Up all night to get buzzy

Hello, D.C.!

With autumn’s abrupt arrival this week, our team returned to an eternal debate: Is the season overrated?

If you ask me, the cooler weather brings things to look forward to — which is what reporter Sam Delgado found when she interviewed gardening experts about what you can plant in the fall.

In D.C., this is also a particularly creative and community-forward season, between arts events and festivals. This week, we’ve got a report from first-time contributor Stephanie Rudig, who went to Rhizome’s 12-hour, overnight drone festival (music, not tiny aircraft) and lived to tell the tale.

Stephanie also curated plans for your weekend! And, as always, we’ve also got this week’s guide to helping build a better D.C.

Before we get onto this week’s stories, I want to share two opportunities to help our team:

• You can take five minutes *right now* for our very first reader survey. We’re 71% of the way to our goal!
• And — in case you haven’t heard — we’re hosting our second birthday party in two weeks on Thursday, October 8! RSVP here. (And if it sells out, hop on the waitlist! We’re releasing tickets in waves.)

Hope you’re staying warm out there,

— Gracie

I went to a twelve-hour drone concert and all I got was removed from time and space

Our reporter survives an overnight journey of ambient music — and the soul — at Rhizome.

Get in the garden: What to plant in D.C. this fall

Autumn is actually the best time of year to put in perennials (and there's still time for many veggies, too).

14 things to do in D.C. this weekend

Close out September with a mobile video truck, a throwback dance night, a punk show on the National Mall, and bilingual tunes for toda la familia. 

14 ways to build a better D.C. this week

Crafting in community, an organizing festival, and more.

Whose D.C. recs do you want to hear?

In our series The 5+1, we ask D.C. tastemakers to suggest their five favorite places, experiences, or ways to enjoy something — plus, one bonus recommendation.

So far, that's included jollof rice and less-sweet desserts, but we want to publish more of these, and to go beyond food!

Whose taste would you trust? What recommendations would be most useful? We're collecting your ideas via this survey.

Come to our birthday party?

We're hosting at Urban Garden Brewhouse on Thursday, October 8! Come chat with our team, enjoy food and drinks, and snag a copy of our first-ever print edition with The Pack World!

Here are some stories you may have missed this week: 

• The D.C. Council is considering: Targeted tax increases, restrictions on ballot measures, and (today!) “neighborhood management authorities.” [Axios, Washington Sun, El Tiempo Latino]
• Jayden Daniels missed most of the Commanders’ last season due to an injury. Now, he’s hurt again — what does it mean for the team? [The Post]
• D.C.’s government and air traffic controllers are considering how to use AI in their work. Meanwhile, local theater educators say their curriculum pushes back on the prevalence of the technology in young people’s lives. [Washington Sun, Fox 5, City Paper]
• Two former Washington Spirit players — both DMV locals — are making their reality TV debut next week. [Northern Virginia Magazine]
• The American Black Film Festival is popping up here for the first time this weekend. We would have included it in the weekend events guide, but all of the programming is sold out! [The Post]
• A dead man found hanging in Prince George’s County has alarmed the community. It’s not the first time this year a hanging has drawn this kind of attention. [Washington Informer]
• The chef behind D.C.’s newest breakfast taco spot — a stand in Alethia Tanner Park — says if you’re not adding salsa, you’re doing it wrong. [Washingtonian]
• Go inside the colossal tunnel that’s supposed to help keep sewage out of the Potomac. [The Post]
• D.C. punk is coming back to the National Mall’s outdoor theater — and you can read about it in our weekend events guide, City Paper, the Washington Sun, or City Cast. Take your pick!

See you next week,

Gracie