Mayor Bowser Announces 21st Emancipation Day Celebration, New Location

Wednesday, April 15, 2026 Annual Parade, Festival, and Concert to Take Place at 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW; Text DC250 to 888-777 for Updates (Washington, DC) – Today, Mayor Muriel Bowser is inviting residents of all ages to take part in the District’s 21st annual DC Emancipation Day festivities on Sunday, April 19—a free, day-long celebration that includes a festival and parade, as well as a star-studded concert featuring amazing performers. Today, the Mayor also announced a new location for this year’s celebration due to high demand: 13th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. To receive Emancipation Weekend event updates, including information about street closures, weather alerts, and transit updates, text DC250 to 888-777.

Festival grounds open at 1 pm, the parade starts at 1:30 pm, and the star-studded concert begins at 2:30 pm This year’s parade will feature community groups, marching bands, cheer teams, dance troupes, and more. And the festival will be a lively affair, with music, food, and entertainment for all ages. The concert will feature performances by world-renowned, three-time Grammy Award-winning rapper, actor, and record producer T.I.; DC’s own Grammy Award-winning singer Mýa; and three-time Grammy-winning gospel artist Tye Tribbett —as well as Backyard Band featuring Sugar Bear, Black Alley, 44 The Musical, and Souls of Kingsmen.

In addition to this year’s amazing lineup, hosts Dominique Da Diva (WKYS 93.9), Vic Jagger (WMMJ 102.3), Asia (WMMJ 102.3), EZ Street (WHUR 96.3), and Poet (WPGC 95.5) will work the crowd, introduce the night’s performers, and bring the energy from start to finish. And DJ Phunatic and CoCo Spinelle will keep the party going, spinning great tunes between sets. OCTFME hosts will also join the stage to kick-off the concert, including John Avery, Emmy Award-winning host of Raiding the Crates (DC Radio); Troy Pinckney and Dion Dove, hosts of Hip Hop Corridor (DC Radio); and Cecily Fernandez, host and producer of District Dash and We Are Washington (DCN).

For more information about this year’s Emancipation Day celebration and to RSVP, visit emancipation.dc.gov.

DC Emancipation Day Festival

1 pm

• 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW DC Emancipation Day Parade

1:30 pm

• Starting location: 9th Street NW and Pennsylvania Ave NW

• Ending location: 12th Street NW and Pennsylvania Ave NW
  DC Emancipation Day Concert
  2:30 pm

• 13th and Pennsylvania Avenue NW
  DC Emancipation Day commemorates the signing of the DC Compensated Emancipation Act of 1862 by President Abraham Lincoln, which ended slavery in the District of Columbia, freeing more than 3,100 enslaved people and making DC the first place in the nation where emancipation became law—nearly nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. This year marks 21 years since the legislation that made DC Emancipation Day an official District holiday was signed into law.

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