While I've been to Jazz in the Garden tons of times, I've rarely taken any pictures. I'm always too busy enjoying the company and the sangria and the crackers and cheese.
But this time I made an exception.
Jazz in the Garden is a DC institution: on Friday afternoon, hordes of people gather after work for a picnic at the Sculpture Garden next to the National Gallery of Art. It used to be you could sneak a bottle of wine in with your food, but now they search your bag so that you have to buy the sangria they sell. And there's nothing wrong with their sangria.
Jazz in the Garden surrounds the fountain and, as its name implies, includes jazz. The jazz is mostly just for background noise, unless you accidentally sit near one of the giant speakers, in which case it's super loud (I once saw two men who had had a bit too much sangria almost fist fight over the way the the speakers were turned).
People start dancing to the jazz around half-way into the evening. And after that, they start dancing in the fountain. It starts close to the edge of the fountain at first; then, people get more daring and move to the middle of the fountain. That's when the security guards get unhappy. It's funny to see the security guards chase the people dancing in the fountain--it's like Whack-A-Mole--once they convince one person to get out of the water, some more people enter it.
This past Friday I joined the fountain dancers for the first time.
As long as you don't mind insane crowds (and preferably get there early to stake out a spot with your blanket), then Jazz in the Gardens is the place to begin your summer Friday night in DC. There's great people-watching there: that place is loaded with preps and hipsters.
Jazz in the Garden is wonderful not only for the people watching opportunities, but also for the way that it encourages people to enjoy the sculptures while relaxing. It's not a museum environment--it's more like a giant cocktail party that happens to have art scattered around.
The giant typewriter eraser is one of my favorite sculptures (I also love the giant silver tree).
5 comments:
SOOOOO GREAT. I'm sorry I missed you dancing in the fountain. I totally would have joined you!
We can do it again later in the summer!
You can still sneak in your own bottle if you're aggressive enough. Last summer I had a bottle in my purse. The guard squeezed my purse, but didn't open it (and didn't notice the bottle-shaped bulge, apparently).
Wow--I'm impressed! I'll have to try it, but I'm really scared of getting caught!
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