The Parks at Walter Reed Comes Alive with More than 90 Community Events This Year

Live Theatre, Movies, Fitness, Festivals and Children’s Events Offer Variety and Opportunities
to Gather for Fun and Entertainment

WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 8, 2021: The Parks at historic Walter Reed is coming alive with markets, music, festivals and fitness, as more than 90 community events are planned on its lush green spaces. In the next few weeks, a new playground and dog park will open to the public offering new recreation opportunities. The Brooks condominiums has welcomed its first residents and 301 apartments at The Vale will begin leasing later this summer.

At the center of all of this activity is the historic Great Lawn, a gorgeous six-acre space with a natural amphitheatre shape that is even more inviting after a year of virtual programming. For the first time, theatre and film are coming to The Parks and signature events are returning, including the popular Jazz in The Parks series with all-new children’s performances each month.

Some highlights of the exciting activities at The Parks include:

July 15 through 31, Rorschach Theatre presents Distance Frequences: Transmission, the long-awaited finale capping off a virtual seven-chapter immersive adventure across the city. The live performance can be enjoyed with or without participation in the first seven chapters. The production runs, Wednesdays through Saturdays, and is centered around the gazebo in the center of the Great Lawn.

FRESHFARM has created a weekly produce stand along Georgia Avenue on Tuesdays, and the full-size market will begin August 1, with more weeks and longer hours.

Starting August 21, The Parks presents Movies on the Lawn, a three-month film series in partnership with Blackfilm.com and the Home Rule Music and Film Preservation Foundation. Films will start at 8 pm, and blankets will be available.

A complete list of activities is below. Visit theparksdc.com for full details on each event.

Jazz in The Parks:

  • Sunday, Aug. 1: Baba Ras D. (Children’s Performer) at 5:30, followed at 6 pm by Sam Taybron’s The Love Station and Kris Funn’s Cornerstore
  • Saturday, Aug. 21: Finding Rhythm Collective (Children’s Performer) at 5:30, followed at 6 pm by Butcher Brown
  • Saturday, Sept. 18: Finding Rhythm Collective (Children’s Performer) at 5:30, followed at 6 pm by Rochelle Rice

Rorschach Theatre: Distance Frequencies: Transmission

Movies on the Lawn:

  • Saturday, August 21: Get On Up, PG-13
  • Saturday, September 11: Soul, PG
  • Saturday, October 2: Queen of Katwe, PG

Markets:

  • This year, the FRESHFARM Market at The Parks will be 50% longer, running for 12 weeks from August 1 to October 17. The market runs Sundays from 10 am to 2 pm (one hour longer each week).
  • In addition, FRESHFARM is running a separate Produce Stand on Tuesdays, 11 am to 2 pm weekly through November.
  • Both offer matching programs, a weekly market subscription, and accept WIC, SNAP, EBT and Senior Farmers Market Nutrition.

Day of Service:

  • A new Day of Service on July 30 will support children served by Housing Up, a nonprofit with offices at The Parks campus. Volunteers will pack more than 1,200 backpacks for children. Donation link.

Playground Popsicle Party:

  • Join friends and neighbors for a popsicle party to celebrate the new playground, complete with sand box, berm, swings, and climbing areas. Sunday, August 1, 4:30 pm

Fitness:

  • Free weekly fitness classes from Yoga Heights, Sundays, 9:30 am
  • Regular free and paid community classes from Barre3 on 14th Street, Mondays, 6:30 pm
  • Gym Jonez presents a free fitness event with 100BlackMen.org on July 17; open to members only.

Down in the Reeds:

  • The music festival organized by the producers of Listen Local First and Kingman Island Festival returns for its second year at The Parks on Saturday, October 9 with a packed lineup, local breweries, artisanal vendors, and more.

The Parks at Walter Reed events are sponsored by Children’s National Hospital, Fidelity National Title: National Commercial Services, FRESHFARM Markets, Primrose Schools, Torti Gallas, and Streetsense.

Visit theparksdc.com for full details on each event or follow us on Instagram @TheParksDC and Facebook @TheParksDC.

About The Parks at Walter Reed
The Parks at Walter Reed is a 66-acre redevelopment of a military medical campus into a walkable urban neighborhood centered around green parks. Residents are already moving into new condominiums and apartments, while more than 90 public events are underway this summer and fall. This once closed-off Upper Northwest historic military medical campus is being transformed into an inspiring new destination featuring a broad mix of open parks, recreation, arts, hospitality, 130,000 square feet of retail anchored by a Whole Foods Market, more than 2,200 units of townhomes, condos and apartments (including 432 affordable units), and a foreign language immersion charter school, DC International School. The Parks is immediately adjacent to both the new Children’s National Hospital’s Research and Innovation Campus and the U.S. State Department’s new Foreign Mission Center, and located less than five miles from downtown DC and two miles from downtown Silver Spring. Thirteen bus routes run past the site, which is a 12-minute walk from the Takoma Metrorail Station on the Red Line. The Parks is a convenient destination with uptown charm. For more information, visit theparksdc.com.

For Immediate Release
Rachel L. Davis
202-510-1450
rachel@walutstreetcreative.com