You’re invited to our garden gatherings, Harrison happenings, and more!
The U Street Neighborhood Association supports a wide range of programming in Temperance Alley — from ecology classes to music in the garden to writing workshops and more. All are welcome to host a public & non-commercial gathering in our shared backyard. We also co-host and promote various community events across the U Street Corridor, including at Harrison Recreation Center. Signing up for our newsletter is the easiest way to make sure you never miss out on an event.
Upcoming Events
Night Yoga in the Garden
final few classes…
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the crispy leaves, warm candles, and starry sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
hosted by a rotating group of local facilitators
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
The Art of Hibernation: DIY Fire Cider + Winter Rituals
Gather with us to prepare — body and spirit — for the cold months ahead.
We'll craft fire cider together using herbs from the garden. Take home your own jar of this traditional immune-supporting tonic to enjoy later in the winter season — a gift from autumn to your future self!
We'll also create space for reflection: What do we need to thrive during the winter season? Together, we'll brainstorm practices, rituals, and hobbies to support us through the darker months and set gentle intentions.
Bring an empty jar (we’ll have a few for those who can’t bring their own), plus a journal, planner, laptop, or whatever else you need to turn these ideas into a reality.
hosted by Sarah
Healing Song Circle: a community jam
Song is powerful. Let’s use it to heal ourselves & the planet.
For me, life makes the most sense when we’re outside and/or singing together. Let’s do both. Join us to discover your personal resonance within group harmony. Bring your own instruments or just your hands and voice to contribute to the circle’s jamming.
If you have any questions, please reach out to Magdalen (@earthnmuse) at mrc149@georgetown.edu
Music in the Garden ft. Magdalen Rose, Zach Beardsley, & No Cheese
FOR OUR FINAL SHOW OF 2025 … a triple treat just in time for Thanksgiving!
Featuring the musical stylings of Magdalen Rose, Zach Beardsley, and the band No Cheese.
Magdalen Rose is a visionary voice seeded in the stars. Devoted to channeling the crystalline wisdom of our souls, she lays these songs as an offering at your feet. May you take them up as breathing affirmations. May their healing signatures ripple into your life as a blueprint for bliss. May we return to collective harmony once more.
Zach Beardsley is a multi-instrumentalist based out of Washington D.C. His musical groups Gerf, Alaska Angels, and Friends and Amigos feature his incredible harmonies and bass playing. When playing solo, Zach is known around the DMV for his funky, soulful and jammy nature.
No Cheese is a Pop Power Pop trio with roots in Southeastern PA. All of the concepts and motifs reflected in the group’s music are informed by the trio’s history together after over a decade of friendship. The group is composed of Matthew Gargano on vocals and lead guitar, Sara Mack on vocals and bass guitar, and Connor Gephart on drums. The members of No Cheese have strong ties to TAG and are excited to play there for the second time!
Join the Garden plants and critters for an evening of home-grown music –– somewhere between a house show and barnyard jam. While tipping the bands is encouraged the event is free and open to all. Bring layers to stay warm, a blanket to sit on, and snacks to share :)
hosted by Lucy and produced by Swataa
Pilates in the Garden
An invigorating Pilates flow meant to lengthen and strengthen. Beginner friendly.
BYO water and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
facilitated by Mikayla
Garden Volunteer Hours
FINAL FALL DAYS IN THE GARDEN…
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District, every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard.
There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. Find a partner and choose your own adventure. And don’t forget to take home your portion of the harvest.
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Sip and Stir Society: Mocktail Crafting
Join us for a winter themed, hands-on workshop where you'll learn the art of crafting sophisticated, delicious, and beautifully presented non-alc beverages. Forget sugary, flat substitutes—this class will teach you how to create complex, high-end "zero-proof" cocktails that are just as exciting as their alcoholic counterparts.
BYO Shaker, if ya have one!
hosted by Gabi
USNA Fall Quarterly Meeting & Potluck
Join the USNA for our quarterly membership meeting, where we work towards a more neighborly U Street. We’ll discuss the possibility of extending our lease at Temperance Alley and hear updates from our committees on Public Safety and Harrison Park. Feel free to bring any proposals or agenda items of your own.
Everyone is welcome! If you’re not yet a member of the U Street Neighborhood Association or your membership has expired, visit our membership page to join or renew. We’re also excited to launch “Friends of USNA,” a new membership category for supporters who live outside our neighborhood but want to help strengthen our community and the Temperance Alley Garden.
We’ll gather and discuss over a potluck meal in the Community Room of the Anthony Bowen YMCA. Bring a dish to share & hope to see you there!
Our neighborhood association exists to: promote social welfare in the Greater U Street Historic District; enhance a sense of pride in the community; improve and beautify the local environment; provide educational opportunities for children; provide planning services and advice; and act as an information gathering and dissemination vehicle for the neighborhood.
Night Yoga in the Garden
FULL OF THANKS FOR ANOTHER YEAR OF TUESDAY FLOWS!
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the crispy leaves, warm candles, and starry sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
hosted by a rotating group of local facilitators
Garden Volunteer Hours
~HIBERNATION MODE
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District, every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard.
There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. Find a partner and choose your own adventure. And don’t forget to take home your portion of the harvest.
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Eye Contact Exploration
What happens when we truly see each other? In this practice, we’ll explore presence and connection through sustained silent eye contact. We’ll reflect on why eye contact can feel uncomfortable or vulnerable, and how it can deepen empathy and understanding. This gathering invites curiosity, openness, and mindful connection.
hosted by Cassie
TAGsgiving Potluck
It’s an end of year tradition—let’s prepare the Table and welcome all Neighbors to the Feast!
Bring your favorite dishes to share, especially with anything we’ve grown from the Garden this year. Our end of season bounty will nourish bodies, minds, and spirits well into Winter’s darkest days!
Please add your dish to this form so we know what to expect :)
hosted by all the Garden’s Stewards
Poetry Showcase & Open Mic 🎤
Come join the Creatives Club Biweekly Poetry Workshop for some poetry readings in the Garden!
After our workshop members read their work, the larger community is welcome to read their own pieces for the open mic portion of the evening. Some light refreshments will be provided. Everyone is welcome, no matter their experience level! 🌸
If you'd like to join us for our poetry workshop series, we meet every two weeks on Mondays from 6:30-8:30 PM in the MLK Library; check out the Creatives Club instagram for more information.
hosted by Jenny
Sourdough Basics Workshop 🍞
Ever wanted to bake your own sourdough bread? Learn the basics of creating delicious loaves using just flour, water, starter and salt. We'll go over keeping your starter alive, talk about some simple recipes to get started, and taste some of the finished products, including some tasty non-leavened recipes.
While we won't be baking a loaf on-site, you'll leave with all the knowledge you need to make bread at home, as well as your very own sourdough starter.
This event is free and no tickets are required. If you are able, please consider donating to Migrant Solidarity Mutual Aid.
hosted by Rachel K.
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District, every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard.
There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. Find a partner and choose your own adventure. And don’t forget to take home your portion of the harvest.
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Creatives Club & Community Jam
Our final meet-up in the Garden for the year!
Come gather for some productive artistic time together while the garden is blooming around us. Bring a project you're working on, your instrument of choice, or just come socialize with fellow creatives. Some basic art supplies will be provided.
hosted by Cory & Creatives Club DC
Donation Harvest for Martha’s Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to beat the heat and give back to the community.
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Night Yoga in the Garden
dress warm…
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the crispy leaves, warm candles, and starry sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
hosted by a rotating group of local facilitators
TAG StoryKeeping Circle
STARTING AT 6PM
Our dedicated time for reflective listening to all that’s budding within the Garden ecosystem. The rearview mirror where stories from the previous month can be shared in community. Bring a TAG story to share or discover one based on the evening’s prompts.
StoryKeeping Circles are held on the middle Monday of each month. All are welcome to participate fully.
hosted by Josh & Aaron
Aaron Swartz Day: Film Screening
NOW SHOWING :: The Internet’s Own Boy
Are you passionate about civic engagement and internet freedom? Join us for a film screening about the life of activist Aaron Swartz in honor of his legacy.
hosted by Hope
Embodying The Elements: Shine Your Light
Join Sisi SoulShine of Soul Shine Theater Garden for a playful dance workshop to compassionately connect to our hearts, minds, and bodies, while tending to the inner gardens of our souls.
Through dance, storytelling, and games, we will actively reflect on our interconnection with nature and embody earth, water, fire, air, and our final element, LIGHT.
You will be guided and have the space to generate your own unique movements. You do not need any previous dance experience, only the desire to explore, learn, dance, and the commitment to connect to your body and listen. Together, we will practice communal joy, inviting joy not absent of grief, heartache, tragedy but alongside and despite of. These workshops are for all (designed specifically for ages 9 and up).
I recommend children are accompanied by and participate with adults, so this can be something for the whole family!
Please consider supporting Soul Shine Theater Garden with a donation at the gate.
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District, every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard.
There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. Find a partner and choose your own adventure. And don’t forget to take home your portion of the harvest.
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Creatives Club & Community Jam
Come through for Garden music and muses!
Come gather for some productive artistic time together while the garden is blooming around us. Bring a project you're working on, your instrument of choice, or just come socialize with fellow creatives. Some basic art supplies will be provided.
hosted by Cory & Creatives Club DC
Donation Harvest for Martha’s Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to beat the heat and give back to the community.
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Night Yoga in the Garden
FINAL MONTH OF OUTDOOR FLOWS…
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the crispy leaves, warm candles, and starry sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
hosted by a rotating group of local facilitators
Fall Foliage Fandango!
Let's gather and marvel at the wonderful beauty present in the autumnal foliage that is currently peaking in our area! Take some time before coming to the garden to truly notice the details of the leaves you encounter and bring a favorite(s) to the garden for a show and tell. Look for cool coloring and/or imagery! Come prepared to explore the basic science about why and how exactly leaves put on a colorful show this time of year. Seasonal snacks will be provided :)
hosted by Stephen
Save a Tree, Plant a Forest 🌳
Join us in our ongoing efforts to restore the ecology of the Temperance Alley Sanctuary.
This afternoon we will be, gathering non-native plants for future paper-making, transplanting native plants to give away to attendees, and planting tree and understory seedlings. The goal of the event is to increase the genetic and species diversity in the sanctuary in order to restore the ecology of the space. Learn how to rescue plant seedlings around your neighborhood, how to temporarily keep them alive in a pot, and how / where to plant them so they can thrive.
The Temperance Sanctuary is a new extension of the Temperance Alley Garden – a place to quiet down, to observe, and to cultivate reciprocity between ourselves and the land. Come join us in the visioning and stewardship of Temperance Sanctuary: as a time capsule of Indigenous history and stewardship, native food/micro forest to bring back native biodiversity, and an ecological classroom to foster and practice our stewardship. If you’re interested in any of these topics, we welcome you to join us in its design and execution!
Hosted by Chandan and Amy
Patchwork Poetry
Hunker down to join for some reflective fall poetry prompts on the cyclical nature of life and the garden. We will write individual poems and then cut and combine lines to form a mosaic of collective poetry. Some portions of writing from this event will be adapted into a visual media project on the history of environmental justice around Temperance Alley Garden. All levels of non-poet and poet are encouraged and anybody who wants to read the poems for an audio recording would be greatly appreciated!
hosted by Sally
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District, every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard.
There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. Find a partner and choose your own adventure. And don’t forget to take home your portion of the harvest.
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
The Comedy Club Takeover: U Street Showcase
The DC Prince Hall Masonic Temple is hosting their first event this Thursday October 30th 2025 at the Historic DC Prince Hall Masonic Ballroom located at 1000 U Street NW Washington DC 20001. It’s a comely show with 4-5 nationally touring comedians. Doors open at 7pm with the show starting at 8pm. There is food and drinks for purchase.
Donation Harvest for Martha’s Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to beat the heat and give back to the community.
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Halloween Gong Bath
No tricks, just the treat of sweet gong sounds!
Join local artist Naoco Wowsugi and Maya Glicksman for an experience like no other. The gong's otherworldly sounds and vibrations open the door to delightful, relaxing meditative states.
Come let it wash over you – please bring a mat to lie down on and water to drink (the more you hydrate, the more you vibrate!)
Naoco Wowsugi is a community-engaged artist who blurs the lines between being an artist and an engaged citizen. As a first-generation immigrant living and working in Washington, DC, Wowsugi's cross-disciplinary projects—including portrait photography, participatory performance, sound healing, and horticulture—explore the nature of belonging and inclusive community building.
IG: Naoco @wowsugi & Maya @m.glicks
Website: wowsugi.com
Garden Gong Baths are supported by the kind people @oppagenda.
Yoga in the Garden
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
hosted by a rotating group of local facilitators
TAG HouseKeeping Circle
Our official calendaring meeting for our final month of the season : NOVEMBER.
Bring any business you may have or partner with at Stump Fellow to program your submitted event ideas. Anyone can join as we discuss garden event planning, budgeting, and partnerships. Your ideas and energy are more than welcome! Come early to mingle and brainstorm your ideas before submitting.
*HouseKeeping Circles happen at the end of each month, they are the functional meetings where we calendar events for the next month of programming, approve any new spending, and can vote to change any Garden policies if needed. These meetings have official minutes that keep a record of our decisions and are shared with the rest of the U Street Neighborhood Association for transparency.
Seaton St Block Party
On Saturday, October 25, join your neighbors for a block party on Seaton St! Come out from 4-7pm for a potluck and meet each other, learn about local history, get community updates, and enjoy music, food, and artmaking. This event is family-friendly and pet-friendly (on leashes)! If you'd like to contribute to the block party, you can sign up to volunteer or bring a dish/item here. Feel free to invite others, and hope to see you there!
Replenishment Gathering for Collective Struggle
We're so excited to partner with Freedom Healers DC to offer an upcoming healing space on October 25!
Join us in this immaculate garden for an afternoon of rejuvenating community care and connection. We especially encourage you to come if you've been impacted by ICE abductions, or other grief, anxiety, and violence inflicted by the federal occupation of DC.
hosted by Maggie
Improv at the Garden
Improvisational theater is an unplanned, spontaneously and collaboratively created experience that exists only in the present moment. A moment that ends as quickly as it starts, like the flame on a match.
Improv at the Garden will be a series of Improv games and warm-ups that help us align with being present in the moment. It will culminate in a 10-minute montage where we can take what we learn in the warm-ups to create an experience that will never be made again.
Temperance Alley Garden is the perfect host; much like Improv Temperance exists in a temporary space, it may not exist forever, but that does not mean the stories it tells or the relationships it fosters are not meaningful. Both Improv and Temperance teach us to truly savor the moment, pay attention, actively listen, and most importantly, engage with each other.
hosted by Kunal
Stay in the U
Sign up for the U Street Neighborhood Association’s monthly newsletter, and we’ll keep you posted on upcoming events and neighborhood happenings. You can also subscribe to our Instagram, Twitter, Google Calendar, and iCal.