Bridging the Beat: Go-Go Live AVL 2026

The YMI Cultural Center brings Washington, DC’s Go-Go culture to Asheville for Go-Go Live AVL August 7–9, 2026. 

Washington, DC’s official music, and one of the city’s most enduring Black cultural traditions, takes place August 7–9 as YMI Cultural Center presents Go-Go Live AVL, the public music, movement and arts series within the larger Bridging The Beat cultural exchange.

Over three days, visiting artists, musicians, dancers, scholars and community organizers will join Asheville residents for performances, exhibitions, cultural learning and neighborhood gatherings at the YMI Cultural Center, Triangle Park, and Barley’s Taproom.

Go-Go is Washington, DC’s homegrown, percussion-driven music culture. Built around call-and-response, improvisation and direct communication between performers and audiences, Go-Go transforms a musical performance into an experience the band and crowd create together.

Bridging The Beat will bring that spirit of participation to Asheville while creating a broader exchange between DC’s cultural movement and Asheville’s Black cultural anchors, legacy neighborhoods, youth, public spaces and community leaders.

“Go-Go Live AVL is an opportunity to experience a culture built through participation, memory, movement and community,” said Sean Palmer, Executive Director for the YMI Cultural Center. “The weekend creates room for people from DC and Asheville to learn from each other while giving local audiences several different ways to enter the culture.”

The visiting DC delegation will include:

Dr. Natalie Hopkinson — a cultural scholar, author and founding chief curator of the Go-Go Museum & Café. She is the author of Go-Go Live: The Musical Life and Death of a Chocolate City and has helped shape the cultural and historical framing of Bridging The Beat.

Ronald “Moe” Moten — founder and CEO of the Go-Go Museum & Café and a longtime DC community organizer connected to Don’t Mute DC and other campaigns defending go-go culture and neighborhood identity.

Dan “DJ Supa Dan” Richardson — a Go-Go DJ, crowd host and cultural presenter whose music knowledge, microphone work and direct interaction with audiences help create the exchange between performer and crowd that defines a Go-Go atmosphere.

Next Gen Krank — an emerging youth Go-Go band carrying DC’s live, percussion-driven musical tradition into a new generation.

Beat Ya Feet Academy — a DC dance and movement organization that teaches and preserves the fast-footwork dance tradition that developed alongside Go-Go and the city’s Black neighborhood culture.

Go-Go Live AVL Schedule

Suggested donations at evening events support Alphas of Asheville scholarship programs for local youth.

Friday, August 7, 2026

Drum Circle Activation — 5 to 7 p.m. at Pritchard Park. A public rhythm engagement bringing go-go energy into downtown Asheville.

United for Youth Block Party Activation — 6:50 p.m. at Pack Square Park as part of the United for Youth Block Party. A short appearance and demonstration by Beat Ya Feet Academy with DJ Supa Dan.

The Art of Go-Go — 7 to 10 p.m. at the YMI Cultural Center ($7 suggested donation). An evening pop-up exhibit as part of YMI’s Art After Dark series, featuring images and videos from the Go-Go Museum & Café with a curated set by DJ Supa Dan.

Saturday, August 8, 2026

Go-Go 101 — 7 to 9 p.m. at the YMI Cultural Center (free). A public introduction to DC Go-Go culture through live music, dance, history and call-and-response.

Back to School Go-Go Party — 10 p.m. to 2 a.m. ($10 suggested donation). A late-night party with live performance by Next Gen Krank, with support from DJ Supa Dan.

Sunday, August 9, 2026

Go-Go On The Block — 5 to 8 p.m. at Triangle Park. An outdoor community celebration bringing together go-go and neighborhood energy with food and roller skating.

90s Throwback Go-Go Jam — 8 p.m. to 12 midnight at Barley’s Taproom ($20 suggested donation). One last crank before the weekend ends, pairing ’90s hip-hop, R&B and live Go-Go, featuring live music by Next Gen Krank with support from DJ Supa Dan.

Additional civic, youth and community-learning activities will take place as part of the broader Bridging The Beat exchange, including a Business and Civic Leaders Brunch and Learn, a community systems-change conversation informed by Don’t Mute DC and a youth-led, youth-centered discussion about the future of Asheville.

Bridging The Beat is presented by YMI Cultural Center, with planning and promotional support from Asheville Downtown Association, Boosting The Block, the City of Asheville, Explore Asheville and others.

About Bridging The Beat

Bridging The Beat is a three-day cultural exchange connecting Washington, DC’s go-go culture with Asheville’s Black cultural anchors, legacy neighborhoods, youth, public spaces and community leadership. The initiative creates opportunities for cultural learning, live performance, civic exchange and relationship-building between the two cities.

About YMI Cultural Center

YMI Cultural Center preserves, interprets and transmits Black culture while serving as a living platform for arts, education, entrepreneurship and community life. Rooted in Asheville’s historic Black business district, the YMI connects local history with contemporary cultural expression and community development.

For more details, please visit ymiculturalcenter.org.