Skate Night is coming back to Thomas Jefferson Community Center, marking its 30th year.
The family-friendly program is returning next weekend, on Saturday, Oct. 29, and going back inside for the first time since the pandemic. It will take place at Thomas Jefferson Community Center and is set to happen most Saturdays through the remainder of the fall, the winter, and into the spring. The last date scheduled is April 22.
All skate nights begin at 6 p.m. and will now run until 9 p.m., a 30-minute extension from previous years. There will also be a moon bounce, a DJ, and concessions. Roller skate rentals will be available as well.
Registration opens three weeks ahead of each date and pre-registration is recommended. Space remains for the Oct. 29 Skate Night, a county spokesperson confirmed to ARLnow.
This is a return to form for the popular program after the pandemic forced some adjustments.
“[Skate Night has] been a Saturday-night institution in Arlington for 30 years and continues to grow in popularity,” Dept. of Parks and Recreation spokesperson Susan Kalish told ARLnow in an email. “Skate Night is just one of many programs that had to be adjusted during the pandemic. We had a trimmed-down option to skate outdoors with friends and music at the Quincy Parking Deck.”
Kalish called the program “intergenerational” since it attracts all community members “from tots to seniors.”
Skate Night is also partially run by the T.E.A.M. program, out of the county’s Office of Teens. “T.E.A.M.” stands for Teen Entrepreneurial Amusement Management and it’s a program that “helps local teens learn how to run a business and develop skills for future employment,” per Kalish.
Skate Night isn’t the only place where locals will soon be able to skate. In less than two weeks, the ice skating rink at Westpost will also open for the season.
Photo by Susan Weber on Unsplash