festival

Shirlington Oktoberfest Among Slew of Events This Weekend

By ARLnow.com

What are you doing tonight? Nothing? Good. That will give you plenty of time to rest up for a Saturday and Sunday chock full of events around Arlington.

From noon to 6:00 on Saturday, thousands of beer drinkers will jam Campbell Avenue in Shirlington Village for the 10th annual Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest. Wear your best lederhosen and bring extra cash for bratwurst. Oh, and bring a non-drinking friend who can help you get home safely AND provide a few extra sample tickets to your group (for $25, each attendee gets 10 tickets good for one 4 oz. beer sample each).

Dog lovers skipping the Oktoberfest may want to check out Dogtober Day and Barker’s Bash, a dog show and festival full of fun and games. It’s taking place at Lacey Woods Park (1200 N. George Mason Dr.)  from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.

On Sunday, Arlington will celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month at Thomas Jefferson Theater (125 S. Old Glebe Rd.). Community members of all ages and backgrounds are invited to enjoy Latin music, food and dancing from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m.

In addition to those events, there’s also a pair of fundraisers going on, which we wrote about earlier. See our events calendar for even more options.

Images from Clarendon Day 2010

By ARLnow.com

It started with a couple of fun races and ended with a performance of “The Arlington Rap.” Clarendon Day 2010 benefited from beautiful weather (okay, it was a bit hot) and plenty of food and entertainment options. Below are some photos captured by ARLnow.com readers.

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Photo credits: Amber Wilkie Photography, Chaita_1, Chris Bavaria, Discojing and Tom Petty.

Preview: Food, Music and Fun at Clarendon Day

By ARLnow.com

The start of Clarendon Day 2010 is less than 24 hours away, and already the excitement is brewing. This year’s event will include a performance by “Arlington Rap guy” Remy Munasifi, a burrito eating contest and 20 different food vendors.

Things will kick off Saturday at 8:20 a.m. with a 5K race, followed by a 10K and a Kids Dash.

Then at 11:00 a.m., the main festivities get underway.

Ten bands are set to perform on two different stages. Acts scheduled to perform on the main IOTA Club & Cafe Stage include:

  • Milkshake — Kid-oriented rock music
  • Love Canon — A “power 80’s glam bluegrass” band (perhaps an ironic selection to follow a children-oriented group)
  • Sons of Bill — Rock/alt-country
  • Honor By August — Rock/pop
  • GoRemy — The aforementioned Arlington Rap guy, whose new album includes The Metro Song and the Falafel Song

Clarendon Day also features dozens of art, retail and community booths. Among the organizations setting up shop will be WJFK (“106.7 The Fan”) and WJLA/TBD (ABC 7).

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Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

ART Route 75 Expands on Monday — The ART 75 bus route will add stops at the Shirlington Transit Center and the Virginia Square Metro station on Monday. More from the Arlington Transit Blog.

New Ballston Burger Joint Coming Soon — Brgr:Shack (4215 Fairfax Drive) will feature grass-fed beef, home-made buns, and a selection of wine and beer. The 30-40 seat restaurant is expected to open in early November. More from TBD.

Shirlington Oktoberfest Map — It’s not as highly-anticipated as Clarendon Day, according to our informal poll, but the 10th annual Mid-Atlantic Oktoberfest in Shirlington next weekend is sure to attract another huge crowd. The good news is that there will be plenty of stations serving beer, so getting each of your 4 oz. samples hopefully won’t take too long. Shirlington Village Blogspot has a map of all 79 vendor booths.

Flickr pool photo by Chris Rief

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Crystal City Serves Up Latin Flare — On Sunday, food and wine lovers flocked to Crystal City for the consumption bonanza known as Vintage Crystal. Now in its fourth year, Vintage Crystal continued last year’s Latin theme. There were South American wines, tequila tastings, salsa dancers and lots and lots of food. See more photos on Flickr.

Capital Bikeshare Gets New York Times Write-up — The Old Gray Lady spent some time in Arlington recently to preview the Capital Bikeshare system, which officially launched yesterday. Not content to give Arlington and DC all the spotlight for hosting the largest bike share system in the country, the Times noted that New York is studying a possible bike sharing program of its own: 30,000 bikes, nearly 30 times as many as Washington’s modest collection of 1,100 custom-designed Capital Bikeshare cycles. More from the New York Times.

Arlington Real Estate Down a Bit in August — According to data from local Realtor Laura Rubinchuk, the average residential real estate sale price in Arlington fell 2 percent last month. Overall, Rubinchuk says the market is holding steady. More from Arlington Real Estate News.

Park(ing) Day Fun in Rosslyn — The Ode Street Tribune catches some urban hula hooping on tape during Friday’s quirky Park(ing) Day celebration.

Flickr photo by Cliff1066

Clarendon Day Details Released

By ARLnow.com

“Dust off your brown flip flops and get ready for the 13th Annual Clarendon Day,” reads the official press release for Clarendon’s biggest block party (Remy would be proud).

The always-entertaining event, taking place from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25, will feature “food, music, art, fitness classes, kids’ activities, health screenings and more.”

Among the more than 15 local restaurants that will be selling food at Clarendon Day are Whitlow’s, Hard Times Café, Rocklands BBQ, Screwtop Wine Bar, Northside Social, Bakeshop, Liberty Tavern, Lyon Hall, and Kabob Bazaar.

To help work off the soon-to-be-consumed food, the day will start off with the Clarendon Day Run. The run will include a 10K, 5K and a Kid’s Dash. There will also be fitness classes, health screenings and free seated massages throughout the day.

The musical portion of the afternoon will be hosted by IOTA Club and Café. Bands on tap to perform include “tropical pop” group The Constituents, swing band King Teddy’s and rockabilly group Jumpin’ Jupiter.

Kids will have plenty to do, thanks to family-friendly performances at the Kinder Haus Kids’ Stage and the Kaiser Permanente Performance stage. Kids will also be able to take photos with a couple of mascots: the Washington Capitals’ Slapshot and DC United’s Talon.

Another Clarendon Day favorite is the shopping. More than 50 vendors will be selling their wares near the Clarendon Metro.

Clarendon Day Details Revealed

By ARLnow.com

We’re one month away from the 2010 iteration of Clarendon Day, the outdoor event that’s billed as “Arlington’s biggest party.”

Clarendon Day 2010 will take place from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday, September 25.

For runners, three Pacers-sponsored races will be held before the start of the festival: A 5K at 8:20 a.m., a 10K at 9:00 a.m. and a kid’s dash at 10:30 a.m. (Register here.)

The main event will feature music on two stages, more than 50 vendors and food from more than 15 restaurants, including Whitlow’s, Hard Times Cafe, Rocklands, Screwtop Wine Bar, Northside Social and Bakeshop. There will also be art, fitness classes, kids’ activities, health screenings, dancing and more.

Clarendon Day and Virginia Hospital Center Foundation’s Family Fun Day have been combined into one event this year, allowing for more kid-friendly events. The kids’ activities will include climbing walls, games and — we hear — an ice cream eating contest.

The festivities are all taking place in the area around the Clarendon Metro station.

Proceeds from the event will benefit Doorways for Women and Families, the Clarendon Alliance and the Virginia Hospital Center Foundation.

Dates, Details Set for Fall Beer and Wine Festivals

By Scott Brodbeck

Together with the start of football season, Crystal City’s Vintage Crystal wine festival and Shirlington’s Oktoberfest are two of the only reasons I can think about the end of summer without getting inconsolably depressed. Luckily, both will be back this year.

Vintage Crystal is back with the same Latin flavor as last year. The fourth annual festival will feature wine and tequila tastings, all-you-can-eat tapas from more than 20 local restaurants, Latin American music and salsa dancing.

Tickets are $20 and come with a complimentary wine glass.

The festival will take place from 2:00 to 6:00 p.m. on Sunday, September 19.

The Shirlington Oktoberfest — also known as “the greatest thing to ever happen in Shirlington” — will return on Saturday, October 2, 2010. From 12:00 to 6:00 p.m., more than 30 different breweries will be pouring their best suds (in 4 oz. increments) for a fun-loving crowd that usually numbers in the thousands. There will also be food from local vendors and an authentic German band.

The event, sponsored by Capital City Brewing Co., is now in its tenth year. Tickets cost $25.