event

Alexandria’s 272nd birthday celebration is happening on the waterfront in Old Town on Saturday, July 10, and the City is making plans for a shortened program without birthday cake and with multiple viewing locations to reduce crowding.

The show, which usually brings tens of thousands of visitors, was canceled last year due to the pandemic. The concert usually includes the National Anthem, a musical program by the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra and a fireworks show, accompanied by Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture with live Howitzer cannon fire by the U.S. Army’s Third Infantry “Old Guard” Presidential Salute Battery.

The Friendship Firehouse Museum has come to the rescue yet again. With Alexandria’s Scottish Christmas Walk Weekend called off this year, the city’s oldest firehouse will be open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 5.

The one-day-only event costs $2 for an entire group of up to per ticket (free for city residents), and only groups of 10 people will be allowed in at a time. The museum has sporadically opened since the onset of the pandemic, and anyone wanting to stay safe can also take a Google 360 virtual tour.