MEDIA ADVISORY DATE: 12/2/20

COVID-Safe Event Will Celebrate Community and the Holiday Season

Featuring Go-Go Santa Express mobile concert featuring Backyard Band and Ms. Kim & Scooby

Holiday Lights on MLK and Giveaways from The Museum

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- On the afternoon of Saturday, December 19, holiday cheer will bloom through a special visit from the Go-Go Santa Express, which will travel through the streets of Congress Heights with gifts for community members from the Museum. Celebration Partners include: Mayor's Office of Community Relations and Services, Deputy Mayor’s Office on Planning and Economic Development, Councilmember Trayon White, STE Development Associates (Redbrick LMD and Gragg Cardona Partners), Emerson Collective, Don't Mute DC LLC, The Museum, Far Southeast Family Strengthening Collaborative, the Congress Heights Main Street - Destination Congress Heights, and Monumental Sports & Entertainment.

The Congress Heights Main Street organization and Congress Heights Community Association have invited Community-Based Organizations from all over Ward 8 to come together to create a driving route accessible by families in their cars to view themed decorated Christmas trees across St. Elizabeths. Themes will include an Angel Tree to memorialize our loved ones lost to violence, The Cat in the Hat, Healthy Food, Harley Davidson, Women Who Lead, and many more. Residents and visitors alike are invited to drive through the Winter Wonderland, between 4th Street SE and Sycamore Street, specially curated to bring some socially distanced joy during a tough season.

At 2:00PM, two Go-Go Santa Express caravans will depart the Parcel 15 parking lot on St. Elizabeths and travel throughout the neighborhood to bring music and holiday gifts to Congress Heights residents. Santa and the other celebration hosts will make a special drop-off of care packages at 801 East Men’s Shelter & Housing before the event ends at 4:00PM.

Go-Go Santa Comes to Congress Heights DATE: Saturday, December 19
TIME: 2:00-4:00PM
WHERE: Congress Heights/Ward 8

Produced and staffed by local residents to honor the spirit of the St. Elizabeths development, the activation captures the overarching goal of the future space, designed by David Adjaye, who also served as lead architect of the National Museum of African American History. The planned mixed-use development built around a town square will have roughly 600,000 square feet of retail, residential, and office space, as well as a hotel. Affordable and workforce housing will be combined with neighborhood-serving and incubated businesses to meet the needs of and provide opportunities for the residents of Congress Heights.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact Congress Heights residents at a disproportionate rate of DC residents, proper safety measures will guide the activation, including strict social distancing practices and a required mask policy to receive a gift.