How Howl-O-Ween Came Together
Spend enough time on 17th Street and you realize how many connections fit into a few blocks. Your fellow business owner becomes your friend. Your neighbor gets involved in your next event. A conversation about an overlooked alley turns into plans for a neighborhood block party. That’s how the first 17th Street Howl-O-Ween Block Party came about.
Among the local owners and operators, we kept coming back to the same idea: there are spaces in our neighborhood with so much potential. How could we bring more life to them, give people another reason to explore, and support one another along the way?
Hank’s Oyster Bar had already given us a great example. Their upstairs bar connects to a back patio overlooking the alley, just a short walk from the 17th Street sidewalk.
The team saw an opportunity to make that back entrance a destination of its own. With some creativity, tacos, and a name perfectly suited to DC’s OG gayborhood, Back Door Tacos was born.
It’s the kind of idea we love: take a fresh look at what’s already here and give people a reason to discover it.
At Hank’s, that same creative spirit, along with a love of dogs, helped spark the next conversation. Nate and the team wanted to bring a dog event to the alley beside Stead Park. And with BarkSuds right there, the connection practically made itself.
Sandra and Rahan have brought so much life to 17th Street through BarkSuds, creating a beautiful business for the neighborhood’s very well loved dogs. While their space was under construction, Color Nail & Spa was being remodeled nearby. Around the same time, we were getting Protest Pizza + Bar ready to open.
We’ve watched one another build, open, figure things out, and keep going. As we approach those first anniversary milestones, pooling our energy for a neighborhood celebration felt right.
Naturally, the connections keep going. Our drag host, Evita Peroxide, is part of the fun. Mike, the owner of Cornerwolf, lives on our floor. That’s how close to home this whole thing is.
On Saturday, October 24, from 1–7 p.m., we’re bringing Howl-O-Ween to Church Street beside Stead Park, in the alley and adjoining parking pad between JR’s Bar and BarkSuds. Think dogs in costumes, pet fashion shows,
drag, music, food, drinks, and plenty of familiar faces.
And it fits into a day that already celebrates this neighborhood. Friends of Stead Park’s Little Goblins Parade brings families along 17th Street and into the park that afternoon. Nearby, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, DC presents its cabaret, Heated Revelry, at the Keegan Theatre.
There are plenty of reasons to make a day of it. Come by after the parade. Meet friends before the cabaret. Spend some time with the businesses and neighbors who make this corner of DC feel like home. We hope you’ll discover a back patio you hadn’t noticed, meet someone new, and come back long after the costumes are packed away.
Bring a friend. Bring your pup. We’ll see you on Church Street.
Explore Howl-O-Ween: event details, activities, and pet fashion show signup.
Leave a comment