Alexandria will get a long holiday weekend packed with Juneteenth festivities, Father’s Day events, Pride Month celebrations and summer solstice events.
As some workers get a day off for the federal Juneteenth holiday, Alexandria will host events like the Juneteenth Festival at Charles Houston Recreation Center, Washington Revels Jubilee Voices Juneteenth Concert at Shiloh Baptist Church and Memorial at Douglass Cemetery.
A new bridal boutique is preparing to open its doors in Old Town on Friday, June 26.
The White Magnolia Bridal Collection will open its doors at 123 N. Henry Street, offering a curated collection of bridal gowns priced between $1,800 and $6,000 from designers including Antonio Gual, BECCAR, Calla Blanche, and Sara Gabriel. The business will be open Tuesday to Saturday by appointment only.
There’s more than one reason to stay up late — the Woodrow Wilson Bridge will be opening twice in the early hours of Tuesday morning (June 16).
The bridge will first open at 12:01 a.m. for the passing of the Gazela, a 19th-century fishing vessel docked in Alexandria over the weekend as part of the city’s America250 celebration. The opening will last 15 to 20 minutes, according to DC Police Traffic on X.
With minimal discussion on Saturday (June 13), Alexandria City Council voted to move forward with an “enhanced gravity storm sewer system” to combat flooding along the waterfront in Old Town.
The City Council action was taken four months after the National Park Service denied the city’s plan to build a pump station at Waterfront Park (1 Prince Street). The city’s previously approved proposal would have closed Waterfront Park and Point Lumley Park from the fall of 2026 until the fall of 2028 to rebuild segments of the sea wall and to install the pump station to recirculate water in flood-prone areas back to the Potomac River. The denial by NPS forced the city to make “significant modifications” to the plan, project manager Matt Landis told Council.
After a health scare and visit to the emergency room, Mayor Alyia Gaskins shared some advice for residents: “take care of yourself.”
Gaskins ended up in the emergency room due to severe dehydration during Sails on the Potomac‘s opening ceremony on Friday (June 12). City leaders were giving remarks to kick off the weekend-long festival.
As the second weekend of June arrives, Alexandria City Public Schools students are off for the summer and families will be heading out to enjoy events around the city and region.
Sails on the Potomac will coincide with ALX Jazz Fest from June 12-14 at Waterfront Park (1A Prince Street). Highlights of the event include tall ship tours, fireworks, ALX Jazz Fest performances and the VA250 Mobile Museum.
Gawkers peeking into the windows of historic homes in Old Town need look no further.
On June 16, publisher Simon & Schuster will release “Old Town Style: Inside Alexandria’s Most Beautiful Historic Homes.” In its 253 pages, Robert Weinhagen Jr., president of the Historic Alexandria Foundation, goes inside 44 homes built within the Colonial, Federal and Victorian periods.
In honor of the Croatian National Football Team making Alexandria its home base, boutiques in Old Town will be decked out in the Croatian checkered flag and offer specials inspired by the country.
Old Town Boutiques, a coalition of independently-owned boutiques in Old Town, will host Shop the Checkers Boutique Week from Sunday, June 14 through Sunday, June 28. Participating retailers will display special Croatian red-and-white checkerboard crest flags at their storefronts and offer experiences drawn from Croatian culture.
The first weekend of June brings plenty of summer happenings, from a welcome celebration for the Croatian National Football Team to other food festivals, concerts and tours.
Events like Best of the West, Flavors and Sounds of Croatia in Alexandria and the sold-out Taste of Del Ray will keep foodies satisfied this weekend. History fans will enjoy the Wilkes Street Cemetery Complex Walking Tour. Musicians will also treat the community to free concerts with Alexandria Citizens Band: A Journey Through American Music and LIVE at the Lyceum: Piano & Friends Concert.
Alexandria writer John Adam Wasowicz’s eighth novel in his Old Town Mystery series is set against a murder on July 4.
In “Patriots Circle,” Wasowicz’s protagonist, attorney Mo Katz, is back investigating another murder. Katz is a modern day Sherlock Holmes, working out of his small office at 221B Wales Alley. The book will be released on June 15.
Cameras will be rolling on Sunday, June 21 at Alexandria’s “Now or Never” installation at Waterfront Park in Old Town.
That’s the day of the summer solstice — the longest day of the year — and artist Alicia Eggert designed the installation at 1 Prince Street to align with the sun’s path from sunrise to sunset.
