Headlining artists draw sold-out shows at the Capital One Arena, Merriweather Post Pavilion, and Wolf Trap. DC’s historical local music scene continues to improvise, master, and blend genres including Go-Go music, a mix of funk, blues, rhythm, and old-school hip-hop. Each May, DC pays homage to its music roots during Funk Parade, a one-of-a-kind day fair, parade, and music festival. Local and national performers take stage at 9:30, Echostage, Howard Theatre, National Theatre, and U Street music halls. Four additional music halls were added with the opening of The Wharf in October 2017.

Home to the Smithsonian, Washington, DC is the keeper of the nation’s history. There are 17 Smithsonian museums and galleries that contain 140 million objects, works of art, and specimens–all free. The Air & Space Museum on the Mall is the nation’s second most visited museum. DC has over 25 public neighborhood libraries and is home to the Library of Congress, the largest library complex in the world with a collection of over 164 million books, manuscripts, recordings, newspapers, and other materials.

The culinary community of Washington, DC rivals bigger cities. Of DC's 2,233 restaurants, 72 have received Zagat food scores of 4.5 out of 5 or higher. Distinctions include Michelin-rating, James Beard awards, AAA Five-Diamond ratings, and rankings on Bon Appetit's "Best New Restaurants in America" list. Since 2008, the number of bars, clubs, and alcohol-serving restaurants increased by 63%.

An expanding ecosystem of homegrown music, food, art, and Made in DC products appeal to visitors from near and far. Washington, DC’s flourishing creative economy provides makers and creatives access to a wide audience and, as the creative community continues to grow, so do the opportunities. Compass Coffee, founded by two US Marine veterans who served in Afghanistan, opened their first coffee shop in 2014. Today, they operate seven coffee shops and became the coffee of choice at the White House during the Obama administration. Their newest roastery in the Ivy City neighborhood makes them the largest coffee manufacturer in DC.

Over the past ten years, DC has transformed a school system that underperformed into the fastest improving urban school district in the country, the District of Columbia has 263 elementary and secondary schools that serve 92,245 local students, and enrollment has been steadily growing in DC public schools for nearly a decade – a reflection of the confidence parents have in the District’s education system.

Unique among major US cities, nearly half of DC’s public school enrollment is in public charter schools, which are tuition-free and open to all. With over 6,500 teachers, DC’s pupil/teacher ratio is 12.76, far better than the national average of 15.96. DC also has over 40 different private and parochial schools, many among the best in the country, including Sidwell Friends, National Cathedral School, Georgetown Day School, St. Albans, and St. Anselm’s Abbey.