D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Office of Cable Television, Film, Music and Entertainment are hopeful a packed summer events schedule planned by local government officials will not only celebrate the District’s music, food and film scenes, but also boost the local economy.
In June alone, D.C. hosted 200 film screenings by local, national, international and Oscar-nominated producers, including the DC/DOX Film Festival and the area’s biggest BIPOC film festival LightReel.
“Though it’s a lot of fun, there’s a great economic impact that comes from this as well,” OCTFME Director Latoya Foster said. “We’re supporting small businesses. We’re increasing foot traffic, and we’re spurring tourism and visitation.”
Majic Wednesdays, which kicked off in mid-June and runs through Aug. 13, is held every Wednesday at Sycamore & Oak in Ward 8 at 6:30 p.m. The free concert series is hosted in partnership with Radio One’s Majic 102.3 and features R&B, jazz and go-go legends.
“I am still recovering from the first Majic Wednesday,” Foster said with a laugh. “We kicked it off with EU featuring Sugar Bear, and they really got the party started.”
She said the program will also feature up-and-coming bands every week to amplify their profiles.
Other upcoming events include the CNN Fourth of July Concert, the Downtown D.C. Summer Concert Series beginning in mid-July, the Broccoli City Festival on Aug. 8, and more.
“For every public dollar that we incentivize for these projects, we yield at least a $14.54 minimum return on investment,” Foster said. “So we’re talking about millions of dollars of economic impact that goes into the city when we are able to attract festivals and concerts and film and television productions.”
WTOP’s Andrew Alsbrooks contributed to this report.
