Celebrating World-Class Culture in the Nation’s Capital
May 1-31, 2010

What is Passport DC?

Passport DC opens doors to one of Washington’s most unique assets – its diplomatic community. Washington area residents get a rare opportunity to engage in a citywide celebration of international culture with countries such as Thailand, Kazakhstan, Ghana, and Serbia. Unlike any other event in the nation’s capital, Passport DC opens doors to one of Washington’s most distinctive assets – its embassies.

Cultural Tourism DC launched Passport DC – open to the public free of charge – in May 2008. The inaugural event welcomed 30,000 residents and visitors in Washington, DC, providing 150,000 opportunities to sample scores of authentic culture activities from around the world. April 30-May 17, 2009, the second year of this celebration, proved to be even more successful with our program and partners bringing in over 200,000 visits to embassies and associated cultural centers and events by 40,000 people.

May 1-31, 2010 Cultural Tourism DC will host the third annual Passport DC with an Around the World Embassy Tour, the European Union Embassies’ Open House, Meridian’s International Children’s Festival, Asian Heritage Festival, as well as other opportunities to visit some of the most spectacular cultural events the city has to offer.

Who Attends?

An estimated 18,600 visitors attended vibrant and educational samplings of art, music, dance, and film offered by close to 84 organizations during Passport DC in 2009, up from 11,400 visitors in 2008. Surveys show attendees visited an average of five programs each

How does Passport DC work?

Cultural Tourism DC coordinates Passport DC, a large-scale tour event at more than 30 embassies and international activities over the course of four (4) consecutive weekends, which falls under the umbrella of Passport DC. During the designated dates, embassies will open their doors either individually or in clusters on Saturday, May 1 with Around the World Embassy Tour, May 8 European Union Embassies’ Open House. Meridian International Center’s International Children’s Festival takes place Saturday May 15, and the Asian Heritage Festival is on May 22.
Additional international programs and festivals take place during May 2010 making it a grand, month-long celebration of the world’s heritage and culture.

All events are open to the public and most activities are free. Event information and maps are provided in our program guide or online at www.PassportDC.org.

Participating Embassies in the Around the World Embassy Tour

• Republic of Albania
• Commonwealth of Australia
• Commonwealth of The Bahamas
• Kingdom of Bahrain
• People’s Republic of Bangladesh
• Republic of Botswana
• Federative Republic of Brazil
• Republic of Cape Verde
• Republic of Croatia
• Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
• Republic of Ghana
• Republic of Iraq
• Japan
• Republic of Kazakhstan
• Republic of Korea
• Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzstan)
• Mexico
• Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal
• Republic of Rwanda
• Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
• Republic of Serbia
• Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
• Kingdom of Thailand
• Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
• Republic of Uganda
• Ukraine
• Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
• Republic of Zambia