ECHO ARTS FESTIVAL

Sunday, September 27, 2026  |  12pm – 5pm  |  Throughout the Park

Join us at the Park for a celebration of visual and performing arts! This FREE event will include a multitude of hands-on activities, live music, and unique opportunities to delve into the arts.

RSVP (Preferred, not required)  

We hope you can join us for an art-filled day! Echo Arts Festival is our fall celebration of visual and performing arts at the Park.

RAIN or SHINE, we've got you covered (literally! even outdoor spaces are covered) with so many different types of arts and cultural programs that make up this annual festival: performances, workshops, art sales, art demos, hands-on art/craft projects, and more!

The FREE event will include unique opportunities to delve into the arts. From hands-on art activities, to musical performances—including two-time GRAMMY® Award Winners Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer—to dance performances & workshops, and Resident Artists' open studios & galleries, everyone is sure to find something fun to explore!

We'll have food, too, so you can stay all day! Food trucks and our own Praline Café.

Spanish Ballroom Stage

12:00pm - 12:45pm | Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer (Music)

TWO-TIME GRAMMY® Award Winners, Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer are master musicians with a career spanning over 35 years. Their superb harmonies are backed by instrumental virtuosity on the guitar, five-string banjo, ukulele, mandolin, cello-banjo, and many other instruments. An eclectic folk festival on their own terms, their repertoire ranges from classic country to western swing, gypsy jazz to bluegrass, and old-time string band to contemporary folk including some original gems. Their versatility defies a brief description, perhaps “well rounded Americana” does it best.The Washington Area Music Association has recognized the duo with over 60 WAMMIE Awards for folk, bluegrass and children’s music. They have performed with Pete Seeger, Theodore Bikel, Tom Paxton, Patsy Montana, Riders in the Sky and a wide range of musical luminaries. During their performance, Cathy & Marcy will be joined by dancer Becky Hill for a couple of tunes.

12:45pm - 1:30pm | Clogging Demo and Workshop with Becky Hill

Flatfooting Workshop: Learn the basics of Clogging and Flatfooting, an Appalachian percussive dance tradition. The workshop includes clogging fundamentals and Robert Dotson’s Tennessee Walking Step. No prior experience necessary. Come ready to dance in either leather soled or smooth soled shoes."

Instructor Becky Hill is a sought-after percussive dancer, Appalachian square dance caller, choreographer, and educator. She has worked with Footworks Percussive Dance Ensemble, Rhythm in Shoes, Good Foot Dance Company, and studied with an array of percussive dance tradition bearers. Her choreography has been featured at Wheatland Music Festival, Jacob’s Pillow, and the Kennedy Center among others. She performs regularly with Cathy & Marcy's Old Time Coalition, Rachel Eddy and Ben Nelson. She was a 2018 OneBeat Fellow and a 2024 Balkans OneBeat International Fellow, as well as an Artist-in-Residence at Strathmore, John C.Campbell Folk School, Loghaven, and Hambidge Center for the Arts and Sciences. She earned her MFA in Dance at University of Maryland College Park.

 

1:30pm - 2:00pm | Family Tap Dance Workshop with LeeAnét Noble

LeeAnét Noble teaches a “Family Tap Together” tap dance workshop for all levels and ages. Noble is an internationally critically acclaimed multi-faceted artist, including a long career as an in-demand tap dance performer and instructor. She has played lead roles in the award-winning shows STOMP and Drumstruck and has worked with and/or opened for Rihanna, Alicia Keys, Gwen Stefani, Bono, Sheryl Crow and more. She has also worked with Disney Theatricals as a creative advisor and teaching artist, developing educational material for their licensed productions, and is featured in Disney’s The Lion King Experience.

 

2:00pm - 2:45pm | Sean Nós Dance Workshop with Kate Spanos

Kate Spanos teaches a workshop in Irish sean nós ("old style") dancing. Sean nós dance is a percussive style from Connemara in the west of Ireland that emphasizes musicality, individual expression, and improvisation. The workshop is for all ages and all levels; no experience or special shoes are necessary.

Kate is a dancer, educator, and scholar with extensive expertise in Irish dance and experience with other global movement traditions. She holds a Master’s degree in Traditional Irish Dance Performance from the University of Limerick’s Irish World Academy of Music & Dance, and she earned her doctorate in Dance and Performance Studies from the University of Maryland. Kate’s blend of scholarly insight and artistic practice inspires her mission to honor cultural heritage while fostering creativity and connection through performance. 

 

3:15pm - 4:30pm | Tom Teasley and Chelle Fulk (Music)

Percussionist Tom Teasley and fiddler Chelle Fulk bring together Celtic music and a wide array of global traditions in a spirited musical conversation. Fulk’s expressive fiddle meets Teasley’s colorful palette of world percussion, creating a sound that moves from driving rhythms to lyrical improvisation. Rooted in tradition but open to exploration, the duo celebrates the unexpected connections between musical cultures."

Bumper Car Pavilion Stage

12:00pm - 2:00pm | Carla Creative Programming (more information below)

Carla Creative will provide a free interactive fun program for all ages. Whether you’re young or young at heart, you will be swept up in a creative experience that will include an exploration of American creative play with Delante White and Shannon Quinn, Native American traditional hoop dance demonstration by Duncan Munson of Native America’s Protectors, West African Dancing and drumming by Sylvia Soumah and the dancers and drummers of Coyaba Dance Theater and the young dancers of Coyaba Academy.  We will finish with soul line dances including “Boots on the Ground” and everyone's party favorite the “Electric Slide.”

12:00pm - 12:30pm | Creative Play with Shannon Quinn and Delante White  (in cooperation with Carla Creative)

Delante White and Shannon Quinn will lead a creative play program, which includes creating a community mural, fun with colorful balloons, jump rope and a hola hoop mini class.

12:30pm - 1:00pm | Native American Hoop Dance with Duncan Munson (in cooperation with Carla Creative)

Duncan Munson is a proud member of the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape tribe out of Bridgeton NJ. He has been grass dancing since the age of 4 and hoop dancing since he was 8. He is also a singer/songwriter for the Red Blanket Singers, a southern-style family drum ensemble also out of Bridgeton. He has always kept deep ties to his community and roots, currently serving as a Pow-Wow chairman bringing together many nations to celebrate Native American culture.
 

1:00pm - 1:30pm | African Dance with Coyaba Dance Theater (in cooperation with Carla Creative)

Coyaba Dance Theater is celebrating over 25 years of outstanding performances in traditional West African dance and drumming. The Partnership is thrilled to welcome this incredible company back to the Park.  

 

1:30pm - 2:00pm | Soul Line Dancing with Sylvia Soumah and Delante White (in cooperation with Carla Creative)

Get on the dance floor with Sylvia and Delante for a uniquely American tradition: learn soul line dances including “Boots on the Ground” and everyone's party favorite the “Electric Slide.”

 

2:15pm - 3:00pm | Washington Revels Gallery Voices (Music)

Washington Revels Gallery Voices was formed in 2002 by Elizabeth Fulford and performs at outdoor festivals, on several area concert series and at special events. They will bring a tapestry of musical styles: Medieval, Renaissance, Early American hymns and folk songs, 19th and 20th-century part-songs, and more. They perform annually at the U.S. National Arboretum and have also appeared at the Sidney Harman Center for the Arts, Glen Echo, Washington National Opera Ball, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, and the Washington National Cathedral.

 

3:15pm - 4:00pm | Country Western Line Dancing Workshop with Malina Brannen

Originally from New Mexico, Malina Brannen has lived and danced in DC for seven years. She is an award-winning line dancer and has a background in swing, jazz, and contemporary dance. 

 

4:15pm - 5:00pm The New Century American Irish-Arts Company

The New Century American Irish-Arts Company's performance ensemble is a collaboration between Irish traditional musicians, step dancers, and sean-nós dancers. It serves as a laboratory for reviving music and dance from printed collections and creating new artistic work rooted in tradition. At Echo Arts Festival, The New Century will draw on 18th and 19th music books printed in the United States to exhibit Irish traditional music's rich influence in American culture.

Playground Area

2:00pm & 3:00pm | Washington Revels (Latine Mummers Play)

On the Isla of Puerto Rico, there is one most beloved creature, a tiny frog. Small, but mighty, its call is as loud as a lion's roar. But have you ever wondered how it got its iconic sound? Come join Washington Revels for their newest Latine Mummers Play as they tell one of the many legends of the heartbeat of Puerto Rico, the coquí!

Resident Visual Arts Organizations, including Demos & Art Sales

• Glen Echo Pottery
• Sculpture Studio
• Stone Tower Studio
• SilverWorks
• Photoworks
• Art Glass Center
• Glassworks
• Yellow Barn Studio & Gallery

Resident Performing Arts Organizations

• Washington Conservatory of Music: Open House (1pm - 3pm) with a FREE family-friendly Music and Movement Class (2pm - 2:30pm in the WCM Recital Room) | RSVP >>
• Adventure Theatre MTC
• the Puppet Co.

Glen Echo Park Partnership Galleries

• Popcorn Gallery: View the current exhibition; artwork for sale. Closing reception (3pm - 5pm) | RSVP >> 
• Stone Tower Gallery: View the current exhibition; artwork for sale. 

Food & Beverages

• Praline Café

FREE parking in our main parking lot at 5801 Oxford Road. Search "Glen Echo Park Parking" in Google Maps. Find more information and a link to our Park Map here.

Thank you to our Echo Arts Festival sponsor: Julie Geyer Studio

While we will have different activities and performers this year, watch this video of highlights from previous Echo Arts Festivals to get a taste of what the event is like!

Suggested Donation: $10

Every contribution helps us present free festivals, concerts, preserve and maintain the Park's historic buildings, and more.

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