Written by Staff Writer-Now Moments TIMES
At Anacostia Arts Center later this month, a breakfast table will double as a place for business advice, a hallway will transform into a marketplace, and an afternoon pause will turn into a dance floor. It is the rhythm of Fusion Festival, returning for its second year with a simple but ambitious mission: to show that transformation is not only about ideas but about how people gather, move, and work together.
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The festival began in 2024 as an experiment in cross-pollination. Could an event focused on small-business growth also serve as a stage for cultural performance and wellness? Organizers believed Washington, DC, needed a forum that didn’t silo those experiences, and Anacostia offered the right backdrop: a neighborhood where creativity and entrepreneurship have long developed side by side.
This year’s program carries the theme of transformation, and the day is designed to reflect it. The morning sets the tone with a keynote from Dr. Lakeysha “Key” Hallmon, founder of Atlanta’s Village Market, who has spent nearly a decade building a nationally known platform for Black-owned businesses. Her perspective anchors a festival that asks participants to think about change not just as growth but as alignment with values, with community, with personal balance.
From there, the schedule branches into conversations about business strategy and innovation. In one session, Howard Jean of Black Meta Agency guides an “AI Boot Camp,” helping owners explore how emerging technology can be used without overwhelming their operations. Down the hall, Malik Cherry, who runs Positive Peer Pressure202, reframes e-commerce as a tool for ownership, encouraging younger entrepreneurs to see online platforms as gateways to independence. And in another workshop, Nora Jacques of CultureVate argues that authenticity is the algorithm that matters most, pushing back against trends that reduce branding to metrics.
Branding and storytelling form another current. Portia Obeng, a strategist known for demystifying LinkedIn, leads a workshop on creating a scroll-stopping profile, something she describes as less about polish and more about clarity. Gabriella Cray, founder of Beyond the Logo, takes a broader view, positioning strategic planning as a way communities themselves can lead change. And poet-DJ art.is brings the arts to the center of the conversation, showing how curation and performance can be used to build networks of meaning as well as entertainment.
The contrast between sessions is intentional. Festival organizers designed the program so that participants move from laptops to movement, from business frameworks to meditation. Nubian Hueman, the Anacostia-based fashion and lifestyle retailer, curates wellness activations that run throughout the day, offering breathwork and reflection spaces where attendees can reset. Sound facilitator Finesse Graves adds another layer with guided sessions focused on calming the nervous system, a counterbalance to the high energy of business planning.
Midafternoon brings a deliberate break. Soka Tribe, a collective rooted in Caribbean Carnival tradition, leads a dance session that pulls participants away from their notes and into motion. It is not framed as entertainment but as a reset: a reminder that creativity is embodied as much as it is intellectual.
Meals are part of the design, too. Lunch at noon is included with admission, extending the networking from panels to tables. And at day’s end, a “(Re)Connect Happy Hour” turns the Arts Center into a space for unwinding while circling back to conversations sparked earlier. Organizers say the goal is to end not with a keynote but with the feeling of a community that has grown tighter over the course of the day.
For readers unfamiliar with Fusion Festival, the mix might sound unconventional. But that is the point. The gathering treats transformation as something that doesn’t belong to a single discipline. It happens when an entrepreneur sharpens a pitch, when a creative professional reframes their online presence, or when a roomful of people step together into rhythm for a few minutes before returning to their work.
For Anacostia, hosting a festival like this is also a statement. It underscores the neighborhood’s role not just as a cultural hub but as a place where the city’s conversations about business, wellness, and creativity intersect. And for Washington, it shows how a small, local festival can add something distinct to the cultural calendar: intimacy, immediacy, and the promise that attendees will leave with both ideas and tools they didn’t have before.
Fusion Festival 2025 takes place Saturday, Sept. 27th, at Anacostia Arts Center, 1231 Good Hope Road SE, Washington, D.C. Doors open at 9 a.m., and programming continues into the evening.
Registration information and the full schedule are available on the Arts Center’s website and social media.
