You’re invited to our Garden gatherings, Harrison happenings, and more!
The U Street Neighborhood Association supports a wide range of programming in Temperance Alley — from ecology classes to local live music to writing workshops and more. All are welcome to host a public & non-commercial gathering in our shared backyard. We also co-host and promote various community events across the U Street Corridor, including at Harrison Recreation Center. Signing up for our newsletter is the easiest way to make sure you never miss out on an event.
Upcoming Events
Over the Garden Wall 🐸Movie Night
Get cozy and join us for a very autumnal screening of the miniseries “Over the Garden Wall”.
“Over the Garden Wall” is an animated series that centers on two half-brothers who travel through a mysterious forest to find their way home, encountering a variety of strange and fantastical things on their journey. We'll watch all ten mini-episodes of this charming (family-friendly!) story of adventure, courage, and brotherhood.
Come early to grab a seat on the lawn. Bring your own blankets, (non-alcoholic) drinks, and snacks to share! The screening will begin promptly at 7:15pm.
hosted by Jordyn and Cory
Momma's Safe Place
Mommas Safe Place is a healing circle for BIPOC single moms to be received by needed community. Express themselves through art, writing, venting, etc. A place to set intentions, grow and be nurtured by one another. We will laugh, cry, scream and create. Share resources in a safe environment without judgment.
hosted by Rae
Pinky's Up!: An Evening Tea Party in the Garden
Join us for a tea party under the stars featuring tea blends from the Garden!
We'll spill the tea (share what we're excited about) and snack on tea sandwiches. Feel free to wear tea-party wear (dresses, hats, etc.) and/or to bring pastries, fruit, or sandwiches.
hosted by Alaanah, Zoe & Alexis
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. The Farm Leads will help you learn all about the tasks of the day, and you’re welcome to come & go as you please!
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Seed Saving Workshop + Exchange
Stick around after volunteer hours to learn all about seed saving. Plus we’ll refresh and add to the Little Free Seed Library in the Garden.
hosted by Alexis
RATS: Composting 101
RATS (Reduce At The Source) is an educational campaign and movement created by Brittany Beekman to identify available city services and micro-actions we can take to enact large-scale changes in our daily life on U Street, and ultimately reduce RATS at the source!
Join the first event in the series to learn about composting! We will discuss the composting options available to you in D.C., how you can get started, and some reasons why composting might align with your values.
hosted by Brittany
TAG Along: The Neighborhood Interface
Been confused by a sign on the highway? Cross a lawn because the sidewalk was too long? Pushed a door meant to be pulled? These are design problems, and they’re everywhere!
Join us as on a walk of exploration around the neighborhood, where we'll trace desire paths, decipher defensive architecture, and appreciate the guerrilla efforts of people trying to improve their own built environment.
This event is for everyone! Just having lived in the built environment (hint: that's all of us) makes you extremely qualified.
hosted by Kunal & James
Do you wanna play with Fire?
Play is universal. Every being benefits from play. I believe the very elements that make up life itself like to play. In this 4-part play series we will be exploring play through imagining how air, water, earth, and fire cultivate joy. Every play session we will play like the elements, give playful offerings to the elements, and play with the elements. My biggest hope is through being both serious and silly about play we will be able to see the ways we can incorporate more play into our lives. We need more playful, imaginative, vibrant and whole people in this world; so be prepared to get weird, be free, and have fun!
hosted by Mali & Zoe
Monday Morning Musings
Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!
Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.
Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.
hosted by Nancy
Screen Sobriety: discussion circle
How do you feel about your relationship with your phone & other screens? Or is there someone in your life who comes to mind when you think about screen addiction? We'll discuss some articles and how they relate to our lives.
With tea & cookies!
hosted by Aviv & Jordyn
TAG StoryKeeping Circle
FINAL STORYKEEPING OF THE YEAR — LAST CHANCE TO SUBMIT TO THE TAG ARCHIVE
Our dedicated time for reflective listening to all that’s budding within the Garden ecosystem. The rearview mirror where stories from the previous month can be shared in community. Bring a TAG story to share or discover one based on the evening’s prompts.
StoryKeeping Circles are held on the middle Monday of each month. All are welcome to participate fully.
hosted by Josh & Aaron
*Night* Yoga in the Garden
Final few classes of the season, string lights included!
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
Flow in the Dark
BACK AT IT AGAIN — LET’S FLOW!
Bring any flow or light up toys to illuminate the evening. Music will guide our flow together. Expect to teach or learn something!
All levels of experience are welcome to join in the fun.
hosted by Alaanah
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Letter Burning
🔥 Giving feelings of pain to fire is an opportunity for confrontation, transformation, and release 🔥
Writing privately and burning publicly, we will contemplate the nature of private writing, seeking the Addressee, and our relationship to irretrievable text.
Letter writing materials will be provided. Any memory-charged paper you may already have is also welcome.
hosted by Chloe & James
Vacant to Vibrant Teach-In: How to Turn Vacant Lots into Community Green Spaces
Ever wondered how Temperance Alley Garden came to exist? Ever walk past a vacant plot in the city daydreaming about how it could be a vibrant green space?
Come to this teach-in where Josh & Aaron, stewards of TAG, will share how neighbors advocated and navigated city and legal processes to turn a neglected vacant lot during COVID into the vibrant and free community space and farm that you see here today.
Secondly, the stewards of the new Temperance Alley Sanctuary will share about our community rewilding process and inspiring examples of neighbor-led environmental stewardship around the country. Lastly, you can also get some hands-on action by help making educational plant signs for our new plantings!
hosted by Sanctuary Stewards + Josh & Aaron
TAGsgiving Potluck 🧡💛🤎
It’s an end of year tradition—let’s prepare the Table and welcome all Neighbors to the Feast!
Bring your favorite dishes to share, especially with anything we’ve grown from the Garden this year. Our end of season bounty will nourish bodies, minds, and spirits well into Winter’s darkest days!
During the meal we will celebrate the official start of our hibernation period and raise a toast to the Stump Fellows for all their hard work hosting events this year. Gratitudes will be shared all around… 🧡💛🤎
hosted by the Stump Fellows
Seeds of Joy: Come Celebrate With Me
Join Sisi SoulShine, lover of nature, play, and dancing; Founder of Soul Shine Theater Garden, and 2025 Temperence Alley Garden Artist in Residence as we plant seeds of joy to prepare and sustain us for Winter hibernation.
We will read, embody, and tell stories prompted by the poem Won't You Celebrate with Me by Lucille Clifton. Sisi will facilitate space for dancing, theater games, rest, silliness, and inner reflection. No previous experience is needed; arrive as you are. As the darkness of winter descends, Sisi asks: How do you dance with your heaviness, your darkness, and nurture your light? Soul Shine Theater Garden stewards communal joy with and for nature, inviting joy not absent of grief, heartache, or tragedy, but alongside and despite of.
hosted by Sisi
*Night* Yoga in the Garden
LAST CLASS OF THE YEAR, string lights included!
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
Flow in the Dark
BACK AT IT AGAIN — LET’S FLOW!
Bring any flow or light up toys to illuminate the evening. Music will guide our flow together. Expect to teach or learn something!
All levels of experience are welcome to join in the fun.
hosted by Alaanah
Donation Harvest for Martha's Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to give back to the community. No experience necessary, we’ll teach you how to harvest.
hosted by Riley
Garden Herb Pasta Making
Want to learn to make pasta from scratch? Want to learn how to incorporate fresh garden herbs into your pasta dough? This event is just the thing to fill all your fresh garden herb pasta needs.
Bring just yourself and leave with fresh pasta! Circumstances permitting, we will cook it in the garden as well––this is tentative. Come ready to get your hands (and clothes) covered in flour!
hosted by Chelsea & Zoe
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Flow in the Dark
BACK AT IT AGAIN — LET’S FLOW!
Bring any flow or light up toys to illuminate the evening. Music will guide our flow together. Expect to teach or learn something!
All levels of experience are welcome to join in the fun.
hosted by Alaanah
*Night* Yoga in the Garden
Final few classes of the season, string lights included!
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
Monday Morning Musings
Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!
Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.
Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.
hosted by Zoe & Friends
Reset & Play: Phone-free Nostalgic Gaming
Reset is a cozy, no-phone social hangout built around nostalgic video games, where you can hang out, meet people, and play some fun, old-ish video games.
hosted by Oni, Kendall & Attention Sphere
Poetry & Paste
We’ll write blackout poetry on newspapers and magazines around how we’re feeling right now maybe gratitude for Thanksgiving.
After some time and some poems we’ll go on a stroll to explore U Street and paste our poetry around the neighborhood.
hosted by Chloe & Kunal
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. The Farm Leads will help you learn all about the tasks of the day, and you’re welcome to come & go as you please!
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Creatives Club & Community Jam
Come gather for some productive artistic time together while the garden is blooming around us. Bring a project you're working on, your instrument of choice, or just come socialize with fellow creatives. Some basic art supplies will be provided.
hosted by Cory & Creatives Club DC
U Street Movie Night: Encanto @ Harrison Park
Grab a blanket and join us for a screening of Encanto as part of the U Street Movie Series at Harrison Park!
This free, family-friendly outdoor movie series has been a U Street summer tradition since the early 2010s, presented by Friends of Harrison Recreation Center and the U Street Neighborhood Association to celebrate the musical and culturally diverse roots of the Greater U Street Corridor.
Bring your own seating, arrive early for music and community before the show, and settle in as the sun goes down for a night under the stars 🌃.
hosted by Kelsye, Brittany, and the U Street Neighborhood Association
Donation Harvest for Martha's Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to give back to the community. No experience necessary, we’ll teach you how to harvest.
hosted by Riley
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Flow in the Dark
BACK AT IT AGAIN — LET’S FLOW!
Bring any flow or light up toys to illuminate the evening. Music will guide our flow together. Expect to teach or learn something!
All levels of experience are welcome to join in the fun.
hosted by Alaanah
*Night* Yoga in the Garden
Final few classes of the season, string lights included!
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
Offline Climate Collective
Inspired by Month Offline, this event is all about ditching your phone and bringing the climate movement back to its roots. Whether you're a student, climate organizer, or just outdoorsy, flip off your smartphone for the night and make genuine connections with like-minded people through conversation prompts, drinks, and a great vibe. It's like networking, but more fun!
Hosted by Sophie & Nina
TAG HouseKeeping Circle
Our last calendar month of the Season!
Partner with a Stump Fellow to program your submitted event ideas for the month of NOVEMBER. Anyone can join as we discuss garden event planning, budgeting, and partnerships. Your ideas and energy are more than welcome! Come early to mingle and brainstorm your ideas before submitting.
*HouseKeeping Circles happen at the end of each month, they are the functional meetings where we calendar events for the next month of programming, approve any new spending, and can vote to change any Garden policies if needed. These meetings have official minutes that keep a record of our decisions and are shared with the rest of the U Street Neighborhood Association for transparency.
Show & Tell
Join us for our 2nd Show & Tell!
We’ll explore creativity in a choose-your-own-adventure style workshop. With 4 unique workshops to choose from led by artists specializing in different mediums, you’ll be able to explore your own individual expression however you want!
Our facilitators will guide you through painting, dancing, writing, or photography*!
*Please bring your own camera/flash. We will be outside in the afternoon through early evening so expect good natural light.
hosted by Shadi
Trick-or-Treating 🍬 in the U Street Neighborhood
Neighborhood Trick-or-Treating map is HERE!
From your friends at the U Street Neighborhood Association:
Have fun, stay safe, and happy Halloween!!
Garden Volunteer Hours
Come get your hands in the soil with our partners at Farm the District (FTD), every Saturday throughout the growing season. Whether you’re a first-timer or returning veteran, all are needed to help tend to our shared backyard. There’s plenty of projects to keep all hands busy, including weeding, watering, composting, harvesting, repairing, crafting, and ongoing side projects. The Farm Leads will help you learn all about the tasks of the day, and you’re welcome to come & go as you please!
As always, we’ll also be giving an orientation tour for newcomers. Welcome neighbors!
Music in the Garden ft. Olivia Arcos and Darian 🎶
An evening of music from singer-songwriter Olivia Arcos, a folk-leaning indie pop artist with an intimate, organic sound.
Darian is a singer-songwriter whose poignant lyrics reflect a tribute to radical honesty. After many years of travel she calls multiple states home, now living in Washington, DC. From Parris Island, North Carolina to Paris, France, her Americana-pop and roots music has been featured both internationally and across the U.S.
While tipping the bands is encouraged the event is free and open to all. Bring a blanket to sit on and snacks to share :)
TAG-Along: Halloween Decorations Stroll 👻
Meet at Temperance Alley Garden for a walk through the neighborhood together!
Halloween decorations are up and it’s time to admire the efforts of our neighbors to bring the spooky to life. This family and pet friendly gathering will leave TAG around 6:45pm and wrap up around 7:30pm.
hosted by Brittany
Thru the Alleyway: How does space create belonging?
Circle up, it’s time to read & discuss!
A monthly discussion series held the last Thursday of the month, exploring how public spaces connect to our daily lives and inviting participants to think critically about how we build the world around us. Sessions feature introductory readings from psychology, urbanism, sociology, public health, and art. No prior knowledge needed; light readings provided day-of.
hosted by Zoe and Nicoletta
Donation Harvest for Martha's Table
Our midweek harvest is donated to Martha’s Table through a long-running partnership with Farm the District. Join us every hump day at 7 to give back to the community. No experience necessary, we’ll teach you how to harvest.
hosted by Riley
Death Cafe 💀
Join us for our annual Halloween Death Cafe!
Death Cafe is a global movement facilitating thoughts and discussion about the often taboo subject of death. Circle up for this candle-lit, intimate, and informal gathering to discuss death while eating cake and drinking tea! At previous cafes we've talked about our fears and thoughts around death; death of places; death in the media; and much more.
We welcome all to join! No previous attendance required.
hosted by Alaanah & Jacob
TAG-Along: Halloween Decorations Stroll 👻
Meet at Temperance Alley Garden for a walk through the neighborhood together!
Halloween decorations are up and it’s time to admire the efforts of our neighbors to bring the spooky to life. This family and pet friendly gathering will leave TAG around 6:45pm and wrap up around 7:30pm.
hosted by Brittany
Breathe Easy: Group Meditation
Our meditation community meets weekly to re-center, connect, and cultivate intentions. With a mix of guided, silent, and relational practice, we ground ourselves in presence and compassion. All levels of experience warmly welcomed.
Hosted by regulars and guests alike, bring a practice for the circle to share.
Flow in the Dark
MUCH GLOW, MORE FLOW!
Bring any flow or light up toys to illuminate the evening. Music will guide our flow together. Expect to teach or learn something!
All levels of experience are welcome to join in the fun.
hosted by Alaanah
Yoga in the Garden
All levels flow in the garden for our community donation-suggested classes with the beautiful greenery and open blue sky. Perfect for grounding and centering. Bring yourself, water, and a mat (we’ll have a few extra on hand).
Monday Morning Musings
Start your week with a mindful moment of reset and reconnection at the Garden, every Monday at 8am!
Join us Monday morning to sip something warm, connect with neighbors, and ease into the day. We will have space for socializing and space for quiet reflection and journaling.
Drop in anytime. Bring a beverage, your breakfast, a journal, or nothing at all.
hosted by Zoe & Friends
Stay in the U
Sign up for the U Street Neighborhood Association’s monthly newsletter, and we’ll keep you posted on upcoming events and neighborhood happenings. You can also subscribe to our Instagram, Google Calendar, and iCal.