Broccoli City 2024 was the Hottest One Yet
“It’s community, it’s turnt up vibes,” actress Issa Rae tells Treva Ross from DC Gets Dressed. With Tanner Adell’s witty country tunes, Megan Thee Stallion’s fiery raps, mixed in with community engagement, the Broccoli City festival organizers once again proved that they know their niche audience. This year’s two-day festival took place from July 27-28 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C.. It was an excellent depiction of melanated excellence, variety in music and experience and what it looks like to give back to your community.
Over the span of two days, festival-goers were able to watch their favorite artists - Sexyy Red, Gunna, Baby Tate, Victoria Monét - get their hair styled by Shea Moisture and sample BeatBox beverages. Seeing Black people from different walks of life, backgrounds, and styles was heartwarming. It’s not every day that you get to see people who look like you come together and celebrate what makes us great and bond over it. Black people invented most of the trends you see on your “for you” pages today, and the Broccoli City Festival was the IRL proof of that.
Victoria Monét, photo by Alanté Serene
In the spirit of giving back, there was a portion of the event called “Black + Forth Market” where local businesses could showcase their products for festival attendees to purchase. PackWear LLC of Pack World - a content and experience company - was present for the market where they sold their popular “Chocolate City” shirts, a nickname that Washington, D.C. is known for because of its large Black population. Pack World was founded on the principles of elevating the disenfranchised communities in Washington, D.C. through mediums including events, print and digital media, clothing and cuisine.
Photo by Audi Field
Walmart was also present at the festival with their booth, “The Shoutout.” Attendees were able to create a t-shirt designed by Walmart’s artist partners, Jae Tips, NickyChulo, Ceej Vega and Chindo Nkenke-Smith with the tagline “Ask me about…” with the intention to start a conversation with those you come in contact with. I was lucky enough to participate in this experience with my t-shirt saying, “Ask me about my favorite Black designers.” [I have way too many favorite Black designers, but if I had to choose, my favorite designer right now would be Anifa Mvuemba of Hanifa who happens to be a Maryland native.] It just goes to show that D.C. has such a rich history that often gets pushed to the sidelines due to institutional racism and bias, which Broccoli City does an amazing job at combatting with the Black + Forth Market.
Photo by Broccoli City
Broccoli City are trailblazers when making sure that their audience is politically aware of the world around them. With appearances by U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett and others, they reminded us that we had one “Black job” this November and that is to vote. Day one of the festival happened to be the late rapper Young Dolph’s 39th birthday and the hosts for the show reminded us that it is our duty now more than ever to elect a leader who will combat issues like gun violence. “Thee Hot Girl Coach” aka Megan Thee Stallion took a brief moment to remind us of our civic duties as well during her headlining performance of “Gift & a Curse.” She took a brief pause after the invigorating line saying, “My body, my m*********n’ choice,” which appeared on her second studio album, Traumazine after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. The intersection of Black music, culture, and politics is prevalent and it consistently shows that Black people as a whole remain at the frontlines of social impact.
Megan Thee Stallion, photo by Alanté Serene
In addition to the highlights above, my personal highlights include TrapSoul Karaoke with Bryson Tiller, witnessing THE Jaguar Victoria Monet live, and stopping by the Issa Rae-owned Viarae and Sienna Naturals booth to sample both products. The Broccoli City Festival is a citadel for Black culture and it is my hope that my expectations are exceeded each year.
Photo by @griotsgallery on Instagram