Arlingtonians won’t have to go far to sample wines from all across the state this weekend.
The Virginia Wine Festival will hold its 43rd annual gathering in Rosslyn’s Gateway Park (1300 Lee Highway), offering up hundreds of wines and ciders from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
The event will also feature entertainment and food from a variety of vendors, including an “oyster tent” that showcases offerings from the state’s newly burgeoning oyster industry.
Tickets remain on sale for the event, and will be sold at the entry gate as well, with a glass and unlimited tastings included in the price of admission. The festival will be “largely cashless,” according to its website, and attendees will need to buy tickets to purchase, food and beer.
Organizers say that outside food and drinks won’t be permitted at the event, though they say “blankets, chairs, bags/coolers [and] reasonably sized shade canopies” are all welcome. Pets are also not permitted at the festival, outside of service animals.
County police are also planning on closing a variety of streets in the area each day. They’re warning drivers of the following changes:
- The eastbound lanes of Lee Highway, between Fort Myer Drive and Lynn Street, will be closed from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m. All eastbound traffic will be diverted onto Fort Myer Drive and detour signs will be posted.
- Southbound Fort Myer Drive (inbound traffic from Georgetown and the George Washington Parkway) will be closed at Lee Highway from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.. All traffic must turn west onto Lee Highway and can access Rosslyn and Clarendon via N. Scott Street or N. Veitch Street.
- N. Nash Street, between eastbound and westbound Lee Highway, will be closed from 7 a.m. until 10 p.m.
- Exit 73 from eastbound I-66 to Rosslyn will be closed from 10 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Police are warning drivers to avoid the area, and note that “no parking” signs will be posted along many local streets.
The event won’t be the only entertainment offering in Rosslyn this weekend. A Halloween-themed “Bats in the Belfry” concert is planned for the Netherlands Carillon (1400 N. Meade Street) on Saturday starting at 3:30 p.m.
Photo via the Virginia Wine Festival