The fifth annual Broccoli City Festival returns to D.C. this week with events celebrating hip-hop, trap and soul music and sustainable, healthy living.
The Broccoli Conference (#BroccoliCon) kicks off the weekend on Thursday, May 4, and Friday, May 5. The 2-day interactive conference will be held at the Kellogg Conference Center, and will be co-hosted by Google D.C. and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
The theme of this year’s conference is “Building Broccoli Cities,” which focuses on “the goal of building thriving, resilient communities,” according to the festival’s website.
The conference will include presentations, panels and activities focusing on culture, sustainability, entrepreneurship, education, activism, food access and healthy lifestyles.
NBC4’s Angie Goff and Brittany Johnson will be moderators of two of the many different panels at the conference.
Angie will speak on the “Social Entrepreneurship - Balancing Impact and Profits” panel and Brittany will speak on the “Creating Broccoli Cities” panel. You can follow along with them on Instagram at @OhMyGoff and @B.On.Top, respectively.
BC All Night will be a late night block party celebrating “contemporary art, music and Broccoli City culture,” according to the festival’s Instagram. It will take place in D.C.’s Ivy City neighborhood on Thursday, May 4, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. There will be live music, DJs, art installations and street performers. This fun-filled event is free with an RSVP.
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And then there's the music festival on Saturday, May 6 at Gateway D.C., an outdoor, state-of-the-art pavilion in the Congress Heights area. The performers will begin to take the stage after the venue gates open at 12 p.m. The lineup includes Rae Sremmurd -- the duo behind “Black Beatles,” which set off the viral mannequin challenge -- as well as Solange, 21 Savage, Lil Yachty and more.
Broccoli City’s Market Village will be set up on the day of the festival, with items made by local artisans, craftsmen and designers for sale. Food and beverages from local restaurants, farms and chefs will also be available.
Want tickets to the festival? You can find them here.
Broccoli City originated as an organic T-shirt company, but has since expanded to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle in urban communities.
Co-founder Brandon McEachern was inspired to start the movement when he noticed that fast food restaurants were easier to find than grocery stores in South Central Los Angeles.
In 2010, McEachern and his friend Marcus Allen began hosting block parties in L.A. They first brought the unique festival to D.C. on Earth Day in 2013 with the goal of promoting an environmentally sustainable lifestyle through music.
