FAQs
Question
What's the dress code?
Answer
Please be fashionably comfortable. The weather on November 1 has been warm and sunny in recent years (but we make no guarantees about this year). The (brief) ceremony will be outside and the HVAC inside the Dockmaster Building works well. We'll be in tuxes and there will be a photographer documenting your sartorial ensembles, but if ties make you claustrophobic or you're wobbly in heels, ditch 'em.
Question
How do I get to the Dockmaster Building?
Answer
The Dockmaster Building is at the end of District Pier. (Yes, The Wharf has its own names for everything; it's like its own language.) The Dockmaster Building is the wood-clad building at the end of the longest pier at The Wharf (or "E" on the map at the top of the page). There's a fire pit and s'mores trailer on land where you turn to walk out onto the pier and the pier itself will be lined with flags. A full explainer of the map and Wharf locations is available here: https://www.wharfdc.com/wharf/locales/ When you get toward the end of the pier, there will be stanchions blocking our celebration off from the general public and a security guard to let you in.
Question
Where do I park?
Answer
There is very limited street parking within Southwest. The most convenient parking option is in one of the three underground parking garages at The Wharf. Your hotel can direct you to the closest garage and most of the hotels offer valet service. More information on the Wharf's parking garages and real time capacity information is available at https://www.wharfdc.com/getting-here/car-parking/ Alternatively, you could park at one of the garages along the Metro rail system and take the train into DC. The Wharf is within a 10-minute walk of the Waterfront metro station on the green line and a 20-minute walk from the L'Enfant Plaza station on the orange, silver, blue, yellow, and green lines. The station guide for Waterfront station is available at https://www.wmata.com/rider-guide/stations/waterfront.cfm.
Question
What's with all the people with painted faces?
Answer
The Wharf will be hosting a Wharf-wide Celebración Día de los Muertos (Day of the Dead) celebration on November 1 complete with music, face painting, a lantern procession, and more. So, there will likely be a few thousand more people than normal strolling about on land and more than a few of them will have painted faces and be dressed in celebratory garb. We'll have a security guard separating our section of the pier from the celebration, but there outta be a lot of energy at The Wharf that day. So, you may want to allow a couple extra minutes to get to the ceremony - and feel free to get your face painted on the way!