I'm going to say it.......I think my kiddos had more fun here than at Cox Farms, which is…read moreconsistently held to as the premiere Fall event in NOVA. Rather than focus on slides (of which there are two) Pumpkin Village has moon bounces. We first went to the giant pumpkin inflatable, followed by the corn bin and the zip line. My son loved the castle inflatable and the train inflatable. Several also were more obstacle course with corn and animal themes. We had lots of fun on the pedal cars and the giant pumpkin pillow too.We spent time indoors as well doing arts and crafts and playing in the indoor playground. That was nice to have given how windy it was. While you don't get a pumpkin like Cox Farms, it's still fun and worth the trip.

Best fall place for kids. with an animal farm tied to it and indoor space for kids, what else could…read moreyou want? The slides (tons of independent playground equipment structures and 3 slides built into the hill), inflatables (6 or 7, i think) , mazes, tractor ride, zip line, sandbox, feeding pond, snack truck (free with cider and apples), indoor area - giant play area with trampoline and slides and climbing/netting, play floor area, there is just so much to do, it is crazy. the open/interactive area with the goats, pigs, alpacas, and donkeys was great, too. The animals are gentle and my son didn't get his fingers chomped from feeding them incorrectly. It was a great, great place. definitely a late sept-oct staple for us now.

Nice free festival to go to. We were able to take the shuttle bus from Herndon high school. At…read morefirst there are arts & crafts as well as other tents with food vendors. Then there's an area for drinks and enjoying the live entertainment. Further in there's a bunch of rides. Overall cute smaller local summer festival to go to if you're in the area.

Located in Old Town Herndon, this festival is usually in the beginning of June. Been here 2 years…read morein a row only because it's something fun to do on a Friday night, eat mediocre food and some live entertainment. It's free to go in but you do have to pay for the rides and food. Theres a few art/jewelry vendors that sells some cute accessories and the rest is mostly food and a whole carnival area with rides. Food is on the expensive side, I mean its everything greasy and oily imaginable under the sun. I mean yeah I can't lie deep fried Oreos is a must but theres fried cheesecake, fried reeces, fried snickers like anything you can think of. A small cup of beer is about $6 and food usually varies from $5-$12 depending on where you go. It is mostly tweens and alotta kids, but its just something fun to do and to get out. It does get crowded on Friday and Saturday nights but not overcrowded where you can barely walk. Not bad to get in for free its your discretion how much you want to spend.

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?

Great spot to spend a few hours with your toddler! The museum is small but perfectly sized for…read moresmall toddlers that need to burn energy on a hot or rainy day. The woman at the front desk was incredibly nice and helpful. The play areas were clean and creative. There farm area and general store were our toddler's favorite! Would definitely recommend and we will be back soon

The Heritage Farm Museum is one of my favorite ways to entertain a toddler on a rainy / hot / snowy…read moreday! You can spend a full morning here, running around, playing, and exploring all the different exhibits and not get bored. The general store is a personal favorite and my kiddos love putting on an apron, stocking and restocking shelves, and pretending to purchase bread and potatoes. There is also a little interactive farm, one room school house, and recreation of an old timey kitchen that are a big hit with our toddler set. In nicer weather days, they have actual farm demonstrations and lots of tractors and other wheeled contraptions for kids to look at. The cost of a morning of fun? $5 for adults, $3 for kids, and FREE NINETY NINE for the two and under set. You can tire your kiddos out, grab lunch at nearby Ridgetop Coffee (which has an indoor playroom), and have a peaceful car nap home. Truly one of the best hidden gems for families here in Nova.

This is a very creative, well thought-out haunted attraction with a lot of eerie sets and actors…read morewho will jump out and grab you. However, the extremely loud music at the entrance and in several sets almost ruins it. Take ear plugs with you. The high volume of the music shouldn't be allowed for any age group unless you want to lose your hearing. Also, it is very dark in the woods and on the sets. So if you're afraid of the dark or walking in pitch black, don't go. This could be so much better.

I'm not really sure how some can say that this is the BEST trail in the DMV area, since there are…read moresome majorly scary trails in Maryland, but.... to each their own. I think that our crummy experience was mostly due to the group of children we were with. There had to be at least 20 (maybe 25-30) total in our trail group, including myself & 2 friends. Enough people that we couldn't all fit on the hay seats on our ride to the woods - we (the adults of the group) had to sit on the muddy floor. Too large for my taste, especially since everyone in this large group was about 12-13 years of age. Myself and the 2 friends who joined me... try about 20 years older than that! The kids were obnoxious, yelled at the leader (who does not speak to the group, merely takes you through the trail from one fright experience to the next) things like "Are they going to TOUCH ME?!"; "You're cute"; "How much longer?!"; "I have to pee!!"; ect ect. I even had a child latch onto my hoodie and almost choked me through many of the experiences as I was trying to walk ahead & she was shitting her pants. After one area, there was a character pretending to chase after some people. This caused a stampede with the youngsters. Mind you, we're in the woods... I got shoved around & almost tripped over branches. I had to use my "Teacher Voice" & tell them to chill out. That worked as well as can be expected. If it were possible, I would definitely want to try it again with a more adult group. I think then I'd have a real opportunity to actually get scared then! I encourage any of you adults out there to get a big group together & make sure you all go at one time. Otherwise, as soon as you pull in and see the large crowd... you will be able to pretty much sum it up yourself. This is an excellent kid drop-off place for parents. For $20, you can leave your kid there for like 4 hours. There's the trail, a DJ, dancing, a bonfire, paintball.... essentially, kid heaven. And I did NOT see parents accompanying them. I will give these guys (and gals) credit, although they are a church group, they certainly do a good job of making you forget that on your journey through the woods. Although the church doesn't look like it needs any more funding (HUGE & NEW!!), the organizations they support make me feel better about spending the $20 on a not-so-terrifying experience.

This like most of the other Greek festivals in the US, is a fundraiser for the local church (in…read morethis case, the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox church) in Sterling. (Currently, their church is in a warehouse.) The festival is usually over the Presidents' day weekend beginning at 4pm Friday and 11-9 Saturday and 11-7 Sunday. (webpage: https://www.facebook.com/TasteOfGreeceAshburn ). Traditionally, in Greece, festivals center around the church on important church days, and are day long outdoor events for the whole family that go late into the evening. Taste of Greece is held in the old Ashburn firehouse until they can get land and have a more traditional and larger outdoor festival. There is free parking with attendants to help. The atmosphere is warm, lively, the music traditional, there's a stunning collage of pictures of Greece on a screen, the decorations very tasteful and give a feel for the warm friendly culture. Go with friends and family, to spend several hours, relax, drink coffee or beer and have a good time There are 100-150 families trying to raise money to build a traditional home for the church, so the number of people that plan and execute the festival is very small. For such a small community this festival is amazingly well done and will certainly grow. It has become so popular that they are outgrowing the firehouse, so go and help them get their church built sooner so they can make the festival even better! The operation is very well planned, efficiently run, the food is plentiful, the dishes authentic, the music, costumes and dancing uplifting and festive. There is a raffle with multiple prizes. Local greek restaurants provide the kitchen services and cook staff and the church members serve their guests. The menu includes 3 tradition dishes gyros (pronounced YEE-ro not gii-ro) which is meat roasted on a spit and sliced into a pita with lettuce, tomato and thick tzatziki (or cucumber yogurt garlic dip); moussaka ( pronounced moo-sa-KA) which is potato, eggplant and ground meat, baked under a bechamel (white) sauce. Pastitsio (pronounced pas-TI-tsi-o) long hollow pasta in a lasagna like sauce, also baked under a bechamel layer. Both dishes are rich and flavorful. There's Baklava and Greek coffee for dessert. My personal favorite is the spinach pie (spa-na-KO-pita) Food can also be taken to go, an option if you go during peak lunch and dinner hours, when it's so crowded it's hard to find seats. The church has other fundraisers just before Thanksgiving where the women's group makes and sells pans of spanakopita and tiropita (cheese pie) and another before Christmas when they sell tsoureki ( pronounced ts-oo-REK-ee) a sweet bread with a lucky coin somewhere in the cake for new years.

To understand the Taste of Greece, one first has to understand the location of Ashburn in Loudoun…read moreCounty. About 40 years ago it was mostly the farmlands. Its population doubled in last 20 years. Ashburn is a part of Loudoun County, which is a wealthy county and about an hour away from Washington, DC (on a good day). Out of over hundred local ethnic festivals I have visited, this is the first one that was held in Loudoun County! The 8th Annual Taste of Greece was a rare opportunity to have an ethnic festival where the houses came well before schools, churches and recreational centers. It was held in the county firehouse, nestled among thousands of (over 2,000SF) houses. It is a fairly new church community (most of the things in Ashburn are fairly new) fundraiser and it is easy to understand how in this neighborhood the Taste of Greece can charge $12 for Gyro or $5 for a small piece of baklava. Good for the church, I say! The energy and desire of the "Greek Ladies" was contagious. They are kind and willing to talk about anything, and very agreeable. The space was too small, especially when the families started coming (after soccer games) with their children. The plastic forks and knives were positioned in the furthest possible spot to reach; wait for food was 10-15 minutes, parking was not available and seats were scarce. The food was good but not the best ever. There was music and dance. The crowd was diverse (like the county) and they took this rare opportunity to have a true ethnic food in the form of ethnic food festival in their county - without a long drive that they probably experience every working day. Taste of Greece is certainly a big deal for Loudoun County and I was happy to support the Greek American community with my Gyro meal and Mythos (Greek) beer. I hope they will grow and that many other ethnic festivals will follow soon.

Asia in a Bite Night Market brought their very first ever Strawberry Day to Loudoun County!…read more This fest is in collaboration with Oishii Berry, which, as one knows, they have amazing strawberries! There were about 30+ vendors that offered strawberry-themed desserts and drinks - we also checked out their strawberry eating competition, karaoke, and purchased some cute strawberry-themed items. There were some live music performances throughout the day as well. Since this festival is running all weekend, they were offering entry tickets for various timeslots to manage the crowd, which was pretty smart! The festival was fun and there's ample parking in the area. A fun local attraction to check out if you're in the area! +everything strawberry! +at One Loudoun

This little museum is charming and free to visit, so well worth visiting if you're in Loudon County…read moreor Leesburg for the first time. It's on the smaller side, but has exhibits that explore the history of the county in the civil war and revolutionary war periods. It also had an exhibit of artworks by local and county artists when we visited. The staff member there when we visited was really friendly and answered several questions we had when we walked around. It's a great introduction to the county, and I'm glad we stopped by - even though we only had time for a short visit!

If you live in a Loudoun and is interested in local history, this museum is a great. Currently…read morethere is a free admissions for a civil war exhibit. First Fridays in Leesburg has great restaurants and drinks. You can feed your mind and tummy!