Yo DC ravers — what’s good?

The May 1–3 weekend is stacked in a way that requires actual decision-making. Let me give you the rundown.

Friday is Honey Dijon at BERHTA — one of the most recognizable names in contemporary house music, Chicago-rooted and deep in the tradition, playing the main room while the BETTE side stage runs a full Sisters In Sound night with Adyy Love, Fátima, Honey B, and Kotic Couture. Two rooms, two completely different energies under one roof. The Duplex is also doing another Culture venue takeover the same night with Simon Doty and Layla Benitez, which has been one of the more consistent Friday formats in DC over the last year.

Saturday opens with Nü Androids bringing Anjunadeep Open Air back to The Great Lawn at The Parks Historic Walter Reed. Marsh and CRi are confirmed on the label’s own events page — 3PM to 9:30PM, outdoors, progressive house in a city park. This is the third year they’ve run this format in DC and it keeps getting bigger. Then when the open air wraps, Kasablanca takes Culture for Nü Androids’ late-night slot. Francois K and Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy are also doing an Extended Play loft party at the National Union Building the same night — a very different room and a very different energy, for the heads who know exactly what those names mean. And if you’re in the suburbs or just not trying to fight DC parking on a Saturday night, DC Raves is running a black light house party at Travilah Beer & Wine in Rockville — free entry, happy hour prices, 800 watts of UV lighting.

Sunday closes it out with a double header: Azure Day Party kicks off at 2PM on the Ciel Capitol Hill rooftop with ANGO, and Zombies in Miami take Flash’s Green Room for Sunday Love at 2:30PM. Two formats, two vibes, both right for a Sunday.

Three days, the Great Lawn, BERHTA running both rooms, and late-night options in every direction. Let’s get into it.

THIS WEEKEND’S DC RAVE ITINERARY (MAY 1–3, 2026)

Fri May 1 —

Sat May 2 —

Gremlin tip: The Anjunadeep Open Air runs 3PM to 9:30PM. Rideshare in — no parking on Main Drive, nearest lot is by the Whole Foods. Blankets and hydration packs are allowed, chairs and coolers are not. Show up when doors open — that format is better when you’re there for the full arc. After it wraps you have two-plus hours before anything else kicks off. Eat a real meal, drink water, layer up because May evenings drop faster than you think.

Gremlin tip (suburbs crew): The DC Raves black light party in Rockville is explicitly built for DMV people who don’t want the DC commute. Free entry with a suggested $10 donation at the door, happy hour prices all night, home by 2AM. Wear white or neon. This is a grassroots monthly that pulled 150 people last time.

Sun May 3 —

Gremlin tip: Azure is a rooftop day party — social, open air, overlooking the Capitol. Sunday Love at Flash is the club format with a proper sound system. Both start around the same time. Pick your energy. Doing neither would be a mistake.

LAST WEEKEND RECAP

Instead of a recap this week I want to point you to something I wrote. I published a piece yesterday over at The Dip called "A Festival Is Not A Rave (And Raves Deserve Better)" — it's been sitting in my head for a while and I finally got it out. If you've ever felt the difference between a real room and a stadium with lasers, this one's for you. Link below.

A Festival Is Not A Rave (And Raves Deserve Better)

UNRELEASED ID / TRACK OF THE WEEK

Lane 8 — "World Is Mine" feat. Kosbo & BJOERN

This one just lands. Lane 8's production signature is all over it — the slow build, the warmth, the way the low end moves without ever feeling aggressive — but what makes it is the vocal. BJOERN brings something genuinely beautiful to it, the kind of voice that makes a track feel like it exists outside of time. One of those songs that shows up in your headphones on a Tuesday afternoon and briefly makes the world make sense. Put it on before the open air Saturday and thank me later.

GREMLIN TIPS + PLUR CORNER

Tip: Honey Dijon is Chicago-born and her entire DJ identity is rooted in that city’s house lineage — Jack, disco, soul, the underground Black club culture that built the genre from the ground up. Her album “Black Girl Magic” is a solid entry point if you want context before Friday. You’ll hear where the sets come from.

Tip: Marsh has been one of Anjunadeep’s most consistently booked artists for several years — emotive, melodic, never overdone. CRi is Canadian, also on the label, and his productions run warmer and more textured than most of what’s in the progressive house lane right now. Both of them on an outdoor stage in May is exactly the right format.

Tip: The Extended Play loft party on Saturday is a serious booking that isn’t getting enough attention. Francois K has been DJing since the late 1970s and was a central figure in New York’s house and disco scenes before most of DC’s ravers were born. Colleen ‘Cosmo’ Murphy runs Classic Album Sundays and has been holding down legendary parties in New York and London for decades. This one is for people who care about the history behind the music.

Tip: Kasablanca is the duo of Andrew Gray and Mishaal Suokas — Swedish-Finnish, sitting at the intersection of progressive house and melodic techno. Consistently solid bookings, and Culture is the right room for what they do.

Tip: Azure Day Party is a weekly Sunday series that runs May through September at Ciel Capitol Hill, transplanted from NYC rooftop culture. ANGO is on the decks this week. If you haven’t been yet, May 3 is as good a time as any to start the summer ritual.

PLUR CORNER

Honey Dijon has been one of the most vocal and consistent advocates for LGBTQ+ visibility in dance music for well over a decade — not as branding, but as practice. The room Friday is shaped by someone who has used club culture as a tool for community and liberation long before it was the popular thing to say. The Sisters In Sound booking in the BETTE room is the same ethos applied to the support programming. That’s what PLUR looks like when it’s not a slogan.

DISCLOSURE MENTION —

Before I let you go — pencil in next Wednesday, May 6. Disclosure is doing a DJ set at Echostage with Laurence Guy in support, Club Glow booking, doors at 10PM, tickets on Ticketmaster. Not a live show — a DJ set, which is a slightly different experience than you might expect from the brothers Howard. Looser, more reactive, very much a club night rather than a production. Worth knowing going in. Worth going.

That’s issue #009 — Honey Dijon and Sisters In Sound running BERHTA on both floors Friday, Anjunadeep Open Air back on the Great Lawn with Marsh and CRi Saturday afternoon, Kasablanca and Francois K splitting the late night, a black light house party in Rockville for the suburbs crew, and Azure plus Sunday Love closing it out on Sunday. The May calendar is not playing around.

Reply to this email with your picks for the weekend, floor reports, any IDs you catch that you can’t place, or just tell me which room you landed in on Saturday night. You can also find me on Instagram at @plurtatochip — DMs are open and I always want to hear how your weekend went. Forward this to whoever in your crew needs to know what’s happening.

Stay PLUR, stay hydrated, see you on the floor.

– Your DC Dance Music Gremlin

PLURtatoChip

The Capital City Raver · dcraver.com