WASHINGTON — Saturday is Chuck Brown Day. The annual celebration of the godfather of go-go's birthday is headed online this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But the go-go music will not be muted.
Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration, the Department of Parks and Recreation and the DC Office of Cable Television, Film, Music & Entertainment will host a virtual festival on August 22 to celebrate Brown and the rich, original musical history of the District.
The event will feature two hours of music and will be broadcast on DCN Channel 16 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., as well as streamed on all of DPR’s social media platforms.
It will be hosted by DJ Kool and feature performances by Suttle Thoughts, Experience Unlimited (E.U.) Featuring Sugar Bear, and the Chuck Brown Band.
This is the sixth year of the event, but the first since go-go was named the official music of D.C.
"Although the District cannot celebrate Chuck Brown Day in person this year, the community will come together online to give the music he loved an international platform for all to enjoy for his birthday," organizers said.
Bowser hosted a community celebration in February to sign the legislation that established a program to support, preserve, and archive go-go music and its history.
Councilmember Kenyon McDuffie first introduced the bill. During the celebration he thanked community members, including Don Campbell.
Campbell owns the Metro PCS on the corner of 7th and Florida Avenue, a corner synonymous with go-go music. The corner became the scene of a seminal moment that McDuffie believes fueled the bill coming to fruition.
"They helped amplify what it means to the world if you try to shut down go-go music," McDuffie said. "Go-go will not be muted. The residents of the District of Columbia will not be silenced."
Musicians have been hit particularly hard by the coronavirus pandemic this year. Wiley Brown, Chuck Brown's son who also plays in the Chuck Brown Band, said his father would want to support the community during this difficult time.
“I feel like it's something my dad would definitely do, if he was still living,” he said. “He would want to do something for the Go-Go community right now,” he said.
The virtual Chuck Brown Day festival is free, but donations can be made online to the Chuck Brown Foundation via its website here.