Simple donation could be your ticket to see many bands for free in DC

Seeing several bands with free tickets is just a donation away.

The 9:30 Club and The Atlantis are hosting their 23rd annual Holiday Raffle to benefit several locally based charities.

The venues will pull two raffle tickets for two winners. Each of them win a pair of tickets to every show at The 9:30 Club and The Atlantis for 2025.

Grand prize winners will be announced sometime in early January.

9:30 Club COO Donna Westmoreland told WTOP that to enter: “Bring either canned goods, clothing, blankets and coats … since COVID, we gave (people) an opportunity to also donate money in exchange for raffle tickets.”

There is only one raffle entry per item donated, up to 10 entries per day. Donations can be made during 9:30 Club’s regular box office hours or at any show until Dec. 31.

A few of the area nonprofits they work with are Martha’s Table, Capital Area Food Bank, SOME and Thrive DC.

“We’re not curing cancer in the jobs that we do, but we are making people happy, and this is another way that we can make the people happy and also do really good work,” Westmoreland said.

And while the full 2025 schedule is not out, some of the artists coming are Marc Broussard, Galactic, AWOLNATION and Saint Motel. And, of course, you never know who will pop in — like Jack White, who did a surprise show in August.

“Any kind of music that you like will probably be covered over the course of the year,” Westmoreland said.