All Things Go
How Passion and Patience are the Foundation to Growing a Mainstream Festival
By Marcus K. Dowling for Festival Advisor
There was once an era where Washington, DC-based radio station — 94.7 WHFS FM — hosted a one-day indie rock festival at 50,000-plus seat RFK Stadium. The HFSTival was grunge and punk’s ultimate event. By the time the last one was held at RFK in 2005, it the largest one-day music festival on the East coast. Now, growing in prominence in now pop culturally surging DC the All Things Go Fall Classic has impressively picked up the mantle of HFSTival’s iconic legacy. Borne of a music blog in existence since 2006, the 2014-established festival is its sixth year and hosting 10,000 people over two days watching 15 acts on one stage in a spacious parking and loading dock area behind renovated food and apparel marketplace Union Market. In discussing the plans for the event with co-founder Zack Friendly as All Things Go expands from upstart event to respected piece of North America’s festival calendar, it is apparent that the Fall Classic is well on the way to re-establishing the Nation’s Capital’s lofty festival expectations.
“As a blog that expanded into a festival, the idea that we [at All Things Go] love the feeling of finding someone or something first, that has always been our ethos. To be able to give an emerging artist the ability to express themselves on a mainstage at night — that’s something different than playing a show at [brand new, 6,000 seat SW DC venue] The Anthem or [spacious legendary Columbia, MD amphitheatre] Merriweather Post Pavilion.” 2014 saw current mainstream rock favorites Future Islands headline the festival, and 2018 say emergent pop queen Billie Eilish perform a set of her moody left-of-center ballads a year before her pop chart splash. “We’re not here to take credit for Billie, or anyone, really,” continues Friendly. “We’re just trying to create a destination event that fills a gap for alternative pop and local acts on what is becoming a major urban setting’s festival landscape.
Washington, DC’s decade-long population boom has seen the city grow by sheer size (now at nearly 750,000 residents) and economic standing (median household income of $100,000), too. This has allowed for a level of renovation and redevelopment that has opened spaces and neighborhoods as non-traditional settings for well-attended events. Friendly notes, “Our festival lineup in this city now gets people out to places they had no idea existed, and should be aware are around! For years, Broccoli City was on the 120,000 square foot campus of St. Elizabeth’s Hospital near Anacostia (now the home of the 4,000 seat Entertainment and Sports Arena, the National Cannabis Fest makes wonderful use of the festival grounds between RFK Stadium and the DC Armory, and we’re in Northeast at the loading docks at Union Market. The National Mall is difficult to use for a festival where music, alcohol, and security are necessary. But, with Washington’s punk and DIY legacy, using a wholesale marketplace to host a festival actually is a great fit!”
When asked about how he feels about seeing global outlets like Pitchfork and Spin, plus newspapers nationwide mentioning the Fall Classic, and what that means for what lies ahead for All Things Go’s organic to spectacular event, Friendly replies with a thoughtful, yet excited tone.
“It’s impossible to not get too excited. For many reasons, we’re not Austin City Limits or Lollapalooza, so have to stay within comfortable reach of our goals. We executed this event in 2014 with $5,000 from our bank accounts. In six years, we have had no outside assistance, no artificial corporate growth. Because of this, our audience trusts us.” Upon being asked a follow up of “what’s next,” both Friendly’s excitement and hope for the future is apparent in his tone of voice. “Well, to be honest, our biggest next step is to grow to the level where we can have three stages. We currently host 15 bands yearly. I’d love to see that grow to 30–45 acts, where we can offer more spots to smaller, less renowned, and local bands. As much as I love Maggie Rogers, Carly Rae Jepsen, or Betty Who, I also love any of the local bands that we’ve booked for our early sets usually. Offering them greater ability to be highlighted would be ideal.”
The DC Metropolitan area’s tradition as both an alternative music destination point and DIY entertainment innovator are showcased and improved upon via the All Things Go Fall Classic. However, is there a point where 10,000 festival goers being introduced to fifteen hit-makers gets to be too much? Zach Friendly sigs, then says, “Every year, I hit a wall. It’s 6 PM, on the second and final day, and there’s nothing more or less I can do to ensure that the Fall Classic is a success. I let loose, and I finally go into the crowd. The people are there, smiling, dancing, singing along, and then it hits me. I say, ‘I’m doing this every year. It’s ambitious, but it’s also too much fun. There is real risk in doing this, but there’s also incredible rewards.’”
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