The DMV Democracy Festival

DemFest tickets are available for purchase online here. 

Click here for simple ways you can support DemFest. 

This page was updated on September 15, 2024.  

Summary & Purpose 

Widen and deepen civic engagement, foster collaboration, and make democracy more fun, less fractious with a financially sustainable, youth and family-friendly democracy festival in the Washington, DC capital region.

Context 

Dance, flowers, marijuana, beer and wine all get festivals.  If we want to make democracy more engaging for more people, rather than boring or divisive, why aren’t we investing in democracy festivals?  If democracy is so important to Americans, why don’t we have democracy festivals every year in towns and cities across the country?  If Washington DC is the capital of our country, and democracy is central to American freedom, why does DC have folk life, kite flying, and cherry blossom festivals, but no democracy festival?

In the mid to late 1800s, American democracy was often highly participatory and fun, involving parades, rallies, music, public speeches and debates, culminating in elections with some of the highest voter turnout in U.S. history.  Democracy then was also conflictual, corrupt and exclusionary (e.g., women and people of color were often or always barred from participating), so progressive reformers gradually remade American politics into what it is now: relatively orderly, peaceful, inclusive, yet also less fun.  Can we make democracy fun again, without spurring conflict, corruption and exclusion?  Learning Life, a DC-based educational nonprofit, believes we can, in part with democracy festivals, as part of a wider Democracy Learning Community (DLC).  And we’re not alone: democracy festivals are spreading in Europe.  And, here are five reasons to support democracy festivals. 

Date & Location

The first Democracy Festival in the Washington, DC region will take place at 1:00 to 6:00pm on Saturday, October 26, 2024 at Friendship Collegiate Academy at 4095 Minnesota Avenue NE, across the street from the Minnesota Avenue Metro Station on the Orange Line.  Collegiate Academy is ADA-compliant.   

Goals

Produce a youth and family-friendly DMV Democracy Festival (DemFest) that:

  1. Makes democracy fun for all ages
  2. Widens participation in democracy
  3. Deepens civic learning
  4. Is financially self-sustaining, and helps grow the wider DLC 
  5. Fosters creative collaboration, particularly between folks in the DMV arts, education, business, philanthropic, and democracy sectors
Schedule

DemFest will proceed as follows, with a variety of discussions, workshops, performances, exhibits, and/or games during each of the three one-hour Activities sessions.  

12:30-1:15pm: Registration

1:15-2:15: Activities 1

2:15-2:30: Break

2:30-3:30: Activities 2

3:30-3:45: Break

3:45-4:45: Activities 3 

4:45-5:00: Break

5:00-6:00: Culminating celebration with music, food, speakers, awards announcements, and mingling. 

Activities & Deadlines

Festival activities will include all or most of the following, depending on demand.  Some activities require application in advance to participate.  Applicants should not wait until the deadlines below to apply as seating is limited, and applicants are in many cases accepted on a rolling basis.  

  1. Participatory discussions on diverse democracy topics, including local initiatives, international trends, the 2024 elections, polarization and authoritarianism, economic democracy, democratic innovations, and more.  
  2. Games, digital or analog, stationary or active, for kids of different ages and adults to learn and practice democracy through play.
  3. Comedy, theater, and other visual and performing arts focused on democracy-related issues.  Note: among other things, we are looking for theater students interested in enacting, in costume, famous leaders and moments in US or world democracy history.  Apply here to exhibit or perform.  Deadline to apply: Sunday, October 6.   
  4. One or more poster exhibits featuring democracy-related research and/or action projects.  Submissions are welcome from all DC area residents, both students and non-students.  Submit your poster for consideration here.  Deadline for both poster submissions: Sunday, October 6.  
  5. A democracy market: tables with information, resources, goods for sale, and opportunities to engage from a variety of democracy-related businesses, nonprofits, and government agencies.  Apply for your DemFest table here.  Deadline to apply: Sunday, October 6.
  6. Skill-building workshops like “Community Organizing 101,” “How to Run for Office,” and “The Voting Process.”     
  7. A youth citizen assembly on mental health allowing diverse DMV residents ages 12 to 25 to come together to learn, deliberate and propose city, county and/or state policies to address the mental health crisis.  The assembly has two parts.  Saturday October 19, 1-3pm, is online and not required but strongly encouraged.  Saturday, October 26, 1-5pm, is in-person at Demfest and required. Apply to participate here.  All DMV residents ages 12 to 25 who apply are accepted, up to 150 youth.  
  8. A democracy learning community visioning session to give committed area residents the opportunity to learn, think and envision together what a vibrant democracy might look like in the DC region.  Apply here to take part.  Deadline to apply: Sunday, October 13.     

For many activities, seating will be in a circle rather than conventional lecture style in order for all participants to see each other, and to encourage interaction.  Speakers are encouraged to serve as facilitators rather than lecturers, providing information then leading participatory discussion rather than lecturing then taking questions. 

Tickets

Tickets are available for purchase online here until 11:59pm on Wednesday, October 23 at $3 for kids 17 and under, and $5 for adults 18 and older.   Then, on the festival day, attendees will be able to purchase their tickets at the entrance door with cash, debit or credit card for $5 for kids 17 and under, and $7 for adults 18 and older. 

Festival goers, including speakers, artists, exhibitors, etc. must purchase their tickets to attend.  The only exceptions are DemFest tablers/vendors, sponsors and volunteers, whose tickets are included in their tabling fee, sponsorship, or volunteering.  Volunteers must volunteer at least three hours of their time on the festival day to get a free ticket.  

Why do we charge to attend or take part in DemFest?  Three reasons.  First, many festivals charge for entry, so charging for DemFest entry is consistent with common festival practice.  Second, Learning Life’s aim is to make DemFest financially sustainable and hence replicable elsewhere. Ticket revenue is a part of sustainable funding, even if our purposefully low ticket prices far from cover the total festival expenses. Third, democracy is not free.  Just like it takes money to run campaigns, elections, courts, legislatures and executive offices, it takes money (plus lots of volunteers!) to pay festival expenses, like staff time, printing, food, awards, rentals, site costs, etc.                     

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