Northern Virginia’s largest Oktoberfest is coming to Crystal City. On Sept. 29, 220 20th Street will play host to the first time to over 100 craft beers from over 50 regional breweries.
Tickets to the event are $30 if purchased in advance, or $45 at the door. Tickets give visitors entry into the festival and live entertainment, as well as ten beer sampling tickets along with a custom mug to fill.
VIP tickets, $50 in advance or $65 at the door, includes 15 beer sampling tickets, early access, a private tent and private bathrooms.
In addition to German food, the Oktoberfest will host various food trucks serving things like New York-style pizza or tacos.
But the Crystal City Oktoberfest isn’t the only one in Arlington this fall. In the wake of the closure of Capitol City Brewing, hosts of Shirlington’s annual Oktoberfest, New District Brewing is taking up the mantle and expanding its “Arlington ValleyFest” on Sept. 30.
The festival will take place at 2709 S. Oakland Street. While the event will have plenty of beer, the focus will also be on promoting local arts.
Meanwhile, on Oct. 20, the Copperwood Tavern on 4021 Campbell Ave. will also be hosting their “Shucktoberfest”, an event co-sponsored by Northern Neck’s Waverly Point Oyster Company, highlighting beer and oysters as a major draw.
A vandalized sign near the intersection of S. Arlington Mill Drive and S. Walter Reed Drive
A vandalized sign near the intersection of S. Arlington Mill Drive and S. Walter Reed Drive
For the last few days, an electronic sign meant to inform drivers about some upcoming roadwork in the Shirlington area has displayed a different message instead: “Ligma.”
A prankster seems to have reprogrammed the sign, located near the intersection of S. Walter Reed Drive and S. Arlington Mill Drive, sometime in the past few days. A tipster told ARLnow the sign’s been changed since at least this past Wednesday (Aug. 22).
The word itself seems to be a reference to a popular meme among fans of the video game Fortnite — its origins are perhaps best not explained on a family website.
When informed of the vandalized sign by ARLnow, county transportation spokeswoman Jessica Baxter explained that it belongs to a contractor working on improvements to S. Walter Reed Drive as part of a bid to “alert the public of the start of upcoming work.”
“The sign is supposed to reference the upcoming construction and date range of work,” Baxter said. “We’ve alerted our contractor to correct the sign as soon as possible.”
Construction on that work is supposed to start in early September, and last for close to a year after that.
Signature Theatre’s annual open house will take place in the Village at Shirlington between noon and 8:30 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 5), accompanied by a road closure.
The Arlington County Police Department will close Campbell Avenue from S. Arlington Mill Drive to S. Randolph Street from around 8 a.m. to 11 p.m. for the event.
Harris Teeter shoppers should plan to use the alternate entrance to the store’s parking garage while the road closure is in place, and street parking will be limited in the area.
The open house aims to introduce Signature Theatre’s 2018-19 season. Attractions include free performances, discounted tickets to upcoming shows and show merchandise at clearance prices.
Work on Dudley’s Sport and Ale in Shirlington continues (via Facebook)
Dudley’s Sport & Ale in Shirlington (file photo)
Dudley’s Sport & Ale in Shirlington (file photo)
Work on a long-awaited Shirlington sports bar seems to be picking up steam.
Dudley’s Sport and Ale, set to be located at 2766 S. Arlington Mill Drive in the Village at Shirlington, could be open in time for football season to kick off, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Owner Reese Gardner has worked for years now to open up a new pub in the space formerly occupied by The Bungalow Sports Grill, which closed in June 2015.
Construction Update! We are making a push for the start of regular season. Depending on county inspections we should make it.
Gardner told ARLnow that he still doesn’t have a firm opening date ready, though he hopes to have “a solid date after a big round of inspections next week.” As of late May, he was eyeing a grand opening sometime this month for the restaurant.
Most of the delays have been driven by wrangling with county inspectors over the bar’s planned steel rooftop, Gardner’s stressed in the past. He’s hoping to have 3,000 square feet of rooftop bar space to sit atop the 12,000-square-foot restaurant.
Gardner’s company also owns Copperwood Tavern in Shirlington and Irish Whiskey Public House in D.C.
A rendering of changes in the Four Mile Run valley as part of the proposed parks master plan (via Arlington County)
Jennie Dean Park rendering, with field alignments approved by the County Board
Rendering of the renovations to Jennie Dean Park, with field alignments previously approved by the County Board (Image via Arlington County)
With a key bit of planning work on the Four Mile Run valley in Nauck wrapped up, the county is pushing ahead with the development of additional design guidelines for parks and other features in the area.
The County Board approved a “policy framework” for the area in May, sketching out general goals for the remainder of the planning process. Chiefly, the work is focused on the redevelopment of Jennie Dean Park, the evolution of pedestrian and cycling options along roads like S. Four Mile Run Drive and the promotion of the arts industry in the area.
In the framework, the Board endorsed one plan for the redesign of Jennie Dean to account for the county’s plans to someday acquire WETA’s building in the area (3620 27th Street S.).
The Board expects to approve a plan calling for two planned baseball and softball fields to be aligned closer to S. Nelson Street, with new basketball and tennis courts on the site of the WETA building, even though it attracted some fierce pushback from some in the Nauck community. Now, the public will get another chance to weigh in on the design, including the county’s plans to add a new “gateway” to the park near the Weenie Beanie on S. Four Mile Run Drive.
The plans also include details on how the county might manage stormwater in the area moving forward, and future tweaks to features throughout Shirlington Park. The area’s dog park, however, won’t see big changes under the proposed plans, after the Board declined to move forward with any reduction in size for the park.
The Board expects to vote on a final parks plan in September, and could sign off on the area plan in November.
Ping by Charlie Chiang’s in Shirlington is permanently closed
Ping by Charlie Chiang’s in Shirlington is permanently closed
Modern Asian restaurant Ping by Charlie Chiang’s is closed in The Village at Shirlington.
A posting to the restaurant’s 4060 Campbell Avenue door dated Monday (July 16) thanked customers for their patronage over the past three decades.
The Shirlington site remained open after Charlie Chiang’s closed in Crystal City in 2015.
As of this morning, Charlie Chiang’s website was down. There was no answer to the phone at Kwai, Charlie Chiang’s Tysons restaurant, yesterday evening (Thursday) or this morning, though its website is still active.
Police respond to a man who barricaded himself in a Shirlington apartment
Police respond to a man who barricaded himself in a Shirlington apartment
(Updated at 4:50 p.m.) Arlington police have arrested a man after he barricaded himself inside an apartment in Shirlington while attempting to evade arrest.
Police were called to the 2700 block of S. Arlington Mill Drive, adjacent to the Village at Shirlington Shopping Center and the Arlington Trades Center, this afternoon (Thursday).
Officers were seeking 31-year-old Brian Covarrubias out of Alexandria, and managed to arrest him following an hour-long standoff, according to police spokeswoman Ashley Savage.
Covarrubias is now in custody in Alexandria, where he’s charged with robbery, malicious wounding, assault and battery, unlawful dissemination and “prevent summoning of law enforcement,” Savage said.
POLICE ACTIVITY: ACPD is on scene of a wanted subject barricaded in a residence in the 2700 block of S. Arlington Mill Drive. Police remain on scene investigating. Public is asked to avoid the area.
A malfunctioning county bucket truck in the Shirlington Dog Park
A malfunctioning county bucket truck in the Shirlington Dog Park
A malfunctioning county bucket truck in the Shirlington Dog Park
Firefighters attempt to reach a malfunctioning county bucket truck in the Shirlington dog park
First responders on the scene for a malfunctioning county bucket truck in the Shirlington dog park
Firefighters were called out to a rescue a county parks and recreation worker from a malfunctioning bucket truck in the Shirlington dog park this morning (Thursday).
The man was stuck in the bucket after the arm of the truck stranded him near a tree at the park’s entrance at S. Four Mile Run Drive and S. Oxford Street.
First responders at the scene said the worker was not injured and brought down without incident.
Signs near the park said the area would be closed for tree trimming today.
The rescue effort briefly involved the closure of that section of the park, but it’s since reopened.
Beer lovers will have not just one, but two Oktoberfest-themed events to enjoy in the Shirlington area this fall.
New District Brewing announced this week that it’s expanding its “Arlington ValleyFest” event to help pick up where Capitol City Brewing, long the hosts of an Oktoberfest celebration, left off after the brewpub closed this spring.
But restaurateur Reese Gardner tells ARLnow that he’ll also be hosting an Oktoberfest gathering along Campbell Avenue, in and around his Copperwood Tavern (4021 Campbell Avenue), ensuring that the Village at Shirlington will still have a fall beer festival even with Cap City gone.
Gardner is dubbing the event “Shucktoberfest,” as it will be co-sponsored by the Northern Neck’s Waverly Point Oyster Company, and it’s now set for Oct. 20. He says he secured an agreement from the shopping center’s landlord to host the event shortly after Cap City closed up shop in April, and recently finalized securing the necessary permits from the county.
Gardner said 19 Virginia breweries have committed to attend, many of which served up their suds at Cap City’s Oktoberfest events. Gardner says the event will feature “oyster tents” and other food options, as well as a “kids’ zone” and game area that will include cornhole.
Tickets will be available for the event on its website. Gardner is also looking for volunteers to help staff the festival.
Capitol City Brewing might’ve closed up shop in Shirlington, but some of the area’s remaining brewmasters are trying to keep the spirit of the brewery’s popular “Oktoberfest” celebration alive.
Cap City started hosting an annual Oktoberfest event back in 1999 at its former location in the Village at Shirlington. The brewpub’s sudden closure back in March marked the end of that event, but the New District Brewing Company is hoping to fill the void with a similar event just across Four Mile Run.
The brewery is planning to host “Arlington ValleyFest” around its home on 2709 S. Oakland Street on Sept. 30, the same weekend Cap City traditionally convened Oktoberfest.
New District founder Mike Katrivanos told ARLnow that he envisions that ValleyFest can “pick up the mantle” of what Cap City started.
“With every end coming, there’s a new beginning,” Katrivanos said.
Katrivanos says New District hosted ValleyFest for the first time last year, but on a substantially smaller scale. They put on the festival the first weekend of November, but he says the chilly weather made that a “not very desirable date” moving forward.
But when he saw that Capitol City would be closing up shop, he decided to call around and check with other business owners to see if anyone else would be hosting Oktoberfest instead. He discovered that no one was especially interested in doing so, and he set about seeing if he could move up ValleyFest a bit.
Katrivanos quickly secured the county’s approval for the change, and even earned permission to double the festival in size. The event will now run nearly the length of S. Oakland Street, after it intersects with S. Four Mile Run Drive, running past the Shirlington Dog Park.
“We really hope to kind of replicate Oktoberfest, though hopefully not in the drunken mob type of sense,” Katrivanos said. “We’re not trying to get that crowd coming to consume too much, but we definitely are trying to create an enjoyable vibe centered around a large event.”
While Katrivanos says the event will have plenty of beer on hand, he also wants to be focused on local art, especially given the debate around the best ways to promote the arts in the Four Mile Run Valley as part of the county’s review of its plans for the area.
Katrivanos expects to have a variety of local artists on hand, as well as the Arlington Art Truck. He’s even planning a “pop-up” art installation he hopes will be a “Burning Man-style exhibit built in one day.”
He added the event will also include some of the same vendors who staffed Cap City’s Oktoberfest will be in attendance, with food trucks and even a “Ben and Jerry’s Dessert Truck” serving up treats.
The festival will run from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Sept. 30. The event will be free, but New District is offering deals for beer tickets on the event’s website.
It looks like Shirlington will be getting its own ice cream shop.
An application has been filed to convert a storefront at 4150 Campbell Avenue into an “ice cream take out” business. There is a frozen yogurt store a block away, but no other ice cream shops in the neighborhood.
The exact storefront could not be confirmed, though Knits Etc. at 4150 Campbell Ave recently closed and is currently vacant.
Northern Virginia’s largest Oktoberfest is coming to Crystal City. On Sept. 29, 220 20th Street will play host to the first time to over 100 craft beers from over 50 regional breweries. 
