explore CREATIVITY AROUND EVERY CORNER
DC’s free overnight arts festival
DC Art All Night will occur from 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM the following morning on two nights. The festival takes place in all 8 wards with different activations on each night, bringing visual and performing arts, including painting, photography, sculpture, crafts, fashion, music, literary arts, dance, theater, film, and poetry, to indoor and outdoor public and private spaces, including local businesses and restaurants.
“Ward by ward, block by block, DC comes alive — and our small businesses, our local artists, and our neighborhoods are better for it. This is what investing in people looks like. We can’t wait to welcome residents and visitors back in September to celebrate the culture, creativity, and community of Washington, DC.”
— Mayor Muriel Bowser
Mayor Muriel Bowser is proud to present a 2-night affair celebrating the arts.
Art All Night 2026 continues the District’s tradition of celebrating the performing and visual arts while highlighting the creativity that powers our local economy.
Each year, the city comes alive as artists, performers, businesses, and residents come together across commercial corridors to showcase the diversity of DC’s creative community. The festival highlights the powerful intersection of arts, culture, and small business, placing local artists and neighborhood businesses at the center of the experience.
First presented as Art All Night: Nuit Blanche DC in 2011 by Shaw Main Streets, the event drew more than 30,000 attendees to celebrate art and local culture. Over the past 15 years, the festival has grown into one of the District’s largest cultural celebrations.
Over the past decade, Mayor Muriel Bowser has invested in expanding Art All Night citywide, transforming the festival into a signature District event that now reaches neighborhoods across all eight wards. In 2025, Art All Night welcomed more than 250,000 attendees and featured over 1,200 artists and performers.
This largest-ever turnout demonstrates the growing demand for accessible cultural experiences and neighborhood-based economic activity across the District. The festival also debuted the Art All Night mobile app, which helps attendees explore activations more easily, navigate events citywide, and engage with participating neighborhoods across all eight wards.
Today, Art All Night continues to strengthen neighborhood economies, support local artists, and bring residents and visitors together to experience the District’s vibrant creative community.
Art All Night is a collaboration between the DC Department of Small and Local Business Development (DSLBD), the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities Department (DCCAH), DC Public Library (DCPL), the DC Main Streets programs, and the Business Improvement Districts (BIDs). Each participating neighborhood will be a catalyst for corridor revitalization by highlighting music, visual, literary, and performing arts, activating public spaces, bringing new foot traffic to small and local businesses within the corridor, and increasing business sales compared to a typical weekend night.
The festival hosts different activations each night, bringing visual and performing arts, including painting, photography, sculpture, crafts, fashion, music, dance, theater, film, and poetry, to indoor and outdoor public and private spaces, including local businesses and restaurants.
To learn more about DSLBD and the DC Main Streets program, visit DSLBD.dc.gov.
