Posted on July 24, 2026
One unforgettable weekend brought together Joe’s love of music, animals, and adventure.
In early June, 50,000 fans of house, techno, and bass music descended on the RFK Festival Grounds in Washington, DC for Project GLOW, a two-day electronic dance music (EDM) festival. Since 2022, the festival has become a major event for fans offering live performances, interactive art, and immersive experiences.
Penn-Mar resident Joe Ginter attended the festival with Direct Support Professional (DSP) Callie Miller and as Joe put it, they “danced the night away.”
Joe discovered his love for EDM during his senior year of high school. His enthusiasm for it quickly spread, inspiring many others to appreciate the genre as well.
Joe met Callie at Penn-Mar’s Day Program where she helps out with day services when not providing one-to-one support services. She describes Joe as “a fantastic person with unique self-expression.”
Although Callie knew little about EDM at first, Joe’s knowledge and excitement drew her in. Now she has set EDM as her morning alarm, making it much easier to wake up!
“I had been saving my money for tickets and talking to my program house manager about going to an EDM festival for at least a year or two,” Joe said. “I had some people in mind who could go with me, but I know that DSPs have their own lives and can’t always spend their personal time at something like a festival. It was fate that I thought of Callie who was willing and able to sacrifice two days of her personal life to do something out of her comfort zone.”
The Project GLOW Festival featured three custom music stages, interactive art installations, and performances by popular artists such as Ray Volpe, Gryffin, Eric Prydz, KREAM and Zeds Dead, who were on their Farewell Tour.
Its visual and thematic focus on “glow” involved stage lighting, strobes, and LED rigs interacting with festival outfits adorned with rhinestones and sequins and reflective fabrics designed to catch and scatter light.
“It was intense in every way,” Joe said, and that included more than the entertainment and summer heat.
He and Callie walked over 23,000 steps during the festivities and didn’t get back to their hotel until 2:00 am. Callie described the day as “an amazing, cool opportunity to find new things and explore different places,” while admitting she underestimated the physical stamina needed to experience it.
While exploring ways to include a fun, creative activity for the second day of their weekend excursion, Joe mentioned wanting to visit a cat café in the DC area. Callie found a closer option at Luna Cat Collective in Ellicott City, Maryland, a cat café offering adoptions, events, and local art shows.
An animal person by nature with two goldfish of his own, Joe had a great time interacting with the cats and enjoying the refreshments. “I’d like to go back there again and would recommend it to anybody,” he said.
Animals, music, and art are Joe’s true passions. His paintings have been hung in the Maryland state capital, at the Penn-Mar Art Show and Gala, as well as the local library art show.
Joe brings his love for music to the Penn-Mar community, playing his favorite songs at special events, Friday Day Program gatherings, and at some of the Penn-Mar community homes.
For Joe, the GLOW weekend was more than a festival getaway; it was a chance to share what he loves, try something new, and make lasting memories with someone who supports his independence and individuality. He’s already thinking about which festival he’ll attend next!