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?

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.

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

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.

Love this local fall festival. Jammed pack full of rides and games for the little kiddies. Lots…read moreof little stands for local businesses. You have an option for a super pass which includes unlimited rides on mostly all the rides. There are a few things you have to pay extra for, like the bungee jumping and the pony rides. They also have a large area jam packed with food trucks and food stalls. There is always a huge turnout for this event. My LO has a blast coming here, although there are a lot of rides she can't get on. If your child is 42 inches are taller most of the rides will work for them. I recommend you buying a super pass online to save some money and also if you plan to go on at least 7-10 rides. It's money well spent!

Too expensive rides unless you purchase a super pass. Rides were old and the staff could have been…read morea lot friendlier. Most of them were cranky. Not appropriate for a kids fair. Very disappointed.

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 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!

Over the years, Viva Vienna has become a beloved family tradition! I'm not much of a carnival goer,…read morebut the fact that there is plenty of parking and a hop, skip, and a jump away from home makes it a winner in my book (perfect for those late afternoon toddler meltdowns!). My favorite place to park is near the Vienna Community Center and taking a short walk on the W&OD Trail. I've been doing this for years and it has worked out almost 95% of the time. Other must dos: - Watch the Vienna Singing Princess show (it truly is an hour of campy Disney-esque bliss) - Spinning teacups, carousel, and the spinning dragon ride - Grabbing all the fun free schwag in the vendor area - Moose Juice and funnel cake for the kiddos, chicken on the stick for the boy - Allllll the carnival games This year they switched out paper tickets to a card system. I still had some leftover tickets from last year and they were able to exchange without an issue. We have gone in the rain and on sunny days and it's always a blast. You will always run into a neighbor and it makes me feel like I'm on the set of some small town television show.

Don't put your name in the beginning of the entrance (bunch of computers) for the raffle. Not sure…read morehow they allow this to go on as a "raffle", it is just a information gathering tool so that people from "VVR rewards" can sell you on a timeshare You get a call that says you are eligible to win a gift card up to $200. Also, that you have won a trip to Williamsburg Virginia. The fair overall was OK but them allowing these type of vendors and not disclosing. The purpose is not a good look.

Great place to see a movie we had popcorn with parmesan and truffles abd chips and queso. The…read morepopcorn had great flavor and was really good. The chips and queso was ok it has weird aftertaste to me and the person with me didn't like it much. I think the beer cheese they use caused it. Probably wouldn't order it again. Service was great friendly and nice. Theater was clean and nice.

We've been to Alamo at other locations, but this one isn't as great…read more For one, I didn't realize there are still movie theaters charging full price for seats that do not recline and are hard-backed and uncomfortable. Yikes! Second, the ordering process could've been smoother. While it was nice we could order concessions to our seats, the lack of QR codes sent to our email, lighting to scan the QR code, and the fact that it was a complete dead zone so we had to join the wifi just to use our phones to order = inconvenient and difficult. It was also challenging to use the paper form and menu when there wasn't sufficient lighting. Other dine-in theaters like CMX provide a light you can turn on for this. Finally, the service for ayce popcorn was very slow. And there weren't free refills on the sodas.