Labor Day is behind us and Northern Virginia goes straight into festival season. Saturday, September 12 is the day to plan around: free jazz in Rosslyn, a free reggae festival on Lake Anne, a makers market at Port City Brewing, a craft fair on the Manassas Museum lawn, oysters in Burke and a Native American festival on the river in Great Falls. Sunday keeps it going indoors at Fair Oaks Mall and outdoors in Manassas Park.
Friday brings two free outdoor movies, a free concert in Herndon and a silent dance party in Reston, and the Circus Vazquez tent at Tysons runs shows Wednesday through Sunday. For the full District lineup, use our Washington DC weekly guide; only the biggest DC events cross over here.
Alex’s top picks
The five plans at the top of the list
Start with these if you only have room for one or two outings this week.
01
Rosslyn Jazz Fest
The 34th edition puts four acts on the Gateway Park stage from 1 to 7 p.m., a five-minute walk from the Rosslyn Metro, and it is free.
02
Reggae on the Lake
Lake Anne Plaza turns into a nine-hour reggae festival for the fifth year. Admission is free; register ahead on Eventbrite.
03
Falling for Fair Oaks
Vendors, games, live music and a kids’ market line the mall corridors for five hours, all indoors and all free.
04
Fall Makers Market with Made in ALX
More than 25 Alexandria makers set up at Port City Brewing with hands-on activities, free parking and beer on tap.
05
Virginia Native American Festival
Tribal members from across Virginia bring dancing, drumming, dugout canoes and bow-and-arrow demonstrations to Riverbend Park.
This week at a glance
Monday: Labor Day closes out the long weekend
27th Annual Labor Day Car Show in Old Town Fairfax
The week opens on the holiday. Fairfax City and the Clifton Lions Club close University Drive from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. for antiques, classics, street rods, muscle cars, trucks and motorcycles, with food vendors, a kids area and proceeds going to local charities. Spectator admission is free, with a small donation requested at the gate.
Monday is also the last day for Hershey’s Super Sweet Adventure at Tysons Corner Center, which closes after a run that started in April. Apple Harvest at Great Country Farms is open on the holiday.
27th Annual Labor Day Car Show
Monday, September 7, 8 a.m.–2 p.m.
Free for spectatorsAll week: apple season, a LEGO county and the last sunflowers
Apple Harvest at Great Country Farms
Apple Harvest runs daily through September 18 in Bluemont, and this is the first full week without holiday crowds. The corn maze covers about an acre and a half, the 15-acre play area with jumping pillows, putt-putt and farm animals is included, and the Oinkintucky Derby pig races run at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. with apple pressing demonstrations at 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m.
Gate prices are $14 on weekdays and $18 on weekends for everyone age 3 and up. Advance tickets online are $10 for kids and $12 for adults on weekdays, and $12 and $14 on weekends, plus a $1 fee. Leashed dogs are welcome.
Apple Harvest at Great Country Farms
Daily through Friday, September 18, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.
TicketedFairfax County in LEGO at Tysons Corner Center
The Northern Virginia LEGO Users Group built each of Fairfax County’s nine districts in brick for the county’s 250th anniversary, along with mosaics of Tysons Corner Center, Great Falls and Wolf Trap. It sits on Level 1 near Wasabi and Oakley, it is free to walk up to during mall hours, and it changes monthly through January 1, 2027.
Fairfax County LEGO Exhibit
Daily through January 1, 2027, during mall hours
FreeSunflowers are still standing
Hollin Farms in Delaplane lists pick-your-own sunflowers at $2 a bloom alongside apples at $25 a peck, and Braehead Farm in Fredericksburg keeps its field open through the end of September. Both post current field conditions, which is worth checking before the drive.
Wednesday to Sunday: the last Circus Vazquez shows at Tysons
Eight performances under the big top
The tent at Lerner Town Square runs its second and final week with shows at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, three on Saturday at 1, 4 and 7 p.m., and two on Sunday at 2 and 5 p.m. Saturday’s 1 p.m. show is the easiest one with younger kids. Tickets are sold by performance and the schedule is live now.
Circus Vazquez
Wednesday, September 9 through Sunday, September 13, showtimes vary
TicketedFriday: two free movies, a free concert and a silent dance party
The Secret Life of Pets in Fairfax, Zootopia 2 in Vienna
Fairfax City screens The Secret Life of Pets at Kutner Park starting at 8 p.m. or dusk, whichever lets you see the screen, with the Fairfax Library Foundation as sponsor. Bring blankets, chairs and snacks. Across town, Vienna runs Zootopia 2 on the Town Green with games from 6:30 p.m. and the movie at 7:30 p.m., plus free water and popcorn while they last. Vienna makes its weather call by 5 p.m. and moves indoors to the Vienna Community Center if needed.
Movies Under the Moon: The Secret Life of Pets
Friday, September 11, 8 p.m. or dusk
Free outdoor movieBig Screen on the Green: Zootopia 2
Friday, September 11, activities 6:30 p.m., movie 7:30 p.m.
Free outdoor movieHerr Metal in Herndon, headphones in Reston
Herndon’s Friday Night Live closes in on the end of its season with Dr. FU opening around 6:30 p.m. and the hair-metal tribute act Herr Metal on at roughly 8 p.m. It is free on the Town Green. Reston Station runs a silent dance party from 7 to 8:30 p.m.: hand over a driver’s license, get wireless headphones, and pick from three live DJs spinning three genres. Reston makes its weather call by 6:30 p.m.
Friday Night Live! Herr Metal and Dr. FU
Friday, September 11, 6:30–10 p.m.
Free concertSummerbration Fab Fridays: Silent Dance Party
Friday, September 11, 7–8:30 p.m.
FreeDueling pianos, trivia in Occoquan and Iron Maiden in Bristow
Tysons Corner Center wraps its PenFed Plaza music series with a final Dueling Pianos night from 6 to 8 p.m., free. Occoquan runs Trivia Night in the Park at River Mill Park, doors 5:30 p.m. and questions at 6:30 p.m., at $35 per team with a $100 grand prize. Iron Maiden’s Run For Your Lives tour hits Jiffy Lube Live at 7:15 p.m.
Saturday: free jazz in Rosslyn, reggae on Lake Anne and six markets and festivals
Rosslyn Jazz Fest at Gateway Park
The 34th Rosslyn Jazz Fest runs 1 to 7 p.m. with the park opening at noon. Dogo du Togo and The Alagaa Beat Band open at 1 p.m., Parlor Greens follow at 2:20 p.m., Sally Baby’s Silver Dollars go on at 3:45 p.m. and Plena Libre close it at 5:30 p.m. Food trucks and local vendors fill the rest of the park. Parking is tight, so take the Orange, Silver or Blue line to Rosslyn and walk five minutes. Enter at Langston Boulevard and Fort Myer Drive or Langston and North Moore Street.
Rosslyn Jazz Fest
Saturday, September 12, 1–7 p.m., park opens at noon
Free festivalReggae on the Lake in Reston
Lake Anne Plaza hosts its fifth Reggae on the Lake from noon to 9 p.m., put on by Terra Properties with Reston Community Center and Fairfax County as sponsors. Admission is free; the organizers use Eventbrite for headcount, so register before you go. The plaza restaurants stay open around it.
Reggae on the Lake
Saturday, September 12, noon–9 p.m.
Free festivalTwo Alexandria markets: Made in ALX at Port City and Del Ray Vintage and Flea
Made in ALX brings more than 25 local makers to Port City Brewing in the West End from noon to 5 p.m., with food, music, prizes and hands-on tables where you can make a charm bracelet, pull a relief print or design a tote bag. Entry and parking are free, and it is kid and pet friendly. Start the morning in Del Ray, where the Vintage and Flea Market fills the 1800 and 1900 blocks of Mount Vernon Avenue from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. as it does every second Saturday.
Fall Makers Market with Made in ALX
Saturday, September 12, noon–5 p.m.
Free entry and parkingDel Ray Vintage and Flea Market
Saturday, September 12, 9 a.m.–2 p.m.
Free to browseCraft fair on the Manassas Museum lawn
The Old Town Manassas Art Show and Craft Fall Fair sets more than 60 artisans, crafters and small businesses on the museum lawn from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It is an easy early start on holiday shopping, and Old Town’s restaurants are a block away.
Old Town Manassas Art Show and Craft Fall Fair
Saturday, September 12, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Free to browseOyster Fest at Bunnyman Burke
Bunnyman Brewing’s Burke taproom on Guinea Road pairs its beer list with fresh oysters for the day. The brewery posts the shucking schedule on the event page, and there is no cover listed.
Oyster Fest at Bunnyman Burke
Saturday, September 12
Food and drinkVirginia Native American Festival at Riverbend Park
Fairfax County Park Authority brings tribal members from across Virginia to Riverbend Park from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. for dancing, drumming, food and culture, with hands-on demonstrations of bow-and-arrow use, a dugout canoe, an ethnobotany walk and crafts, plus Virginia tribal vendors. Entry is $15 per person at the gate, and the online presale closes at 10 p.m. Friday. It is open to ages 3 and up.
Virginia Native American Festival
Saturday, September 12, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
Ticketed, ages 3 and upBasset hounds take over Frying Pan Farm Park
Basset Rescue of Old Dominion runs its Ramble from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with contests for longest ears, best howler and best mixed-up breed, a pie-eating contest at 11:30 a.m. and the Basset 500 race at 1:30 p.m. All dogs are welcome. Food is cash only and the raffle baskets fund the rescue.
Basset Hound Fall Festival (BROOD Ramble)
Saturday, September 12, 10 a.m.–2 p.m., registration from 9:30 a.m.
All dogs welcomeEgyptian food in Fairfax, Oktoberfest in Waterford, and more
St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church on Braddock Road runs its 28th Egyptian Festival Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Wheatland Spring in Waterford holds its eighth traditional Oktoberfest on the farm both days. The Sunflower Festival at The Homestead Farm at Fruit Hill Orchard in Winchester runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with live music and more than 100 vendors, ticketed through Eventbrite.
Closer in, the McLean Community Center parking lot sale has more than 60 sellers from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the HalloWEIRD Art Market runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the Mount Vernon Recreation Center field in Del Ray, and the Workhouse Arts Center opens its studios for Second Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m. in Lorton. All three are free. Prince William County runs a Police-Community Fair at the county complex from noon to 4 p.m. and a free World War II Weekend at Rippon Lodge from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. both days.
28th Annual Egyptian Festival at St. Mark
Saturday, September 12, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Sunday, September 13, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
Food festivalWynton Marsalis at Wolf Trap, Heart tribute at Tarara
Wolf Trap gives the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis and the National Symphony Orchestra an 8 p.m. Filene Center date for the world premiere of Marsalis’s Symphony No. 5, “Liberty,” commissioned for America250. In Leesburg, Tarara hosts Bad Animals, a Heart tribute, with gates at 5 p.m. and music from 6 to 9:30 p.m., $20 online for adults and $10 for guests under 21.
Sunday: an indoor fall party at Fair Oaks and a festival in Manassas Park
Falling for Fair Oaks
Fair Oaks Mall lines its corridors with local vendors from noon to 5 p.m. for food, games, live music and a kids’ vendor market. It is indoors, so the weather does not matter, and admission is free. KOJAM Events produces it.
Falling for Fair Oaks
Sunday, September 13, noon–5 p.m.
Free, indoorsManassas Park Latino Festival
Costello Park hosts the city’s Latino Festival from 1 to 6 p.m. with live performances, food and family activities. It is free.
Manassas Park Latino Festival
Sunday, September 13, 1–6 p.m.
Free festivalA run at Mount Vernon, plants at a brewery and free yoga
The George Washington Patriot Run starts its 10-miler at 7:15 a.m. and its 5K at 7:30 a.m. on the estate grounds, with registration at $62 to $82 depending on the race and a finish festival with a free beer for runners. Eavesdrop Brewery in Manassas hosts a Brews and Botany exotic plant pop-up. For a slow start, One Loudoun runs three free outdoor Sunrise Sweat yoga classes with lululemon from 9 a.m., and Tysons Corner Center offers free yoga on PenFed Plaza from 10 to 11 a.m.
Sunday also carries the second day of the Egyptian Festival, Wheatland Spring’s Oktoberfest and World War II Weekend at Rippon Lodge, plus the final two Circus Vazquez shows at 2 and 5 p.m.
Two Washington DC events worth crossing the river for
Art All Night, Friday and Saturday until 3 a.m.
The District’s 15th Art All Night runs 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. on both Friday and Saturday across all eight wards, with more than 1,200 artists and performers taking over storefronts, alleys and plazas. Everything is free. A new mobile app maps the neighborhoods, and Dine All Night pairs it with late restaurant hours. Georgetown, a short walk over Key Bridge from Rosslyn, is one of the Saturday neighborhoods.
Art All Night 2026
Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12, 7 p.m.–3 a.m.
Free, all eight wardsAdams Morgan Day turns 48
Washington DC’s longest-running neighborhood festival closes 18th Street NW between Kalorama and Columbia Roads from noon to 6 p.m. on Sunday, with live-music stages, the interactive Dance Plaza, an artisan stroll and the neighborhood’s international food. It is free and run entirely by volunteers.
48th Adams Morgan Day
Sunday, September 13, noon–6 p.m.
Free festivalSaturday morning also brings the 10th DC Bike Ride, a 20-mile car-free loop that starts at 8 a.m. at 12th Street and Constitution Avenue NW and finishes near the Capitol; kids 3 to 7 ride free with a paying adult.
Free things to do in Northern Virginia this week
- Monday: The Labor Day Car Show in Old Town Fairfax is free for spectators, 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- All week: The Fairfax County LEGO Exhibit at Tysons Corner Center costs nothing to visit.
- Friday: The Secret Life of Pets at Kutner Park, Zootopia 2 on the Vienna Town Green, Friday Night Live in Herndon, the silent dance party at Reston Station and Dueling Pianos at Tysons Corner Center.
- Saturday: Rosslyn Jazz Fest, Reggae on the Lake, the Made in ALX market at Port City, Del Ray Vintage and Flea, the Manassas craft fair, the McLean parking lot sale, HalloWEIRD Art Market and Second Saturday at the Workhouse.
- Sunday: Falling for Fair Oaks, the Manassas Park Latino Festival, Sunrise Sweat at One Loudoun and yoga on PenFed Plaza.
Planning tips before you go
- Take Metro to Rosslyn: Jazz Fest parking is limited and the Rosslyn station is a five-minute walk from Gateway Park on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines.
- Register for the free ones: Reggae on the Lake uses Eventbrite for headcount, and the Native American Festival presale closes at 10 p.m. Friday and saves a trip to the gate line.
- Watch the weather calls: Vienna decides on Zootopia 2 by 5 p.m. and Reston decides on the silent dance party by 6:30 p.m. Fair Oaks is indoors either way.
- Bring cash to Frying Pan: Food at the Basset Hound Fall Festival is cash only, and the raffle baskets fund the rescue.
- Pick the right circus show: Saturday’s 1 p.m. performance is the earliest of the week and the easiest with younger kids. Sunday’s 5 p.m. show is the last one at Tysons.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best things to do in Northern Virginia this week?
The strongest choices are Rosslyn Jazz Fest at Gateway Park on Saturday, Reggae on the Lake at Lake Anne Plaza the same day, Falling for Fair Oaks at Fair Oaks Mall on Sunday, the Fall Makers Market with Made in ALX at Port City Brewing and the Virginia Native American Festival at Riverbend Park.
What can I do for free in Northern Virginia this week?
Free options include two outdoor movies on Friday in Fairfax and Vienna, Friday Night Live in Herndon, the silent dance party at Reston Station, Rosslyn Jazz Fest, Reggae on the Lake, the Made in ALX market, Del Ray Vintage and Flea, the Manassas craft fair, Falling for Fair Oaks and the Manassas Park Latino Festival.
What is family-friendly this week?
Circus Vazquez runs shows Wednesday through Sunday at Tysons, both Friday movies are family films, and Saturday brings the Basset Hound Fall Festival at Frying Pan Farm Park, the Virginia Native American Festival and the kid-friendly Made in ALX market. Falling for Fair Oaks on Sunday has a kids’ vendor market. Apple Harvest at Great Country Farms is open every day.
When are the Circus Vazquez shows at Tysons this week?
Circus Vazquez performs at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, September 9, Thursday, September 10 and Friday, September 11; at 1, 4 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, September 12; and at 2 and 5 p.m. on Sunday, September 13 at Lerner Town Square at Tysons II. Sunday’s 5 p.m. show is the last Tysons performance.
Is Rosslyn Jazz Fest free, and how do I get there?
Yes. The 34th Rosslyn Jazz Fest is free at Gateway Park on Saturday, September 12 from 1 to 7 p.m., with the park opening at noon. Parking is limited, so the Rosslyn Metro station on the Orange, Silver and Blue lines, about a five-minute walk away, is the easiest way in.
Last updated September 8, 2026 at 4:02 pm EDT. Dates, times, prices and availability were checked against current organizer, venue and ticket pages. Outdoor events and live inventory can change, so confirm details before leaving.
Featured image: AI-generated editorial illustration created for DC Spot.
Published July 31, 2026. Last updated September 8, 2026 at 4:02 pm EDT. Dates, times, prices and locations were checked against current organizer, venue and ticket pages. Outdoor events and live inventory can change, so confirm details before leaving home.



