Black Family Reunion Celebration

In 1986, alarmed by negative publicity about "the vanishing black family," the National Council of Negro Women created the Black Family Reunion Celebration to do honor to "the enduring strengths and traditional values of the African American Family." Today the two-day Black Family Reunion, held every fall, attracts more than 500,000 people to the National Mall in what is billed as the largest family event in the country.

Travel Information

Black Family Reunion Celebration
National Mall between 7th and 14 Streets, near Constitution Avenue, NW
Washington, DC
202.737.0120

Hours: Saturday, September 12
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.: Ecumenical prayer breakfast
Noon to 5 p.m.: Family activities
5:30 to 8 p.m.: R&B concert

Sunday, September 13
Noon to 5 p.m.: Family activities
5:30 to 8 p.m.: Gospel concert

Admission: Free

Parking: There is limited free, public, daylong parking available along Ohio Drive, SW, between the Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson Memorials. Metered parking on streets is restricted to two hours. There are private paid garages downtown, north of the Mall.

Metrorail: Blue and Orange Line to the Smithsonian stop or Green and Yellow Line to the Archives/Navy Memorial stop.

Nearby Attractions

National Mall

Smithsonian Museums

Washington Monument

Suggested Tours

Historic Tours of America

Tourmobile Sightseeing

The Reunion grounds encompass an arts and crafts fair and a wide variety of food vendors. There are also special pavilions where you can get checked for high blood pressure, glaucoma, HIV, diabetes, and high cholesterol; learn about financial literacy, first-time home buying, and predatory lending; meet recruitment officers from historically black colleges and universities; research your heritage with a DNA test; take part in a sports clinic; and much more.

For more, visit www.ncnw.org/events/reunion.htm .

Travel Tips

Both days (September 11 and 12 in 2010) end with a free concert—rhythm and blues on Saturday, gospel on Sunday.

There’s not much shade on the Mall, so bring sunscreen and a hat. It can still be quite hot in Washington, D.C. in mid-September, so drink plenty of water, too.

Find all the information you need about Washington, D.C. at http://www.thedistrict.com