Events

The Arlington Festival of the Arts returns to Clarendon this weekend, with road closures

By Matt Blitz
Arlington Festival Of The Arts crowd shot from 2016 (Courtesy Howard Alan Events)

The Arlington Festival of the Arts is back this weekend in Clarendon, bringing with it a number of road closures.

The annual, free outdoor local arts festival is set to take place this Saturday and Sunday, running from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. The event will occupy about three blocks in Clarendon, running along Washington Blvd from Clarendon Blvd to 10th Street N.

Arlington Festival of the Arts 2023 map (image via Howard Alan Events)

The festival will be a bit smaller this year in terms of street space, the festival director Elaine Laurent told ARLnow.

In previous years, the festival also took over a portion of N. Highland Street, including space in front of Trader Joe’s. That’s not happening this year, Laurent said, noting that overall attendance last year was somewhat lower compared to before the pandemic.

Part of N. Highland Street will still be closed to motor vehicle traffic, though.

The 9th edition of the festival will feature more than one hundred artists “selected by an independent panel of expert judges,” a press release says. Over a fifth of the artists at the festival this year are from around Northern Virginia, Laurent said.

To accommodate the festival, the Arlington County Police Department has announced a number of road closures that will be in effect for most of the weekend.

The following roads will be closed from about 3 a.m. on Saturday through 8 p.m. on Sunday:

  • Westbound Washington Blvd from 10th Street N. to Clarendon Blvd
  • The left lane of eastbound Washington Blvd, from Clarendon Blvd to N. Garfield Street (the right lane will be open to motor vehicle traffic)
  • N. Highland Street, from Clarendon Blvd to Washington Boulevard
  • 11th Street N., from N. Garfield Street to N. Highland Street

Local traffic will be able to access the parking garage for 3100 Clarendon Boulevard from 11th Street N.

Road closures for Arlington Festival of the Arts (image via ACPD)

Additional closures may be implemented “at police discretion in the interest of public safety,” says the traffic alert.

ACPD is encouraging festival goers to use the Metro. Residents should expect to see an “increased police presence” in the area over the weekend, the police department said.

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