The Landmark Music Festival recently set up camp in Washington DC’s West Potomac Park (that’s between the Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials for you out-of-towners) for the first time. Organized by the Trust for the National Mall, the two-day festival was an attempt to raise much-needed funds for the National Mall and the National Park Service.
Click here to read about why the National Mall is in such dire need of additional funds and what the event hoped to accomplish.
Officially, the event drew approximately 50,000 people (with–shockingly–only one arrest and three medical transports over the weekend) and raised about $570,000 for its cause. That’s just a drop in the bucket compared to what’s required for a true renovation/restoration of the National Mall (an estimated $400 million), but it’s a start. A good start.
Couldn’t make the festival but still want to contribute? Visit www.nationalmall.org/give to donate.
And I hope it means this event will have been the first annual Landmark Music Festival. (And if their website is any measure, it does indeed look that way.)
Though the emphasis was obviously on the music (more than 40 acts were spread out over 5 stages), thousands of festivalgoers walked through the Trust for the National Mall’s educational tent. Indeed, 25,000 people signed up to learn more about the organization’s work, 450 new voters were registered, and nearly 300 people created a virtual monument to celebrate the cause.
The lineup was incredibly diverse–everything from rock to hip-hop to country to metal to gospel was performed. The “food court” represented some of the best restaurants DC has to offer. The Kids Land had activities for the youngest fans. And the weather was glorious.
For yours truly, the highlight of the weekend came toward the end of Day 2. (Hint: it sounded something like this.)
As a bit of a recap, here’s a visual walkthrough of what the weekend was like…
