A 1940s Rosh Hashanah postcard. (from the National Library of Israel)
by Marlene Berlin
Art All Night, a DC-wide event sponsored by the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development and organized primarily by nonprofit Main Street organizations, was held last Friday and Saturday night. It’s a vibrant, highly enjoyable pair of evenings, showcasing local artists, performers and small businesses, and drawing crowds out to explore their own neighborhoods and new ones.
People are hungry for accessible culture and for connection, as evidenced by the 2025 Art All Night’s record participation. More than 1,200 artists exhibited and performed last year, and more than 250,000 people came out to see them.
This year’s event, however, left out a sizeable group who have enjoyed Art All Night in previous years.
The festivities fell during Rosh Hashanah, one of the most important of the Jewish holidays.
I am Jewish, and know that many Jewish neighbors in Van Ness and Forest Hills and around the area observed the holiday praying at their synagogues and communing with family and friends.
The Art All Night dates – Sept. 11 and 12 – were announced in March by Mayor Muriel Bowser and DSLBD, a major funder for the District’s 29 Main Streets.
The timing came to my attention later. I was puzzled how this could have happened, so I contacted the communications director for DSLBD. I received the following statement:
While we explored the possibility of moving the Art All Night date, it was unfortunately not feasible this year due to other major citywide events already scheduled. Events of this scale require significant coordination across District agencies and partners, including public safety, transportation, permitting, staffing, and other operational resources. Moving Art All Night would have created substantial conflicts with resources that were already committed elsewhere across the city.
Art All Night is a celebration of DC’s neighborhoods, small businesses, artists, and residents. We greatly value the participation of DC’s Jewish residents and are excited to see neighbors and friends throughout the broader Art All Night and Dine All Night weekend.
Art All Night and Rosh Hashanah have not come into conflict before, and I wondered how it could be prevented from happening again.
I spoke with Ward 3 Council member Frumin, who hosted a Rosh Hashanah dinner at his home and planned to stop in at Art All Night. His office also sent me a statement:
I was surprised and disappointed when I learned over the summer that Art All Night had been scheduled for Rosh Hashanah. When I spoke with various stakeholders, I was told that venues and acts had already been scheduled and that other major events were scheduled for other September weekends. Nevertheless, I asked the mayor’s office to revisit the scheduling; unfortunately, that did not happen.
Common sense dictates that major city events should not take place on major holidays celebrated by large numbers of our residents. In the 12 years of the Bowser administration, this is the only time I am aware of that something like this has happened, and I do not see it happening again under this mayor. I intend to underscore to the next administration that it should not happen in the future.
He did not have a specific proposal in mind.
A council resolution is a possible mechanism. It could go something like this: “District government agencies shall avoid scheduling citywide events and public events and meetings on important religious holidays. With events scheduled where nonprofit organizations are funded to carry out the activities, such as local Main Streets, such an organization will not be penalized for carrying out the event on a different date due to such a conflict.”
I looked at what other cities do. When scheduling public meetings, city staff in Issaquah, Washington, refer to a religious and cultural calendar.
According to the city’s website: “The purpose of the resulting calendar is to help educate residents on important religious and cultural holidays from around the world and to increase diversity and inclusion within our City.”
To begin such a calendar for the District government are dates for the Jewish high holidays – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur – for the next seven years.
| Year | Rosh Hashanah | Yom Kippur |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | Oct. 1-3 | Oct. 10-11 |
| 2028 | Sept. 20-22 | Sept. 29-30 |
| 2029 | Sept. 9-11 | Sept. 18-19 |
| 2030 | Sept 27-29 | Oct. 6-7 |
| 2031 | Sept. 17-19 | Sept. 26-27 |
| 2032 | Sept. 5-7 | Sept. 14-15 |
| 2033 | Sept. 24-26 | Oct. 3-4 |
Marlene Berlin is Forest Hills Connection’s editor in chief. Forest Hills Connection is an editorially independent program of Van Ness Main Street. The views expressed here do not reflect those of Van Ness Main Street.
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Thank you, Marlene!
Amy Mayers
Marlene, thank you! I participated in Art All Night each year since at least 2019 and one year served as a site coordinator. When I couldn’t this year because of the conflict with Rosh Hashanah, I contacted a Main Street executive director, who said that he had raised the issue and received the same reply as the one Matt Frumin did. I also emailed Matt Frumin, who gave a similar response to the one that you cite. I commend the solution you propose, and kudos to Issaquah!