WASHINGTON — The 10th annual Anacostia River Festival kicks off in Southeast DC Saturday at Marion Barry Ave & Anacostia Dr. SE. It’s a celebration of the river, the environment, and all the work that’s going into, preserving and cleaning the river.
It also gives families an opportunity to connect with nature. The 11th Street Bridge Park and the National Park Service are organizing the event, which is part of the 2024 National Cherry Blossom Festival.
“One of our main goals is to reconnect people to the outdoors to our natural resources to Anacostia River,” said Jessica Smith Lennan, deputy director of 11th Street Bridge Park.
The festival also gives the community a chance to get a feel for what the future of the 11th Street Bridge Park will look like. The group says they’re aiming to break ground this year. Completion is scheduled for 2027.
RELATED: New renderings reveal what's next for proposed 11th Street Bridge Park project in Anacostia
Families will find plenty of free activities at the festival from mussel raking, a live mussel petting zoo, and learning how to fish.
“Not only is there a therapeutic aspect to getting out and connecting with nature sometimes we can feel a little bit disconnected in the city but really we have a lot of amazing green space right here in D.C.,” said Dillon Waters with the DC Department of Energy & Environment.
The festival also highlights the work being done to clean the river and have a positive impact on our environment.
“35 years ago the Anacostia was considered one of the ten most polluted rivers in the United States, and now it’s coming back 35 years later the water quality is improving your seeing fish and wildlife coming back,” said Chris Williams, the CEO of the Anacostia Watershed Society.
The Anacostia Watershed Society is one of the organizations behind restoring the river, and a big part of that includes mussels.
“We have lots of mussels in this tank and none in this one and you can see how much clear this water is. They are actually cleaning the water itself they are removing different pollutants from the water and getting us even closer to our goal of this river becoming swimmable and fishable,” said Kendra Bierman, director of education and outreach with the Anacostia Watershed Society.
The festival runs from 1 p.m. until 5 p.m. and is free to attend. The Southeast Market will run until 6 p.m. Organizers suggest parking at the skate pavilion or nearby the Anacostia metro station.
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