What is DMV Made?
The DMV Made Festival is just around the corner so we decided to sit down with our executive director, Mazi Mutafa, to learn more about the festival that puts DMV voices and culture at the forefront.
What Is DMV Made?
The DMV Made Festival is more than a one-day celebration — it’s a rallying call. On Saturday, July 26, we gather on the National Mall to declare that wellness belongs to everyone and that creativity, culture and collaboration are the keys to unlocking it.
Now in its second year, DMV Made exists to connect artists, health practitioners, families and changemakers in a shared space where well-being is cultural, financial, emotional, physical and joyful. If you believe that healing takes community, this is where you need to be.
Why We Built This Festival
We launched DMV Made to shift how we see festivals — not just as entertainment, but as engines of transformation. At Words Beats & Life, we’ve spent the last 23 years designing spaces where creativity becomes therapy, where self-expression becomes self-determination.
DMV Made is the evolution of that mission: a day where what you learn, who you meet and how you feel come home with you and strengthens your community. But more than anything, we built this because the need is urgent. Our communities are facing a crisis of wellness. And we believe artists and healers working together are part of the solution.
A Festival Rooted in the Creative Economy
This isn’t just a celebration — it’s a strategy. DMV Made promotes economic resilience by putting local creatives and wellness entrepreneurs at the forefront. We’re inviting artists, coaches, movement leaders, vendors and community organizations not just to perform or host a table, but to connect and collaborate.
This is where future clients meet their next practitioner, where creative workers find new partners and where entire ecosystems of wellness and artistry take root. If you’re building something for your community, this is where you showcase it. This is where you’re seen.
Wellness, Art and Community on Full Display
You’ll see a marching band in the same space as a yoga session. A poet next to a financial planner. Dancers, therapists, go-go musicians, health educators, environmental justice advocates and elders holding space with toddlers.
We’ve designed DMV Made to reflect the fullness of our region, not just in artistic tradition, but in the many ways we define health and healing. And all of it is yours to join, through participation, movement, conversation and joy.
Powered by Partnerships
This year, we’re not waiting for one funder or initiative to make this happen. DMV Made is a coalition-built, community-centered vision.
We’re working with cultural institutions, neighborhood leaders, sponsors, government agencies, nonprofits and creatives across the region. We’ve called it “co-opetition” for years — not competition, but cooperation between peers who recognize that we are stronger, more impactful and more visible together.
Opportunities for Youth and Families
DMV Made was built with intergenerational celebration in mind. Grandparents, parents and children will all find something made just for them.
From beatmakers to jazz bands, street dancers to go-go bands, this isn’t a niche festival — it’s a regional tapestry. One that centers the full diversity of what it means to be from and formed by the DMV.
Why It Matters Now
We’re in a moment of converging crises, rising costs, disconnection and loss of access to basic resources. But in the face of all this, our people are still creating, still healing, still organizing.
DMV Made exists to fuel that momentum.
We need places where artists and healers can organize. Where neighbors can see what’s possible. Where families can feel seen, supported and inspired to act. This is not just a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have, and it needs you.
Looking Ahead: The Future of DMV Made
We don’t want to be a once-a-year spark. DMV Made is growing into a movement: a year-round network of gatherings, pop-ups and partnerships that all lead to this culminating celebration.
If we want wellness to be woven into the culture of our region, we need places where people can convene, collaborate and share what works. We believe DMV Made will become that place.
Join Us on July 26!
This is your invitation. To sponsor, to attend, to table, to volunteer, to dance, to share your work, to bring your family and to celebrate your roots. Join us on Saturday, July 26th from 12 p.m. – 7 p.m. on the National Mall. Let’s make history, and build a region where wellness is collective, creative and for everybody.
