 2-6. This is not a single-venue affair. DC JazzFest is held across multiple venues throughout Washington, D.C. It culminates in a two-day grand finale, DC JazzFest at The Wharf, Saturday and Sunday, September 5 & 6, over Labor Day weekend along the Potomac Riverfront, with additional performances indoors at Arena Stage, Union Stage, and other locations.
GRAMMY Award winners and National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Masters are featured throughout the 2026 lineup, including Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling and the Yellowjackets, Joshua Redman, Corey Henry & the Funk Apostles, Nate Smith, Emmet Cohen and Janelle Gill. The festival also partnered with the European Union to present a mini-festival featuring artists from France, Czechia, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania.
Earlier in the week, there's a free option. On Thursday, September 3, from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., head to Anthem Row, just steps from Gallery Place-Chinatown, for DC JazzFest Downtown 2026 - a free evening of live music, culture, and community. The lineup includes performances from Butcher Brown, Corcoran Holt, and Marshall Keys & Soulful Path.
For the Wharf shows, tickets start at $25 and the festival is family-friendly, with a new scavenger hunt for kids under the age of 15. The main event runs September 5-6, noon to 10:00 p.m. Full ticketing is at dcjazzfest.org.
DC Bike Ride: Saturday, Sept. 12
With a family-friendly course, DC Bike Ride offers a unique experience to participants, winding riders through city streets and by monuments and memorials. The 20-mile excursion welcomes riders over the age of three and includes a Finish Festival with food, music and fun activities. The start line sits at Constitution Ave. NW & 12th St. NW.
H Street Festival: Saturday, Sept. 19, noon-7 p.m.
The 2026 H Street Festival returns on Saturday, September 19 from 12 PM to 7 PM, bringing thousands of visitors to H Street NE for a full day of live music, local vendors, food, art, family activities, and community celebration. It's free. The festival runs along the H Street NE Corridor, featuring a diverse lineup across 15 stages and about 200 exhibitors. Admission is free, and the event draws roughly 150,000 attendees. It has been named DC's Best Neighborhood Fest by the Washington City Paper for eight consecutive years.
H Street Festival is celebrating its 21st annual edition in 2026. One logistical note: the street closure usually pauses the DC Streetcar for the day, so the reliable route is Metro to Union Station, then a 10-15 minute walk to the festival's western end.
WalkingTown DC: Sept. 19-26, free, all eight wards
Events DC welcomes residents and visitors to WalkingTown, returning September 19-26. The annual program celebrates Washington, DC's history with 8 Days, 8 Wards, 1 City through free guided walking and biking tours. This year, organizers host more than 50 walking and biking tours in September, offering authentic and memorable tours that help residents and visitors enjoy, appreciate and learn about the District of Columbia. Registration is required and opens through eventsdc.com/walkingtown.
Oktoberfest, The Wharf waterfront events, and concerts
Beginning in mid-September and extending into October, DC beer enthusiasts observe Oktoberfest with German beer, bites and live music. Locations include Bluejacket, Wunder Garten, and The Wharf, which hosts a weekend with Polka on the Pier and a Stein Hosting Competition.
At The Wharf, salsa dancing on the waterfront runs every Thursday from September 10 through October 8 at M Street Landing, presented by Heineken. On the concert front, Charli XCX plays Capital One Arena, 601 F Street NW, on Sept. 28.
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CAN I KICK IT? screens New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument, on Aug. 22. (Courtesy SHAOLIN JAZZ)
The live-cinema series CAN I KICK IT? returns to the National Mall this month with what its producers are calling the "Gangsters on the Mall" chapter of their free outdoor summer run. On Saturday, August 22, the SHAOLIN JAZZ production brings the 1991 crime classic New Jack City to the Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument for a night of film, music, and community under the DC summer sky.
What sets the event apart is the sound. As the film plays, DJ 2-Tone Jones builds an original score in real time, reimagining one of the most iconic crime movies of the ’90s through hip-hop, soul, funk, and more. It is less a movie screening than a live performance built around the film.
The details:
Film: New Jack City (1991), with a live soundtrack by DJ 2-Tone Jones
When: Saturday, August 22 — seating opens at 7:30 p.m. (bring lawn chairs and blankets); film begins at 8:30 p.m.
Where: Sylvan Theater at the Washington Monument, Independence Ave SW & 15th St NW
A parking note from the organizers: expect road closures and restricted parking east of 14th Street NW due to a separate race event in the District. Roads west of 14th Street NW will be accessible and available for parking.
New Jack City is the second of three screenings in this year’s free CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series, which opened with Black Panther at Skyland Town Center and concludes with Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial on September 5. Produced by the Washington, DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, the series has presented more than 150 live cinematic experiences at venues across the country, from Lincoln Center to SXSW.
"I wanted to be able to tell good stories with substance and remove the ‘ego’ out of the art," said Andrew Huang during a recent interview. Now, he’s building his career at the intersection of discipline, creativity and innovation.
Andrew Huang, founder of New Place Studios. (Courtesy photo)
As a Chinese American, Huang was reared with a deep respect for hard work, consistency and excellence. He describes his childhood as "not so affluent" and later attended college to hone his passion for videography. "In college I tried to do something I loved, which was video, but along the way I knew that I had to find a job. And so I thought, ‘what was the low hanging fruit to get to that stable 9 to 5 job?,’" he stated.
Later in life, Huang found himself working for corporations where his creativity was often limited, eventually leading to burnout. "I worked in a corporation for a long time and there were a lot of missing pieces. I wanted to fill in gaps missing in corporate video production," said Huang.
He later described how his upbringing and a mindset of "survival" led him toward a corporate career. However, his desire for balance and authentic storytelling ultimately pushed him to take the entrepreneurial leap.
"I founded a new place where you can create video and film with ‘substance and style,’" said Huang. His desire for work-life balance and passion for storytelling naturally evolved into a small business based in Virginia. With the launch of New Place Studios, the entrepreneur quickly found himself reconnecting with the values that would become the foundation of everything he creates behind the camera.
Huang said being a business owner has allowed him to first embrace himself. While others may see video as simply capturing moments, he sees it as a way to preserve stories that inspire, connect and leave a lasting imprint.
By combining cinematic visuals with cutting-edge production techniques and a keen understanding of branding, Huang helps organizations and individuals communicate their vision with purpose. He said understanding a client’s "why" serves as the compass for delivering the services they need.
One benefit of working with a small business, he said, is that clients get to see the production process unfold through a micro lens while working with the same faces throughout the entire project. "The work feels personal," said Huang.
Huang does not regret leaving behind the flash-over-substance mentality and corporate hustle culture. That does not mean the Asian American entrepreneur has been without challenges in the industry. "It’s relatively hard to find other Asian American creatives or people who would want to work with me in the DMV," said Huang.
He identifies the industry culture in which everyone is trying to blend in, creatives may fear displaying their Asian identity and some feel pressure to adopt an American corporate persona. He also points to what he describes as a level of gatekeeping within the industry. According to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s 2024 statistics, Asian American and Pacific Islander entrepreneurs own more than 3 million businesses and employ 5.2 million people in the United States.
After tapping into organizations such as SCORE, which offers free small business mentorship, New Place Studios has become a trusted creative partner throughout the DMV (Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia). The company produces a range of creative services, including commercials, corporate branding, documentaries, film, 2D animation, motion graphics and photography.
For Huang, entrepreneurship has become more than a departure from corporate life. It has given him the freedom to create with intention, build meaningful connections and tell stories that go beyond the surface.
The 2026 CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
For three Saturdays this summer, some of Washington’s most familiar public spaces will do something they rarely do after dark: fill up with blankets, lawn chairs, and the sound of a movie being scored live, in real time. CAN I KICK IT?, the traveling “live cinema” series produced by the DC-based multimedia arts company SHAOLIN JAZZ, is bringing a free outdoor run to the city — pairing three era-defining films with an original soundtrack performed on the spot by DJ 2-Tone Jones.
The premise is what sets it apart from a normal screening in the park. Rather than simply pressing play, 2-Tone Jones builds a score as the film unfolds, pulling from hip-hop, soul, funk, jazz, rock, electronic music, and sounds from around the world. The result, the organizers say, is less a movie night than a one-time performance — the same film you know, wired to a soundtrack you have never heard and will not hear again. Guest DJs warm up the crowd starting at 7:30 PM before each 8:30 PM screening.
The 2026 outdoor schedule
All three events are free and open to the public.
Saturday, August 8 — Black Panther at Skyland Town Center. A pop-up marketplace and community activities kick off the evening; guest DJs at 7:30 PM, film at 8:30 PM. Marvel’s superhero epic gets a one-night-only live score in Southeast DC.
Saturday, August 22 — New Jack City at the Sylvan Theater, Washington Monument. Seating begins at 7:30 PM; the film starts at 8:30 PM. The 1991 crime drama plays out at the foot of one of the country’s most recognizable landmarks.
Saturday, September 5 — Scarface at the Lincoln Memorial. Seating at 7:30 PM; film at 8:30 PM. The series closes with Brian De Palma’s crime saga against the backdrop of the Memorial, scored live from start to finish.
First up: Black Panther at Skyland Town Center on August 8. Poster courtesy of SHAOLIN JAZZ.
A DC company with a national footprint
SHAOLIN JAZZ describes itself as a Washington-based arts company working at the intersection of music, film, art, and culture, and CAN I KICK IT? is its signature production. According to the organizers, the series has staged more than 150 live cinematic experiences around the country — at performing arts centers, museums, festivals, and cultural institutions including Lincoln Center in New York, SXSW, the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, Republic Square in Austin, the Tacoma Armory, and The Cary Theater.
“CAN I KICK IT? has always been about creating a shared experience,” said Gerald Watson, co-founder of SHAOLIN JAZZ. “When you combine iconic films with live music in public spaces, something special happens. People aren’t just watching a movie — they’re experiencing it together. That’s what makes these nights so memorable.”
Cinema as a community event
The DC run lands as cities across the country look for new ways to activate public space through arts and culture — and this series is a straightforward pitch for how to do it: take a landmark everyone already knows, add a film everyone has an opinion about, and let a live soundtrack turn the evening into something neighbors experience shoulder to shoulder. Families, film buffs, and music fans are all invited, and admission won’t cost a thing.
The CAN I KICK IT? outdoor series runs August 8, August 22, and September 5. All events are free; check SHAOLIN JAZZ (shaolinjazz.com) for the latest details and any weather updates before heading out.
