Around Town

Kid-focused nonprofit hosting music fundraiser in Del Ray

By James Cullum
Group of kids sitting on mossy rocks beside a small waterfall in a forest, posing for a photo.
A recent trip in the Shenandoah Valley (via Wilderness Kids of Alexandria/Facebook)

An annual music festival is returning to Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood this month, and it’s all about the kids.

Wilderness Kids Alexandria is hosting its fourth annual community music festival from noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 27, at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square (2311 Mount Vernon Avenue). The event is free to attend.

The nonprofit, founded in 2021, now serves hundreds of kids annually with its after school programs, camps, hikes and excursions to museums. Earlier this year, Wilderness Kids Alexandria raised more than $71,000 in the annual Spring2ACTion fundraiser.

“Alexandria has rallied around this effort,” Jerry Casagrande, a founder of Wilderness Kids Alexandria, told ALXnow. “But the most rewarding part is like seeing smiles on our kids’ faces, seeing them at the top of a rock face after they’ve said, ‘There’s no way I can climb that,’ or watching kids spin around in a canoe a bunch of times, but then eventually getting it straight, going down a river.”

The music festival will feature The Walkaways, Fork in the Road, the Bad Dates and the Vaughn Ambrose Trio.

Image via Wilderness Kids of Alexandria/Facebook

About the Author

  • Reporter James Cullum has spent nearly 20 years covering Northern Virginia. He began working with ALXnow in 2020, and has covered every story under the sun for the publication, from investigative stories to features and photo galleries. His work includes coverage of national and international situations, as well as from the White House, Capitol, Pentagon, Supreme Court and State Department. He's covered protests and riots throughout the U.S. (including the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol), in addition to earthquake-ridden Haiti, Western Sahara in North Africa and war-torn South Sudan. He has photographed presidents and other world leaders, celebrities and famous musicians, and excels under pressure.