A local piece of long-lost bar scene history is making a comeback in Clarendon this weekend.
The newly reopened Mister Days sports bar is hosting a once-popular street festival dubbed “Rally in the Alley” this Saturday at 1101 N. Highland Street. It’s the first time the festival will happen in Arlington — and also the first time Mister Days has hosted the event — since the bar left D.C.’s Dupont Circle in 2001.
A portion of 11th Street between N. Highland Street and N. Garfield Street will be closed for the St. Patrick’s Day weekend celebration, which starts at noon and will include DJs, gift certificate giveaways and at least four bar areas.
Mister Days founder and owner Bobby Lee hosted the first Rally in the Alley back in 1979.
“Initially, it was a St. Patrick’s Day event and I had an Irish band,” Lee told ARLnow. “We got a few hundred people… and then when the spinner came on — a DJ — people started dancing.”
Noticing a shift in the crowd, Lee decided to host two separate events going forward — the St. Patrick’s celebration and Rally in the Alley. The annual rally took off throughout the 1980s, hosting swaths of partiers in the bar’s alley between 18th and 19th Streets NW at L and M Streets in Dupont Circle.
“It became the Mister Days alley, the fashionable alley,” Lee said. “‘We were so good, we were in an alley,’ was my motto.”
Roughly 10,000 people attended the event at the height of its popularity, drawing patrons to Mister Days and neighboring bars, Lee said.
While this year’s festival grounds are smaller than Mister Days’ original alley, Lee expects to see a few hundred people shuffle in throughout the day. He is hoping for an “eclectic crowd” of former attendees and first-time visitors.
“So many people talk about it — it was a major event,” he said. “I’m looking forward to seeing a lot of the rally alumni.”
The festival is scheduled as other Clarendon nightlife spots plan to host St. Patrick’s Day festivities throughout the day.
Nearby Courthaus Social plans to offer festive drink specials and O’Sullivan’s will host live music. The Clarendon Ballroom is also throwing a “Shamrock Bash” later Saturday afternoon.
A portion of Saturday’s Rally in the Alley proceeds will benefit Mister Days’ Reach Out Foundation, which funds scholarships and other local assistance efforts. It’s a nod to the charitable donations of past rallies.
Alongside the former Metropolitan Police Boys and Girls Clubs, Mister Days used previous festival funds to distribute holiday meals to families in need and create youth basketball camp scholarships with acclaimed coach Morgan Wootten.
Event entry is included for those who attend Mister Days’ St. Patrick’s Day brunch at 10 a.m. Otherwise, advance tickets are available for $15 on Eventbrite, in addition to $10 tickets being offered at the door.
