The annual Falls Church Festival is back next month, bringing the Little City a day of live entertainment, activities and food tasting with 90 vendors.
Now in its 48th year, the festival is scheduled to run from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 14, outside City Hall at 300 Park Avenue. Admission is free and food, drink and ride tickets can be purchased on site.
Rain or shine, the festival will begin with a ceremony honoring the end of the city’s 75th anniversary year. This will involve a review of the year and proclamation by the Falls Church City Council as well as federal and state legislators.
A special work of art honoring the anniversary will be unveiled, and the city will reveal a raffle winner who gets to judge submissions in the Taste of Falls Church, a food sampling event featuring local restaurants.
The festival also features local brews for tasting in the beer garden.
Taste tickets for food and beer sampling will cost $3 each. Beers will go for two tickets, while food samplings will cost one to two tickets per item.
A complete list of participating restaurants has not been finalized, but the following have confirmed their involvement.
- The Falls
- Open Road
- Hot N Juicy Crawfish
- Clare and Don’s Beach Shack
- Nothing Bundt Cakes
- Baddpizza
- Café Kindred
- Harvey’s
- Audacious Aleworks
Three D.C. area bands will take the festival’s main stage throughout the day.
Rock groups Flashback and Mars Rodeo will perform from 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. and from 1-2:15 p.m., respectively. Latin Pop Rock group Ocho De Bastos will perform from 2:45-4 p.m.
For family-oriented fun, Marsha and the Positrons will also perform kids’ indie rock on the children’s entertainment stage from 11-11:45 a.m. and 1:30-2:15 p.m. Noland’s Magic and Drew Blue Shoes Magic will perform magic shows at 12:15 p.m. and 2:45 p.m., respectively.
The festival will also have inflatable bounce houses and slides, pony rides and mechanical spinning rides like the Turbo Tub.
Free parking is available at the following locations:
- Kaiser Permanente Garage at 201 N. Washington Street
- The George Mason Square Parking Garage at 103 W. Broad Street
- The Community Center at 223 Little Falls Street
Free parking spots can also typically be found on side streets, but drivers should check street signage first.
