Now that temperatures are beginning to taper off, there’s nothing keeping you and your kids from making the most of mild weather. With two fairs, two festivals, a block party and more on this week’s agenda in NoVA, your family will have no shortage of ways to get up, get out and have some fun.
“Tech Babies: Baby Making in the Modern Age”
Sept. 10, 5 p.m.
Calling all moms, soon-to-be mommies and those trying to become mothers: Jessica Robinson, founder of Better Said Than Done, will use feature-length storytelling to discuss her experience with infertility to provide hope and support to those currently struggling, or who have struggled, to become pregnant. Performed at Epicure Café in Fairfax, there will be a full bar and dinner menu available. Seating is first come, first served.
Pender Rocks the Block
Sept. 15, 6-8 p.m.
Pender United Methodist Church invites neighbors to enjoy live entertainment, games and food for purchase from The Farm Effect, Guapo’s and Rita’s food trucks. There will also be face painting, an assortment of inflatables to bounce around on, a balloon artist and a Pender’s Got Talent show.
ChalkFest
Sept. 16, 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m.
For many, sidewalk chalk is no more than a memory of childhood playtime. But for others, chalk is a choice artistic tool. At Reston Town Center (where the festival will take place), ChalkFest attendees can take in both professional and amateur artists’ work while also creating their own Market Street masterpiece.
Colonial Market & Fair
Sept. 16-17, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.
It should come as no surprise that at Mount Vernon’s Colonial Market & Fair, attendees will be greeted by Martha Washington, will get to meet General George Washington and will have the opportunity to observe colonial-clad artisans making 18th-century wares likes baskets and weavings, woodcarvings, leather workings and more. Said wares will be available for purchase, but what may take some by surprise are the fair’s other features, including a balloon launch, a fire-eater, puppet show and magic show.
Fall Festival Preview Weekend at Cox Farms
Sept. 16-17
Centreville’s annual Cox Farms Fall Festival will officially run Sept. 22-Oct. 31 and Nov. 3-7, but this weekend guests can get a sneak peek into what the festival has in store, including live music from Flower Hill String Band from 2:30-5:30 p.m. and Farmer Jack’s Musical Milking Show from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. Preview weekend will also include slides, hayrides, farm animals and local food—only a sampling of what is yet to come.
Bluemont Fair
Sept. 16-17, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Bluemont Fair was originally organized in 1969 to celebrate the region’s rich history. This year, the annual fair will feature a Living History event in Stone’s Field, where attendees can see what Bluemont life was like many moons ago. Activities will include quill and ink writing, block print making, an opportunity to dress up in colonial clothes, amongst many other period-specific past times.
Pumpkin Village Fall Fest at Leesburg Animal Park
Sept. 16
Leesburg Animal Park’s Fall Festival, appropriately dubbed Pumpkin Village, will kick off Saturday, Sept. 16, and run daily through Nov. 7. There will be all the wagon rides, moon bounces and hill slides that you would expect there to be, plus a petting zoo, pedal carts, a corn bin and additional weekend entertainment.
Book signing with Jenny L. Cote
Sept. 16, 1-2 p.m.
Hoping to give kids an often overlooked Founding Father to look up to, award-winning author Jenny L. Cote will be signing her book The Voice, the Revolution, and the Key, a novel about Patrick Henry, at the Tysons Corner Mall Barnes & Noble. In a press release, Cote says that it is especially important for today’s youth to understand the good parts of American history right along with the bad parts.
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