A host of summery events kicked off this weekend. The Washington Folk Festival was held at Glen Echo Park and Pride Family Day in front of the Smithsonian American Art Museum featured a marching band, an “age-appropriate drag show,” and arts and crafts.

On Saturday, Open Streets shut down more than a mile of road in Shaw through Penn Quarter from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. so residents could dance, bike, skate, and scoot down 7th Street NW. The event featured bike rodeos, virtual reality, live art and fitness classes, a silent disco and a space for yoga, Zumba, and strength training, WTOP reports.

On Sunday, the District’s first ever Afro Latino Festival in Malcolm X Park celebrated the diversity of Latinos, including Black people of Latin American descent. Eduardo Perdomo, the interim director of the Mayor’s Office on Latino Affairs, and an Afro Latino who hails from the Dominican Republic, is excited that D.C. is doing more to celebrate the roots, culture, and history of people who have been traditionally excluded from conversations and classifications of Latinos. 

The Experience Band performed alongside Cuban jazz singer Daymé Arocena, Dominican guitarist Yasser Tejeda, Garifuna singer Aurelio Martínez, and Cuban drummer Yissy García. The iconic drum circle that has gathered in the park since the 1960s contributed to the festivities. Attendees of the event also participated in painting, yoga, and capoeira.  

In less celebratory news …

On Saturday, the DC Public Health Lab confirmed the District’s first positive case of orthopox, which is in the family of viruses that includes monkeypox, whose spread throughout the globe is causing “moderate” concern. The lab is waiting for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to further confirm the results. City officials say the D.C. resident who tested positive is currently in isolation and had recently traveled to Europe.

While monkeypox infection is usually mild, its transmissibility might be more concerning than DC Health Senior Deputy Director Patrick Ashley previously noted: The World Health Organization’s count of cases worldwide has tripled this past week, from 257 to 780. In its most recent update, the WHO said new monkeypox cases are showing up even with people who don’t have a known exposure to those with confirmed cases, suggesting an undetected community spread, BBC reports. 

Much is still unknown about the current monkeypox transmission. Meanwhile, the CDC recommends safety precautions that are all too familiar: isolation of individuals who test positive; good hand hygiene; use of PPE and disinfectant. The CDC also suggests infected individuals avoid touching pets and non-human animals, some of whom might be more susceptible to monkeypox.

Follow our elections coverage:

Every day this week, we’ll be rolling out a primer for each of the competitive local races, starting with Mayor Muriel Bowser’s bid for re-election. Standing in Bowser’s way of a third term are At-Large Councilmember Robert White and Ward 8 Councilmember Trayon White. Erstwhile advisory neighborhood commissioner James Butler is also running.

—Ambar Castillo (tips? acastillo@washingtoncitypaper.com)

• To see today’s COVID-19 data, visit our coronavirus tracker.
• Jury selection is underway for the final Georgetown University admissions case: Amin Khoury allegedly used a middleman to pay off then Georgetown tennis coach Gordon Ernst to recruit his daughter for the team. [WTOP] 
• A mother’s effort to save her son from mental health and substance use issues ultimately ended when Secret Service officers shot and killed him. [Post] 
• A man stole an ambulance in Southeast on Saturday morning. The vehicle was later recovered, and the suspect, who was reportedly armed, is still at large. [WUSA9]
• Police are also still looking for the person who stabbed a man on a Metrobus on Friday around Newark Street and Wisconsin Avenue NW. [Post]

By City Paper staff (tips? editor@washingtoncitypaper.com)