Why wouldn't that have a shady area or more cooling stations…read more Non gender porta potty's - gross. Very little choices for picky kids, vegan or other diets- maybe pack your own stuff. Fair food.

The Fairfax Fair is a Northern Virginia social institution!…read more Most people's first initiation into this yearly carnival is sometime around high school when they hold hands with a certain special someone on the ferris wheel or if they took the group date route, had worn matching tee shirts emblazoned with their crew's name in neon grafitti writing. Either way, the Fairfax Fair is the start of many, many blissful summer memories. A few of mine include: 1) The time I volunteered for a major sponsor of the event to dress up as the Cow from Cartoon Network's "Cow & Chicken". All of these little kids tried to pull my udders and punch me in the eye (which was conveniently located through Cow's open mouth). 2) The time my best friend performed on the Budweiser stage with her hs sign language choir. It was like an awkward scene out of Napoleon Dynamite that I will cherish in my heart forever. Whatever your age, gender, race, or socio-economic class the Fairfax Fair has something for everyone. Meat on a stick? Check. Laser light shows and fireworks? Check. Carnival rides? Check. Crazy circus carneys? Double check. Burnt out music artists from the 80's? QUADRUPLE CHECK!!! Musical guests have included eighties wonder kids Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar, Rob Base, Flava Flav, and more! I am secretly hoping that the Backstreet Boys will be hitting the county fair circuit soon so I can take care of some unfulfilled high school dreams. So anyways, what are you waiting for? The Fairfax Fair is coming to town this Friday, Saturday and Sunday!! Buy your tickets now -- the Fairfax Fair is your chance to do the Hump with Digital Underground himself. PS: If you don't know how to do the Humpty Dance here are a few rules: #1) Limp to the side like your leg is broken #2) Shake and twitch kinda like you're smokin'

Such a good time. Hubby and I went for a "date day" got to try so many different flavors and…read morevendors were so nice! Lots of people, but it didn't feel super crowded. Soo much coffee! And took home some good tea and, chili paste and BBQ sauce .

Very well planned and set up was better than last year-seemed more spacious. 10 rows of chocolate…read moreor coffee, salsa, jewelry, etc. We spent 3hours there today and bought bars, jewelry and dips. Definitely had a caffeine high after 2 rows of chocolates and coffee samples.

This was an ok festival. It was crowded and the parking lot had a ridiculous cliffwalk down to the…read moretown. They should have warned people as they paid. Lots of booths of the same type of items. They should jury the booth participants and get a better variety. Long lines at the food booths and man what a wait for crossing at the train track, which bisected the town. The train stopped every 30 mins or so to drop off and pick up people and then there was the Amtrak that came through also. I probably wouldn't return as there wasn't enough to capture my interest for long. Seems like this is better suited for families with young children.

Great little festival in historic Clifton. Paid parking or free VRE train to Clifton from Burke or…read moreManassas (nominal fee for those over 2). Lots of food and craft vendors.

This Festival goes under few different names: The church website calls it "Greek and East…read moreFestival", the host (Harris Pavilion) calls it "Annual Manassas International Food Festival," and earlier versions on the Facebook called it "Old World" festival. These are all good names for this Nativity of Our Lord Carpatho-Russian Orthodox church fundraiser. In a conversation with one member I learned that this is one of those orthodox churches that do not have the National denomination (Bulgarian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, etc...) as it caters not just to the first generation of immigrants but more to all generations and all people with the Orthodox fate, with no consideration of the national borders. I learned that they have one mass in English and Our Father prayer is recited in 7 world languages. The menu of the festival reflects the church diversity but caused a dilemma of many comers as far as what to eat because it is a long way from Ethiopia to Russia on the food road. People took longer time to figure out if they would rather have Ethiopian, Greek, Slavic, Romanian, Mexican or American food but once in line you move quickly with the food vendors winking and lifting their trays to entice you to get their food. Pierogi were very good, baked well; hard outside and soft inside so combination of dough, potato and cheese was properly melting in the mouth. While I was eating delicious plums with crème, my tongue quickly detected a harder object within the plum. I wondered why plums were not pitted like the most things in US are and to my pleasant surprise the object in question was a walnut half. Once I knew what I am eating - it all came together very nicely. Letdown was that the deserts did not offered any layered moist cake or crepes - which always make me anticipate any Slavic or Western Europe festival. Another letdown was that I could not have a Greek or Russian beer. There was just one Greek wine type but on a hot day a beer goes better with the lunch. The venue was perfect and enthusiasm of the host was energizing. I was happy to support in some way their church. The visit can be combined with a walk in the old town Manassas.

They serve reindeer hot dogs!!! With lefsa. The bazaar is lovely too which I try to attend every…read moreyear which buy too much but all for a good cause. My enjoyment.

I attended the annual Norwegian Holiday Festival & Bazaar for the first time in 2017. This festival…read morehas been going on for 47 years--impressive. Here's what I saw in the various exhibition rooms: wool sweaters with snowflakes all over them; troll dolls; goat cheese; socks with reindeers; smoked salmon; coffee cups with "uff da" sayings; kransekake and krumkake; table linens; pewter creations; and lots and lots of artisan-crafted Christmas decorations (Norwegians like Christmas big time!). Hot food available: waffles, sandwiches, soup, coffee. Not to mention all sorts of Norwegian traditional cookies and baked goodies. Also, live music, lefse demonstrations, raffle and other activities. I had a fab time. Admission and parking are both free. "Bra gjort", Sons of Norway.

Awesome experience, loved the lights, carnival and petting zoo…read more Even open area with fire pit was awesome for s'more's and to get warmed up during cold evening. Love it.

Brought the family back here for the festival of lights. First I would recommend buying the…read moretickets online as they are cheaper online than at the gate. It was a little bit of a hike as we were coming from Bethesda but we had heard a lot about it so we decided to check it out. After getting off the highway there was a lot of time on 2 lane roads that made the trip feel longer. The tickets are for specific times so we picked a time that supposedly had the most ticket availability and therefore less crowded but that ended up not being the case (not that we went 4 days before Christmas). I felt like it was bumper to bumper traffic all the way through. The light displays were pretty good but felt like there were spots where there were noticeable gaps. We prefer these drive through light shows that allow you to stay warm in the car. Now what Bull Run has that some of these others don't have is the carnival at the end. There are rides, all types of carnival food, petting zoo and camel rides. Stopped at the carnival to pick up some funnel cake for the family to munch on during the ride back home. Overall it was a good experience.

A great little bar with great food options and screens that keep any mainstream event airing. The…read morestaff are hardworking and do their best to keep your needs met. The tap selection is surprisingly well stocked given the bars association with ADH. For deepest of film fans out there, Ghost Bar Cinema hosts trivia on Thursdays! And I recommend you come prepped because they will put you to the test in all the best ways. All in all, Ghost Bar Cinema is a great little bar in an ideal location for all. It's a great spot to kill an evening for all manner of occasions.

Formally, Madhaunters Madhouse! This is a dope attraction to check out. The drive for me was about…read more45min (coming from Waldorf Md) and it's so worth it. We arrived early around 5:45pm and went 4mins around the corner to Electric palm (yummy) for food. Parking spaces are available on site. I suggest to get there right when they open @7pm or earlier. Spaces do get tight and it gets crowded quick. The sooner the better and you don't have to wait as long. The general admission is $20. They give you a ticketed number. Then you have to wait til your ticket number is within the group numbers called on the tv screens to go on the trail. However, while you wait you can purchase paintball for a extra $7 & the escape room for $5. I do think they can approve with the extra add-ons. The escape room is in a little trailer & you have only 5mins to find a key. The paintball is set up in a little tent & you just hit zombies on a projector screen. I feel like they can improve the paintball by opening up another part of the field with stadium lights an actually have a game going on. If it be with two teams of customers at a time or customers against zombies. There is also a free movie playing to bypass time. Every night theres a diff movie. They also, have food trucks & a bar with two bartenders. I suggest they include one or two more bars to help with the lines. So, I say at least six bartenders. Also, need to have more selections in the alcohol ( they didn't have Hennessy). Anyway, the trial itself was really fun. It lasted a good 35-40mins or more. I appreciate that compared to other haunted attractions that are over in a blink of an eye. I loved all the props, the scenery, & actors. I was scared a good few times. My fav three parts was the sucken bridge ( feels like you're falling thru), the scene where its a green fog room like walking thru a pond or forest & the actual walk thru the diff parts of the jail! I will def recommend and will be back as long as they make improvements & change the trail every year. Websites for more info: https://www.virginia.org/Listings/Events/GhostBarCinema Ghostbarcinema.com

It was a FUN day spending with good friends, music, watching Caps play, beer and having short rib…read moresliders from Trio. Port City Brewery had the Belgian white ale & India pale ale, but we went for the Belgian white ale (my all time fav) and it was the perfect drink on a beautiful day watching the Caps!! Everyone was out along with children, dogs & grandparents, enjoying the fun festival on a lovely Saturday! Definitely have to go check out Port City Brewery with friends!!!

Honestly this was one of the worst fall festivals I've been to. It was very crowded. Parking was…read moredifficult. The stands were mostly sad cheap craft places and there was nothing really 'fall' about it.

Hovered between 3 and 4 stars. So want to give it higher marks. Maybe this year it'll be back to…read morebusiness as usual. Covid certainly put a damper on it. Last few years have been sort of disappointing. Yet most years have been solid, so more likely than not this will be updated. The city of Fairfax does a great job, with big events like this, Compared to the county, the city is friendlier and more neighborly. A lot is artisans sell art and foods at this event. Families will enjoy the firehouse, and they have a learning trailer for children. This is wonderful, and it's a family friendly event for all ages. Usually they have live music, and hope 2U, a U2 cover band returns as they are phenomenal.

This place is absolutely beautiful. Huge with so many stunning areas from a greenhouse with glass…read morewalls and greenery to pagodas! I didn't know it's also a popular event venue! We saw a few weddings here last weekend. Plenty trails and photo ops! Looks like a lot of people come here for maternity shoots and engagement shoots- the photographers have a special entrance ticket and rules to abide by. Not free entry but very well maintained and a beautiful experience for families or couples.

Meadowlark is the best spot to view cherry blossoms in the DMV, hands down. Visit on a weekday…read moreduring peak bloom if you can, but even on a busy day you can get better views of the blossoms than at the Tidal Basin. Don't sleep on this hidden gem during cherry blossom season! The rest of the botanical garden is well worth a visit, with a greenhouse, polished garden favorites, and wild woodland scenery. There are also children's gardens and a small playground, as well as many benches with different views to enjoy. One of my favorite spots is the fairy garden right outside the entrance, with all kinds of small-scale flowers. Admittedly, I've only been to Meadowlark during two seasons and have yet to witness fall and winter. I'm eager to go for the holiday lights, which I've heard great things about.