Upcoming Water Gun War Aims to be D.C.’s Largest Ever

(Update on Monday, July 5: This event has been cancelled, according to its Facebook event page. Bummer.)

Read our original story below:

Combatants are prepared to wage war with water on a playground near U Street next month.

More than 6,700 people have signed up to attend “the largest water gun fight D.C. has ever seen” at the Harrison Playground (1330 V St. NW) on July 9 at 1 p.m., according to a Facebook event page.

Though the water war was originally scheduled to occur at the Washington Monument, the event’s organizer, Alex Gonzalez, said the National Park Service “[wasn’t] too pleased” about hundreds of people with squirt guns year the National Monument.

No matter the location, Gonzalez said the water gun fight is meant to evoke the kind of squirt gun battles he had as a child.

“I have fond memories of the insane water gun fights I had as a kid,” Gonzalez said. “I’m just trying to recreate that magic on a bigger scale.”

Gonzalez, who also organized the snowball fight in Meridian Hill Park in January, said that he expects between 300 and 2,000 people to show up to the event.

Attendees should bring squirt guns with portable water tanks but should leave the water balloons at home, Gonzalez said.

Photo via Flickr / Graham Dean