Alexandria developer Windmill Hill is seeking the city’s approval for a three-story apartment building with ground-level retail in a parking lot in Old Town.
The developer has submitted a concept review for a new building at 220-224 S. Peyton St. for evaluation by the Board of Architectural Review on Wednesday.
The Del Ray Business Association will host its fifth annual Bands & Brews summer bar crawl on Saturday, Aug. 16, from 12:30 to 6 p.m., featuring live music at more than 20 restaurants along Mount Vernon Avenue.
The event, sponsored by the Jen Walker Team, will benefit InspireLit, a local nonprofit that works to inspire a love of reading and promote literacy by increasing access to engaging books.
Visit Alexandria’s President & CEO Todd O’Leary leads with the belief that travel is a force for good, inspiring visitors to deepen their travel experiences by connecting with Alexandria’s myriad stories. That’s why 2026 National Travel and Tourism Week (May 3-9, 2026) isn’t just any week. It’s a time to reflect and celebrate the important role that tourism plays in bringing people together across cultures and geographies, creating shared understandings and memories that last a lifetime. This year’s theme, “Postmarked: Essential,” takes on special significance as Alexandria prepares to host several major events this summer, bringing the stories of our local community onto the world stage.
“This year’s National Travel and Tourism Week celebrations seem particularly fitting, given all the momentum we’re seeing in Alexandria’s hospitality industry,” said Visit Alexandria’s President & CEO Todd O’Leary. “As tourism grows in importance here, the dividends from visitor spending support our small business owners and ultimately our residents. Visit Alexandria is proud of the work done by our local industry to keep this city top of mind for domestic and international travelers.”
Last fall, Visit Alexandria announced that Alexandria’s tourism spending from travelers residing more than 50 miles away grew to $1 billion for the first time in history during calendar year 2024. Additionally, Fiscal Year 2025 city consumption tax revenues reached a record $88 million—supporting core city services, saving the average Alexandria household $832 annually, and sustaining more than 5,700 local jobs.
In conjunction with this year’s America 250th commemorations, Alexandria will host programs, exhibitions, historic tours and signature events, including the three-day Sails on the Potomac festival—all of which showcase Alexandria’s renowned historic character and ever-evolving progressive nature. As Alexandria continues to make waves on the world stage, especially as a destination for sports tourism, the city will serve as the official Team Base Camp for the Croatian National Football Team, a FIFA top ten ranked team, during the World Cup. With state-of-the-art facilities, a wide range of accommodations, a wealth of visitor experiences and incredible transportation access, Alexandria’s prominence in sports tourism is growing. (more…)
The ninth annual Around the World Cultural Food Festival will return to Oronoco Bay Park in Old Town on Saturday, Aug. 23, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., offering free admission to what organizers call the largest outdoor cultural food festival in the Washington metro area.
This year’s event will feature authentic cuisine from 24 countries, with one food vendor per country providing what organizers describe as a curated tasting experience. More than 150 traditional dishes will be available from countries including Afghanistan, China, Egypt, Ghana, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, among others.
Ghost Limb is a timely and haunting examination of authoritarianism set during Argentina’s Dirty War that draws poetic inspiration from the Persephone and Demeter myth. When Consuelo’s son is “disappeared” by the military, she discovers a psychic link between her injured arm and her tortured child-and races to find him before it’s too late.
Performance Days and Times
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Monday, Aug. 11, the 223rd day of 2025. There are 142 days left in the year.
🌤️ Today’s weather: Partly sunny, with a high near 87. Calm wind becoming southeast around six mph in the afternoon. Patchy fog tonight after 3 a.m. Otherwise, partly cloudy, with a low around 71. South wind around 6 mph, becoming calm in the evening.
Join us for a delightful Sunday afternoon at the BlackRock Center for the Arts as Cruise Planners Beth & Rod present a special travel-inspired matinee featuring the beloved film Under the Tuscan Sun.
Date & Time: Sunday, May 31 | 3:00 PM – 6:00 PM
Alexandria firefighters responded to a serious motor vehicle accident on the Capital Beltway near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge early Sunday morning, rescuing a driver who became trapped underneath a tractor-trailer.
The accident occurred just before 6 a.m. on the Maryland side of the bridge, according to a Facebook post from Alexandria Firefighters, Inc. IAFF Local 2141. When crews arrived, they found one vehicle pinned under the rear of the tractor-trailer with the driver trapped inside.
HOPEWELL, Va. (AP) — Against an olive drab backdrop in a barbecue joint filled with the aroma of pulled pork and the sweat of a Virginia summer, Republican Winsome Earle-Sears told voters she was running her campaign for governor like a military-style operation.
The lieutenant governor, a former Marine, said she would protect Virginia just as she did America. The way Earle-Sears tells it, not all attacks come from soldiers.
Good morning, Alexandria! 👋 Today is Sunday, Aug. 10, the 222nd day of 2025. There are 143 days left in the year.
☀️ Today’s weather: Sunny, with a high near 86 degrees. Calm wind becoming southeast around six mph in the afternoon.
A 76-year-old Alexandria woman who went missing Saturday afternoon has been found safe, police said.
Bernise Simpkin was located at 11:18 p.m. Saturday, according to the Alexandria Police Department. She had been missing for nearly nine hours after last being seen around 2:45 p.m. in the North Old Town area.
The Alexandria Choral Society has named Victoria Benson as its new executive director, effective at the beginning of the 2025-2026 season.
Benson succeeds Megan Yingst and brings experience in both arts management and commercial real estate operations to the 55-year-old organization. She previously served as board chair, producer and director at Fresh Squeezed Opera Company in New York City, where she produced dozens of musical events and increased donor engagement and revenue.
