Baltimore is famous for its many festivals. Artscape. AFRAM. Pride. But the grandmother of them all is undoubtedly the city’s beloved Flower Mart. The Mount Vernon tradition began in 1911, established by the local Women’s Civic League, which was founded to help beautify Baltimore.

Throughout the 20th century, the group promoted home gardens for residents, planted trees on neighborhood streets and vacant lots, and hosted this outdoor floral fête, inspired by the national “City Beautiful” movement to improve communities through public design.

A century later, that legacy endures on the first weekend of each May. This month, Flower Mart will celebrate its 115th anniversary, making it the oldest free public festival in Baltimore—and an ongoing reminder of the importance of natural beauty in the urban landscape.

And the event is especially welcome this year. After months of bitter cold and brutal snowstorms, Baltimore residents need an augur of the better weather that spring and summer promise. That’s why Lance Humphries, executive director of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, which took over the Flower Mart in 2019, expects a massive  turnout this year.

“People in Baltimore have a very strong emotional attachment to Flower Mart,” says Humphries. “Because it’s been such a lousy winter and we had cold snow that lasted forever, people are really ready for spring this year—more ready than normal.”

Throughout the years, this annual event has served as an unofficial rite of spring. Residents can browse flower bouquets, smell fresh herbs, and purchase pots full of various plants or vegetables to grow in their own homes.

Flower Mart draws more than just those interested in gardening, though. With a mix of local vendors selling art, crafts, food, and drink, as well as free workshops and family-friendly activities, Humphries says it brings out “the best of Baltimore.”

“We feel like, in our own small way, we’re supporting the economy in Baltimore,” he says. “We can always look for new things that add another little niche.”

But by far the most beloved attraction is the famous lemon stick—a tart, sweet treat made up of a halved lemon and peppermint-stick straw. Last year, the Conservancy sold 7,200 lemon sticks. This year, in expectation of larger crowds, they will come prepped with 8,000 treats, all ready to sell.

For more than a century, Flower Mart has been run by a team of volunteers—some 150 of them—who give the event its community feel and charm.

“Everyone enjoys it,” says Humphries. “They feel like they participate in something really wonderful.”

Lance Humphries was planning to go shopping. On his list: LED lights. Lots of them.

Humphries is executive director of the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy, the nonprofit that runs Baltimore’s annual Washington Monument Lighting, an event that, for more than a half-century, has illuminated the focal point of one of the city’s most historic neighborhoods.

Planning for it begins in August and, on this day in early October, Humphries was preparing to place an order for 10,000 lights that will attach to 28 strands to be hung on the 178-foot-tall monument to the United States’ first president, George Washington.

“The monument lighting is kind of the official launch of the holiday season in Baltimore—it’s like our Rockefeller Center Christmas tree,” he says.

They don’t buy new lights every year, he explains, but the current ones are on their last legs.

The idea for the spectacle came from—who else?—Mayor William Donald Schaefer. The colorful politician never missed an opportunity to promote his city and saw a similar display in Indianapolis’ Monument Circle. Baltimore’s first lighting took place in 1971 and, since then, it has grown exponentially. For years, it was run by the Downtown Partnership, but in 2022, the Conservancy took over. Formed as a nonprofit in 2008, their mission is to restore, maintain, and manage the monument, as well as the surrounding park squares of Mount Vernon Place.

But they don’t do it on their own. Dozens of individuals and organizations are involved in staging the event, from Downtown Partnership to Midtown Community Benefits District. More than 20 vendors sell food to the crowd, which averages 10,000 people. The city’s fire department reviews and approves permitting for the fireworks, which are launched from the plaza. Roughly 1,000 are shot off by Curtis Bay’s Image Engineering.

Emma Loftus has one of the best perches for the five-and-a-half-minute pyrotechnics show. The associate director of the conservancy, she’s typically watching from a sponsor party at the Engineers Club or Topside, a restaurant on the top floor of the nearby Hotel Revival that hosts an annual watch party. “It’s a spectacular show in a spectacular setting,” she says.

Humphries usually watches from the event’s “Main Stage,” which hosts musical performances throughout the night from the Baltimore School for the Arts, Peabody Institute, and the Morgan State Choir. But there are also good views available on the ground from almost anywhere in the neighborhood.

Surprisingly, Humphries says one of the worst vantage points would actually be inside the monument, which is open to the public Wednesdays through Sundays but closed for the lighting. Climb 227 stairs to it and you’ll find narrow windows, meaning most of the fireworks would be exploding out of view, above the statue of George Washington that sits atop the exterior of the monument.

“If you could sit on [his] head, that would be pretty fun,” jokes Humphries.

Construction on the monument began in 1815, prior to that other Washington Monument down I-95, and another one in Boonsboro, Maryland, which some people cite as the first monument to the first president. Humphries is not one of them.

“People were climbing to the top of this monument in 1820,” he says. “It was an active monument in advance of the other ones. The Boonsboro people will beg to differ on that. I’ve read both accounts, and I think that adds to the charm.”

And as anyone who’s seen the monument fully illuminated when the switch is flipped from its basement on the first Thursday in December knows, it certainly does add to the town’s nickname, Charm City.

Five things to eat, drink, see, hear, and do with your Charm City weekend.

 EAT

April 1: Eggstravegent Easter Brunch

Wit & Wisdom, 200 International Dr. 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Free-$69. 410-223-1456. 

Leave the chocolate bunnies at home and let the city’s best chefs do the cooking for you this Easter Sunday. With an epic view of the Inner Harbor, Wit & Wisdom will be featuring a fixed-price brunch at the Four Seasons Hotel with an endless buffet including everything from traditional brunch fare, like made-to-order omelets and crepes, to specialty items, like prime rib and picks from the raw seafood bar. Satisfy your sweet tooth with self-serve gelato, a make-your-own s’mores station, and even freshly baked cookies for the kids (or kids at heart) to decorate and add to their Easter baskets. Even if you don’t celebrate the holiday, it will be worth a visit.

 DRINK

March 31: Budweiser Clydesdales on the Square

3000 O’Donnell St. 3-5 p.m. Free. 410-675-4029. 

For centuries, we relied on horse-drawn carriages stacked with crates of beer to deliver brews to bars and stores before the automobile age made them obsolete. This Sunday, return to simpler times and watch the iconic Budweiser Clydesdale horses—yes, you know the ones—as they clip-clop through the Canton Square to make old-fashioned beer deliveries. Take pictures with the majestic horses and then sidle up to SoPro’s garage doors, where they’ll be selling two-dollar Buds all afternoon.

 

 SEE

April 1: Edward Scissorhands

The Senator Theatre, 5904 York Rd. 10 a.m. $7. 410-323-4424.

If you don’t celebrate Easter (or even if you do), find yourself skipping the bustling brunches and sugar-crazed egg hunts to take in a special morning screening of this 1990 Tim Burton classic, featuring a young Johnny Depp and Winona Ryder at their best. In this darkly sweet film, follow the story of a gentle-natured outcast with scissor blades for hands as he falls in love and navigates life as an eternal outsider. You can catch it again on Monday at 1 p.m. or Tuesday at 9:30 p.m.

 

 HEAR

March 31: FLAT OUT

Pipe Dreamz, 407 N. Charles St. 10 p.m. $8-10. 443-475-0097. 

Since its early days as a small zine, the Baltimore-based True Laurels magazine has gained a local following for its coverage of the African-American community in the local arts. With an emphasis on the Baltimore rap scene, the publication will host its fifth annual music showcase and party this Saturday to highlight the city’s burgeoning scene. Catch local female talent like acclaimed young rappers Lor Choc and Deetranada, Baltimore’s Best DJ of 2017 Trillnatured, R&B artist Styles Bond, and DMV-based DJ Tomiyeyo. Get to the show early to snag a copy of True Laurels’ Issue 03 with cover stars Lor Choc and local rapper Young Moose.

 

 DO

March 31: Free Yoga

Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church and Asbury House, 10 E Mount Vernon Pl. 8:30-9:45 a.m. Free. 410-685-5290. 

After months of shoulder-to-shoulder yoga classes in smelly, sweaty studios, it’s finally warm enough to practice those downward dog and tree poses outside in the great outdoors. Whatever your skill level, grab a mat and head to Mount Vernon Place for this free 75-minute class lead by local instructor Jude Asher. Find a grassy spot facing the Washington Monument, breathe in the fresh air, and revel in the first warm Saturday of spring.

Walk past the Washington Monument on a Saturday morning and you’ll see a group practicing yoga on the grass of East Mt. Vernon Place. The weekly class is one in a selection of free group fitness activities, like swing dance and African line dancing, sponsored by the Mount Vernon Place Conservancy to encourage fitness and show off the neighborhood.

While group fitness classes at gyms can be expensive and intimidating, free group activities tend to appeal to a wide range of fitness levels.

“The instructors are very attuned to tailoring the class to meet the participants’ needs,” says Mount Vernon Place Conservancy’s administrator Cathy Rosenbaum. “The yoga instructor also accommodates those with physical limitations and provides alternate poses to meet their needs.”

Other neighborhoods are catching onto the free summer activity trend. With the annual Waterfront Wellness Series, Inner Harbor’s Waterfront Partnership of Baltimore provides free group classes taught by well-known Baltimore studios (think Charm City Yoga, MAC, and Canton Club) four days a week.

“Waterfront Wellness began in 2012 as an initiative to make fitness accessible to everyone, especially those who may not be able to afford an expensive gym membership,” says Laurie Schwartz, president of Waterfront Partnership.

Want to burn calories while enjoying the fresh air even during the winter months? November Project (NP)—a movement that started in Boston and now operates in various cities across the US—meets year-round for early-morning workouts in Federal Hill and Patterson Park.

“I am not a gym person. I enjoy working out outdoors,” says Sam Gutner, a nurse and member of NP. “We want people to take the headphones out, put the phones down, and come enjoy their city together,” says Nick Rodricks, an NP group leader. “We believe that if people want to step up, make a change, and try something fun, they should never be impeded by the cost or accessibility.”