2010 Festival Venues

Split This Rock events will take place in the U Street Neighborhood, at Bell Multicultural High School in the Columbia Heights neighborhood, and in DC's Mount Pleasant neighborhood. Most distances are walkable. A short bus, Metro, or taxi ride will get you from neighborhood to neighborhood if walking isn't an option.

U Street Neighborhood - Workshops and Panels
U Street/Cardozo on the Metro Green/Yellow Line

Busboys and Poets
2021 14th Street NW (corner of 14th and V Streets, NW)
Washington, DC
202-387-POET
www.busboysandpoets.com
Registration, workshops, and panel discussions will take place at Busboys and Poets, festival headquarters and sponsor. Busboys and Poets is a restaurant, coffeehouse, gallery, bar, performance space, bookstore, and gathering place for people who believe that social justice and peace are attainable goals.

The Thurgood Marshall Center for Service and Heritage
1816 12th Street NW
Washington, DC
202-462-8314
www.thurgoodmarshallcenter.org
The Thurgood Marshall Center is located in the historic Twelfth Street YMCA building, the former home of the first full service YMCA for African Americans in the nation. It was designed by one of the nation's first African-American architects, W. Sidney Pittman, son-in-law of Booker T. Washington and was built largely by African-American artisans.

True Reformer Building
1200 U Street NW
Washington, DC
202-965-1800
www.culturaltourismdc.org
The True Reformer Building is located in the historic U Street Corridor and was the work of the Grand United Order of True Reformers, a benevolent society based in Richmond, Virginia. The hall housed the offices of the True Reformers, in addition to conference rooms, a concert hall, and street-level businesses. In his autobiography, Duke Ellington wrote that he had his first paid performance in room number five, for which he charged a cover of five cents per person.

Known as the “Black Broadway,” U Street is the historic center of African-American cultural life in Washington, DC. It was home to many clubs and theatres that featured such jazz superstars at Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey. In the 1920s, DC poets such as Angelina Weld Grimke, Jean Toomer, and Langston Hughes wrote essential works on the African-American experience while living in the area. Recently, U Street has become the focal point for DC’s vibrant poetry and spoken word community; one can attend a reading or open mic almost any night of the week at restaurants, cafes, and nightclubs there.

Columbia Heights & Mount Pleasant - Readings, Open Mic, and Parties
Columbia Heights Metro on the Green/Yellow Line

Bell Multicultural High School
3101 16th Street NW
Washington, DC 20010
202-939-7700
http://www.checdc.org/our_mission.html
Bell Multicultural High School is an innovative, bilingual DC public high school dedicated to developing critical thinkers who are leaders in the quest for social justice.

Dance Institute of Washington
3400 14th Street Northwest
Washington, DC 20010-3401
202-371-9656
www.danceinstitute.org
DIW is a dance education institute committed to providing children and youth the opportunity to develop socially, emotionally, intellectually, and artistically through the discipline of dance.

Marx Café
3203 Mount Pleasant St NW
Washington, DC 20010
202-518-7600
www.marxcafemtp.com
Marx Café, three blocks from the Columbia Heights Metro station, hosts nightly events and offers a full bar & features a delicious menu of Greek & Italian dishes & desserts.

Upper Senate Park - Poetry in the Streets
Near Union Station (Metro's Red Line), or take the #96 bus

See the description for details. All are welcome! You don't have to be registered for the festival to take part in the Cento.

More Information

Maps of both areas and Metro maps will be included in registration materials. We highly recommend taking Metro - www.wmata.com. All festival sites are within easy walking distance of the Metro. Fares for Metro increase by 10 cents on February 28; subway rides start at $1.75 (and may increase with the distance you ride). We recommend that you buy a Metro fare card with enough for several trips on it, to save time. Machines in each station take cash and credit cards. If you’ll be around longer for sight-seeing or lobbying, consider buying a 7-day pass for $26.40. These must be bought online at www.wmata.com/fares/purchase/store.