Haymarket Day 2024 was a huge success! First of all, the weather could not have been more…read morebeautiful. The entire event was extremely well organized, starting with the shuttle bus that took visitors to and from Tyler Elementary throughout the day. The parade began promptly at 10 AM and was well organized. Great assortment of vendors along the parade route and a fun Kidzone was set up in the park. It was an overall wonderful, fun-filled day for all.

Haymarket Day 2011 was held today - Saturday, September 17, 2011! (It's still going on as I type…read morethis). As in years past - the main route through Old Town Haymarket was closed to vehicular traffic for the all day event (Route 55/Washington Street). An awesome parade was held (pretty awesome for a small town!). Started the day with a nice cup of steaming hot delicious coffee from Cupcake Heaven, then found a spot along Washington Street to watch the parade and take photos. Lots of entertaining participants in the parade: The Battlefield HS Marching Band, cheerleaders, several local dance troops, several martial arts groups, the Fairfax County Police motorcycle officers (in precision formations), Cub/Boy Scouts, musical groups, local politicians, church groups, civic groups, local businesses, the Geico Gecko, the Chik-fil-A cows, Santa Claus, and a lot more! The parade was considerably longer with more participants than ever. There is also a large vendor area in front of Town Hall and down Washington Street with lots of vendors of all sorts, arts and crafts, games, food and beverages, stages with music, and a lot more! The weather was perfect, cool and overcast, no rain, the place was packed with local residents. It is a great event and it's so wonderful to see so many folks come out with their kids, many brought their dogs, and everyone seemed to be well behaved. I really like the small town atmosphere of Haymarket and the sense of community we have here!

Horrible As a guest of someone it was Horrible…read more Didn't even get my mani pedicure The wait was long even with an appointment And they don't listen to you regarding what uou want No thank you

My wife and I have Scots in our background and we try to make a festival somewhere every couple of…read moreyears. It's been 5+ years since we had been to the Virginia Scottish Games and a friend from Clan Grant wanted to go. http://www.vascottishgames.org/ The basic set up is always the same. A bunch of vendors, beer, some food, highland games including a caber toss, stone toss, hammer throws, and the sheaf toss. Pipes and drums: check A good entertainment tent too. Usually you can find the Glengarry Bhoys playing. They are a great Celtic band. Lots of fun. Worth your time and coin.

Everyone involved with this "festival" should be flogged on Main Street. There were only two fried…read morechicken vendors. One was good, but not great and the other was truly awful. We waited in line 40 minutes. They promoted a contest for fried chicken and pies, but there was no evidence of such a contest and since they only had two vendors, who would get third prize? Ridiculous. I also so absolutely no evidence of the promised pie contest, and no vendors selling pies. To add they only had two porta potties for over 1000 people. Never again.

Great concept, but where's the chicken? People waited in line at one of the two (there was a third,…read morebut I couldn't find it) chicken vendors for hours; folks left without getting thier food. I don't need any more soap, jelly, candles or tie dyes, I came for chicken and pie. Dissapointed, waste of a precious Saturday.

5.10.25. This was the first Renaissance Faire that my husband and I ever attended and, to be…read morehonest, we weren't sure what to expect. Given that it was only about twenty minutes from home, we decided to give it a try. We reviewed their website, and purchased our tickets on line -- $18 for me (adult) and $12 for my husband (Senior, 65+). We arrived around 10:15 am to a long line of cars at the entrance, but didn't have any problems with parking. At the entrance, there was an ID check for participants who wanted to purchase beer, wine, or mead inside (wristband given), and a second faster line for the actual entrance. We were given a schedule that highlighted the day's shows and activities. (This was also posted online though only the 2024 list of restaurants was posted). As the day evolved, we walked around the tented grounds a number of times, watched a number of performers, browsed some of the tented shops, watched a cooking demonstration, got a beer and a mead at one of the concessioners, and grabbed a quick lunch. (Note that most are cash only; there's an ATM on site). There was also a unique assortment of pay-for activities, such as skill games (archery, axe throwing, knife throwing), hair braiding, and fortune tellers. What we enjoyed most, however, was admiring the many costumed performers and attendees. Many of the costumes were quite elaborate though many were probably not authentic to Tudor England. We stayed for about three hours, leaving when it started to get quite warm. Overall, we enjoyed the faire, but probably not enough to go on an annual basis. The main issue was that it got crowded, and it was difficult for me (a shorter person) to see some of the demonstrations that I was more interested in -- such as the sword fighting or the queen's joust. Also, the lines were quite long for food and drinks, and insufficient tables to enjoy them. And, despite having the schedule, we never seemed to be in the right place and time, but that's on us! Lake Anna Winery is a beautiful site, and the Faire was spread out well. There were at least two First Aid stations, and sufficient port-a-potties at multiple locations on the grounds.

I've been to the PA, MD, and NY Renaissance Faires and decided I needed to give this one a try…read more Spoiler alert: I shouldn't have, as it's a very distant fourth. Day started with an absolute jerk parking cars in a lot so hilly I was not sure I was going to get my car out if it rained. That set the tone for the day. Basically, the people who were willingly volunteering their time (i.e. the Queen and her court) were amazing. Some of the best costumes I've ever seen and a real effort at historical accuracy while still being entertaining. Anyone who was actually being paid for their time less so and parking lot jerk was not my only negative interaction. Food was mediocre at best and in the case of the warm chocolate covered cheesecake (gross) possibly not safe. Venue was PACKED, lacking in any sort of charm as almost all "structures" were tents and the joust area was a sad little paddock, and vendors were aggressive. After buying two tiny bags of tea for $30 I can only assume that was to recoup their costs...but for what I'm not sure. Apparently in previous years they allowed other local vendors of mead but stopped that this year because of concerns of overserving. Um what? This is the only Renn Faire I've ever been to where people were single fisting out of actual whole wine bottles as they walked around. Apparently it's fine as long as the bottles are from the host winery? Right. I bought tickets for Saturday and Sunday and didn't even bother to go back Sunday. It's a real shame as the volunteers clearly put in a lot of effort to make this a good experience and it's ruined by the poor quality of the venue and its workers.

After enjoying our very first "Deadwood Trail" year before last but missing last year's due to bad…read moreweather, we returned this past Saturday evening since the weather was clear, cool, & autumn-crisp. We arrived around 7:30 or so, & were pleased to see it wasn't horribly overcrowded yet. Admission was $10 per person (which benefits the Culpeper County Sheriff's Office Santa Cop program), & we're glad that after hiking up from the front-field parking area we had cash on us, because admission was CASH ONLY, which we didn't find out until we had reached the window. (I checked their website afterwards & absolutely no mention of this is made anywhere on it. They may want to remedy this rather important omission next time around.) Two huge bonfires surrounded by seating areas were blazing away, & there were two food trucks - Buffalo Wild Wings & another whose name I don't recall, just that they were selling the usual burgers, hot dogs, wraps, & the like. (We both seemed to remember more food vendors the first time we did this.) Husband & I were in the front of our group of ten, which sent us into the abyss first. After going thru the dark snug winding wooden maze of the "barn", we came out on the trail where what, for me, was the scariest part of the walk (spoiler alert) - a line of scarecrows tied up against corn shocks, except at least one was a costumed person who jumped out at us. Since they had remained perfectly still at first, it was a surprise. Apart from that they had a camping scenario, a sawmill scenario, a "Deadwood" western town scenario, among others. It seems funny to critique something like this, but they had way, WAY too many "creepy clowns". It seemed like every other person was a creepy clown. In fact, they even had a "Welcome to Derry, Maine" section that had my husband wondering whether or not they were prepared for a lawsuit from Stephen King re: his Pennywise the Clown character - lol. There also seemed to be an awful lot of chainsaws. One other critique was the western saloon tableau where they had cowboy ghouls run thru the group firing off real guns (blanks, of course) & one guy shot his off so close to us that we both had sparks & gun frass (or whatever it's called) showering down on our faces & my left ear was still ringing the next morning. We heard another woman behind us complain about the same thing. They may want to rethink that a bit. One last thing we noticed was that during our last visit there was at least enough light so we could enjoy most of the costumes/props. This time everything was so dark you really couldn't see much of the masks/makeup. Except for all those clowns, of course - lol! All in all it was fun, & we'll definitely do it again next year if they hold it, except next time we'll wear ear plugs. It's for a good cause, & is infinitely less expensive than other "haunted" venues out there.

The Delaplane Strawberry Festival has been held annually since '76 at the Sky Meadows State Park…read more The purpose of the festival is for outreach ministry, bringing the community together, and funding and supporting ministries and non-profit organizations. The hubs and I were able to attend the Delaplane Strawberry Festival, in which there is a $25 required donation entrance fee. Definitely a family-friendly event, there were hayrides, field games (such as milk bottle toss, corn hole toss, tug of war, etc.), an antique car show, live music, magic shows, storytelling, craft stations (such as making your own sand art), face painting, a petting farm (they have baby calves, goats, chickens, tortoises, and miniature horses; I just wished that there was someone overseeing this section, as some children were not handling the animals properly T____T), as well as food vendors and freshly-picked strawberries for sale. We were left a little disappointed, as we thought that there would have been more vendors offering strawberry-focused food and drinks - most of the vendors were fair-type eats, such as corndogs, burgers, quesadillas, etc. We did eat a great-tasting funnel cake from the Pennsylvania Dutch Funnel Cakes company, and had a half and half from the Iced Tea Lady. While the festival itself was a bit mediocre and geared more towards for children, the scenic view of the rolling hills and the big blue sky was terrific! +$25 entrance fee (may change annually) +held at the Sky Meadows State Park +proceeds go towards ministries and non-profit organizations +extremely kid-friendly +4H petting farm (more supervision needed!) +live music +old-fashioned games +vendors (not many strawberry-focused)

At $25 per car load for a full day of entertainment, it's cheaper than taking the family to a…read moremovie. The music is great. The hayrides are fun. The pony rides are always a hit! The flea circus and the children's games are awesome. And the views are simply stunning! The other reviewer from years ago didn't like the fact that some children weren't petting the animals nicely enough -- that has nothing to do with the festival, and everything to do with parents not controlling their kids. This is a really nice way to spend the day. This is staffed and run by the tiny parish at Emmanuel Church. I heard that this year will be the 25th year and that they are adding a beer garden along with a few other things. I'm going! Are you?

wonderful homemade greek specialities - meals and sweets, I drove 50 miles to be able to find…read moreauthentic moussaka at a reasonable price and I had food for several days - wish it was closer but I am likely to repeat

The weather was warm and the food was hot. We had a great time at the Greek festival the food was…read moreexcellent. The entertainment was so enjoyable between listening to the wonderful music and watching the Greek dancers this made my Sunday perfect . There was a large tent with plenty of tables and chairs to enjoy the food and entertainment out of the sun. I was delighted to find my favorite Greek pastries inside the church. There were vendors set up so you Could look around in the in the air conditioning. We had a very nice time in very good food and entertainment. I am very glad we made time to go.

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.

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!!!

Awesome festival for adults and families! A great way to spend a weekend when it's held, for a fun…read moretime. There are band lineups all weekend, and vendors with food and beer. Plently of activies for kids as well, such as their inflatable jumping pad. Misty Mountain is also an excellent place to camp, with cabins, camper spots, and plots for tents. The entrance fee is donations for a food pantry. The best part is all the friendly people! Highly recommend if you are in the area when it's held!