A local entrepreneur is kicking off preparations to launch a new Del Ray event space with a “Wicked”-themed Halloween party and fundraiser this week.
Lee Raynes, the former owner of Bellies & Babies consignment shop, is hosting the party to preview her next business model, an event space called Together Creative Studio. The party starts at 4 p.m. on Friday at 2603 E. Randolph Avenue.
Thousands of superheroes, witches, princesses, and other costumed revelers attended the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade along Mount Vernon Avenue Sunday afternoon.
The grand marshal of the parade was Mount Vernon Community School 5th grader Linci Campos Cifuentes, who rode with her principal along the parade route. The event is one of the best Halloween parades in the country, according to USA Today.
The Alexandria City Council will host a town hall meeting on Nov. 5 (Wednesday) at the Nannie J. Lee Memorial Recreation Center (1108 Jefferson Street) in Old Town.
“Members of the Alexandria City Council will be present to speak about the issues impacting you and your family. You can also get the latest news on upcoming projects and initiatives in Alexandria,” the city said in a release.
Halloween will not be interrupted by repaving on S. Lee Street in Old Town.
Residents of Lee Street received a letter from the city today (Oct. 23) advising that all of S. Lee Street would be repaved from Oct. 28 to Nov. 3. Despite a plan for work crews to wrap up daily by 3 p.m., the repaving work would have coincided with the annual Halloween celebration on the roadway, which is attended by thousands of people every year. Now, the city has confirmed to ALXnow that the repaving will be rescheduled to the following week.
The Alexandria Police Department and its public safety partners are getting into the spirit of the season.
Next Wednesday (Oct. 29), APD is hosting a trunk-or-treat event in the parking lot at police headquarters (3600 Wheeler Avenue), and residents are encouraged to wear costumes and get candy from the trunks of Alexandria public safety vehicles.
Fright and fun is returning to Del Ray, as the James M. Duncan Branch Library (2501 Commonwealth Avenue) has been transformed into a haunted house.
On Oct. 24 (Friday) and 25 (Saturday), the annual Duncan Haunted Library will feature spooky tours, spine-tingling ghost stories and more. Tickets cost $10 and proceeds go toward new books, community programs and other special library events.
There’s a free family-friendly Halloween-themed bike ride in Del Ray on Sunday, Oct. 19.
Riders will be able to see all of the spectacularly spooky decorations throughout the neighborhood. The six-to-seven-mile ride goes from 6:30 to 8 p.m. and is hosted by the Alexandria Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. More details are below.
The 10th annual Walk to Bust Cancer at Fort Hunt Park in the Alexandria area of Fairfax County on Sunday, Oct. 19, has been postponed due to the government shutdown, organizers said.
“With Fort Hunt Park closed and the National Park Service scheduling system offline, organizers are currently unable to secure a backup date,” organizers said in an email. “After an extensive search to try and find an alternative non-government location, this decision rooted in safety, logistics, and respect for survivors, families, volunteers, and supporters was not taken lightly. The Walk is a deeply meaningful moment to honor loved ones and rally the surrounding community.”
The Alexandria Choral Society is collaborating with the Alexandria Children’s Chorus later this month for a concert that invites audiences to listen “with your heart, mind, and spirit.”
The “Do You Hear What I Hear” concert will explore sound and silent spaces in musical pieces such as “The Sound of Silence” and “Ain’t No Grave” at Westminster Presbyterian Church (2701 Cameron Mills Road). The concert will be held on Sunday, Oct. 26, from 3 to 5 p.m.
Is civil discourse a dying art? The topic will be discussed at Agenda: Alexandria‘s upcoming forum in the city’s Carlyle neighborhood on Monday, October 27.
Panelists at the event include Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Kate Woodsome; JoAnn Koob, director of the Liberty and Law Center at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School; Alexandria living legend Carter Flemming; and Victor Ignacio of the Alexandria Sheriff’s Office. Tickets for the hour-and-a-half-long discussion are $10. The event starts at 7 p.m. and will be held at Cowo & Creche (2034 Eisenhower Avenue).
Get your Halloween costumes ready, because an Alexandria tradition is returning on Sunday, Oct. 26.
Thousands of participants are expected at the 29th annual Del Ray Halloween Parade. Every year, Ghostbusters, superheroes, fairies, princesses, and many more costumed Alexandrians march along Mount Vernon Avenue at the intersection with E. Bellefonte Avenue to the fields at Mount Vernon Recreation Center (2701 Commonwealth Avenue). The festivities start at 2 p.m., and always end with the Del Ray Business Association (DRBA) awarding the winners of the best decorated house and business in Del Ray, as well as the best-dressed group, pet costume, and stroller.
