Saturday morning rain wasn’t enough to dampen this year’s Art On The Avenue in Del Ray.
As expected, thousands of visitors descended on Mount Vernon Avenue for the 28th annual festival. The Visit Del Ray event featured more than 300 artist booths, live music on three stages, a pie baking contest, as well as a kids corner to create art at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square. City leaders and local business owners also cut a ribbon recognizing new Del Ray businesses.
“Thank you exhibitors, bands, restaurants, volunteers and attendees for another amazing event,” organizers wrote on the festival website. “See you in 2024!”
It’s Art on the Avenue!
An amazing day in the best ‘hood on the planet. pic.twitter.com/NrMjpg0OsN
— Justin Wilson (@justindotnet) October 7, 2023
It was a beautiful day for Art on the Avenue! It was great to see so many neighbors, friends and vendors out and about, supporting our community. Thanks to all who made it happen! pic.twitter.com/gR62lLrgqK
— Delegate Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (@EBPforVA) October 7, 2023
Beautiful day for Art on the Avenue!
Redistricting has occurred. Stop by the @AlexVADems booth to make sure you know who's on your ballot this year. pic.twitter.com/A5Fy4J6dOu
— Canek Aguirre (@CanekForCouncil) October 7, 2023
Thank you to Art on the Avenue for recognizing ALIVE! and the businesses that opened new locations in Del Ray. The festival continues until 6pm on Mt Vernon Ave. More about Art on the Avenue: https://t.co/A8n7kL3Nkq pic.twitter.com/sV5f9PmuyD
— ALIVE! (@ALIVE4AlexVA) October 7, 2023
https://twitter.com/AdamEbbin/status/1710775974961307935
Del Ray’s biggest celebration of the year is right around the corner.
Thousands are expected to descend on Mount Vernon Avenue to see the work of more than 300 artists for the 28th annual Art on the Avenue on Saturday.
The free family friendly event is located on Mount Vernon Avenue between Hume and Bellefonte Avenues, and will run from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Last year’s event was postponed a month due to rain. This year, there’s a 60% chance of rain on Saturday before 8 a.m., and otherwise the forecast calls for a partly sunny day with a high of 67 degrees and wind gusts of up to 25 miles per hour, according to the National Weather Service.
The event will also feature live music on three stages, a pie baking contest, as well as a kids corner to create art at Pat Miller Neighborhood Square. The kids corner is sponsored by Dominion Energy, which was lambasted in 2021 by City Council for an all-day power outage during that year’s event.
Parking is expected to be limited, and the city is offering free trolley transportation from the Braddock Road Metro station.
(Updated 10/6) A Hawaiian shave ice trailer at Fort Belvoir is looking to open a new location in Del Ray.
Owner Jaafar Ouardi filed a special use permit to open the new location for Le Petit Ananas Shaved Ice outside Bagel Uprising (2307 Mount Vernon Avenue).
“I am presently the proprietor of Le Petit Ananas Hawaiian Shaved Ice trailer located in Fairfax City, and I have been doing business operations inside Fairfax County as well as the City of Alexandria,” Ouardi wrote. “At present, we offer genuine Hawaiian shaved ice infused with natural flavors, procured exclusively from Hawaii. Our offerings are complemented by fresh toppings such as condensed milk, fruit purees, and mochi.”
Ouardi said the trailer currently operates at Fort Belvoir but he hopes to open an additional trailer at Del Ray. The special use permit indicated the trailer would cooperate with a nearby business for storage, electricity and water as needed.
The permit is heading to the Planning Commission for review on Dec. 5.
Image via Le Petit Ananas Shaved Ice/Facebook
A 34-year-old Arlington man is being held without bond after allegedly robbing his girlfriend’s ex of his clothes and other items at gunpoint.
The suspect was arrested for armed robbery on Sept. 14, nearly two months after the July 18 incident.
The victim reported to police that, on July 17, he had a phone argument with his child’s mother and her boyfriend. The following day, while sitting outside in front of the Popeyes at 3402 Mount Vernon Avenue, the victim observed the suspect and an unknown driver pull up in a white Kia Optima, according to a recently released search warrant affidavit.
The victim told police that he approached the suspect on foot after the suspect got out of the vehicle and approached him.
The victim said that the suspect then stepped back, took a handgun from his waistband and pointed it at him. The victim reported that the suspect stole his clothes and other items, and that the suspect then posted a video on Instagram of the victim sitting on a crate, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Police took the suspect’s iPhone into possession and described the video in the affidavit.
The suspect goes to court on Oct. 5.
The city’s Sexual Assault Center and Domestic Violence Program is open, and hotlines are available 24/7 at 703-684-7273 [Sexual Assault Hotline] or 703-746-4911 [Domestic Violence Hotline]. Online support is also available with The National Sexual Assault Online Hotline.
Get your costume ready, because the Halloween pop-up bar ‘Nightmare On The Avenue’ is opening early next week in Del Ray.
The pop-up bar at 2312 Mount Vernon Avenue is currently being decorated, and staff are concocting a spooky craft cocktail and food menu for the space that was home to the 80’s themed Miami Vibes popup bar during the summer.
Expect the bar to open on Monday or Tuesday of next week, Owner Bill Blackburn of the Homegrown Restaurant Group told ALXnow.
“As the name suggests, ‘Nightmare on the Avenue’ is going to get you in the holiday spirit,” Blackburn said.
The pop-up is located between HRG’s other Del Ray restaurants Pork Barrel BBQ and Holy Cow Del Ray on Mount Vernon Avenue.
After Halloween, the bar will be transformed into the Christmas-themed “Joy On The Avenue.”
A 14-year-old boy on an electric bike suffered non-life threatening injuries after a crash involving a car in Arlandria on Wednesday night, according to scanner traffic.
The crash occurred at around 7:30 p.m. in a parking lot in the 4100 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. The teen was transported to a hospital in an ambulance.
The driver of the vehicle was pulling out of the parking lot and was about to turn onto Mount Vernon Avenue when the crash occurred, though ALXnow could not independently verify which vehicle struck the other.
The driver stayed at the scene and was not charged.
“I was just pulling out of the parking lot and this kid came flying down Mount Vernon Avenue on his bike and bam, hit the car,” the driver told ALXnow. “I stayed here. I had to help the kid.”
A popular El Salvadoran restaurant has moved around the corner in Arlandria.
Last Friday, El Cuscatleco Restaurant held a packed grand opening at their new 3,359-square-foot location at 3819 Mount Vernon Avenue in the Del Ray North shopping center. The restaurant/dance club was forced to move from their longtime home at 251 W. Glebe Road since Housing Alexandria is turning the property into a massive affordable apartment building.
“This is a much nicer space,” said Rose Ascencio, who owns the restaurant with her husband, Oscar Salinas. “We kept that place together with tape and rubber bands. We were absolutely blessed to find this space so close by.”
El Cuscatleco Restaurant features live entertainment on weekends, and hundreds of revelers routinely packed into the old location. The new location is still under construction, but the interior includes a stage, a full bar and a number of slot-like skill gaming machines.
Ascencio said she and her husband signed a 10-year lease with the option to renew.
The new restaurant is also a block away from Fanaticos Sports Bar and Grill (3901 Mount Vernon Avenue), which also features El Salvadoran music and food, although Ascencio says her restaurant has more of a family-friendly vibe.
“We’re a family restaurant,” she said. “The new space is a work in progress, but we’re very happy to be here.”
A long vacant Arlandria convenience store just landed Dollar Tree as a new tenant.
The former CVS at 3811 Mount Vernon Avenue did not renew its lease more than a decade ago, and the 11,300-square-foot property has been vacant ever since. Over the last several weeks, contractors have erected the Dollar Tree sign on the building and installed store fixtures.
The Finmarc Management, Inc. property is located in the Del Ray North Shopping Center, which has struggled with occupancy for the last several years.
A contractor on the project told us he expects to finish the interior renovation within the next few weeks, although could not offer any information on when the store will open.
There are more than 15,000 Dollar Tree locations throughout the country. The Chesapeake-based company did not return calls for comment.
A 25-year-old Alexandria man was arrested after a terrifying incident early Sunday morning in which he allegedly drove his SUV into multiple vehicles and almost hit bystanders in an Arlandria parking lot.
Mike Vasquez Lopez is being held on a $3,500 bond after being charged with reckless driving, driving while intoxicated and two counts of hit and run property damage.
At around 1:15 a.m., Lopez was filmed allegedly driving erratically through a parking lot in the 4100 block of Mount Vernon Avenue. Police said via scanner that he was “kicked out” of Ricky’s Sports Bar at 4124 Mount Vernon Avenue, and that he then allegedly struck multiple vehicles with a dark blue GMC SUV.
No one was injured in the incident.
While the suspect allegedly drove through the parking lot, people in the lot pelted his SUV with rocks and tried to stop it, according to the video. The suspect then allegedly drove away from the scene shortly before police arrived, and he was arrested near the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and S. Glebe Road.
Lopez was also found guilty in June of driving without a license and failing to yield to pedestrians and is past due on paying the court more than $200 in fines. He is scheduled to appear for his arraignment in court today (Monday).
Crooked Beat Records officially opened today in the basement of 2417 Mount Vernon Avenue in Alexandria’s Del Ray neighborhood.
Owners Bill and Helen Daly hosted a ribbon cutting at the new record shop on Friday that was attended by dozens of customers. The 1,200-square foot basement is 300 square feet bigger than their old shop that closed at the end of April in Old Town North.
“It’s still a work in progress,” Bill Daly said. “We’re trying to keep the atmosphere the same as it was on N. Fairfax Street.”
A former DJ at North Carolina State University, Daly worked for a record shop chain for years before founding Crooked Beat Records in 1997 in Raleigh. He moved the business to Adams Morgan in D.C. in 2004 and then to 802 N. Fairfax Street in Old Town North in 2016. The shop was forced to close in April due to residential redevelopment,
Daly signed a five-year lease for the 1,200-square-foot basement — in the same building that houses Cheesetique, the Del Ray School Of Music and Piece Out Del Ray.
“It’s great to see a business like yours coming to Del Ray,” City Council Member Kirk McPike said at the ribbon cutting. “You fit the vibe and get the deal here in Del Ray. But more fully, you’re going to bring people here that are going to join the community and support some of our other businesses, and we wish you all the success possible here in Alexandria.”
Gayle Reuter of the Del Ray Business Association said that the record shop is a destination business that brings people to the area.
“We’re really excited to have you here,” Reuter told the owners. “This is a big day for Del Ray.”
Craig Dye, a retired music teacher, drove from Warrenton to attend the store opening.
“We don’t have record shops in Warrenton,” Dye said. “My record collection is ridiculous. My wife is very patient with me. She lets me have the entire basement for my record collection and she takes care of the rest of the house.”
