Home Rule Music Festival 2025

Mark your calendars now: CapitalBop is pleased to announce that we will be co-presenting the fourth annual Home Rule Music Festival, in partnership with our friends at Home Rule Records and the Home Rule Music & Film Preservation Foundation, returning to The Parks at Historic Walter Reed on June 21.

HR Fest is a block party the size of a festival, open to everyone. Bring your family, reconnect with your neighbors and get your fill of D.C.’s special musical sauce. For four years running, HR Fest has brought together the very best of the DMV’s movers and groovers for a full-blown celebration. And along with the great music you expect from any CapitalBop festival, across the expansive grounds will be vendors selling delicious local food and drink, handmade art and apparel, and collectible LPs; community groups getting out the word about their latest projects; and much more. 

Gates open at 12:30 p.m., with a live music production workshop featuring Joantz starting at 1pm. The music begins at 2pm with Imani-Grace Cooper’s tribute to Roberta Flack, followed by West African dance and drumming from the Farafina Kan Ensemble, CapitalBop’s featured artists at this year’s festival. After that, we welcome back Plunky & Oneness of JuJu, a legendary group that has electrified the crowd at HR Fests past with their powerful, message-driven music and deep ties to the legacy of Black Fire Records. 

As the sun goes down, the beat goes on with go-go at the centerpiece. New Impressionz, one of the leading bands in the next generation of go-go and bounce beat, will deliver heavy grooves and nonstop vibes. And no go-go fan will want to miss the festival’s headliner, the legendary Backyard Band, who will bring their signature sound, energy, and hometown pride to a show that might just be the best of the summer.

As always, HR Fest at The Parks is a community event, free and open to the public. But you can get up close (and support the festival in the process) by grabbing a VIP pass, which grants access to a curated space designed for comfort, connection, and celebration, with premium views of the stage; three free drink tickets; a free meal ticket; an invitation to an artist meet-and-greet; and a limited edition of the Home Rule Zine Vol. 4. And VIP access is limited, so don’t wait to buy until the day of the event. From now until April 30, get two VIP admissions for the price of one.