Deck the Halls
Vintage ornaments recapture holiday magic for Old Town resident.
The Christmas tree as we know it today dates back to the 16th century. But until the mid-1800s, they were mostly decorated with edibles like fruits and nuts. That's when German entrepreneurs based in the glassblowing center of Lauscha had the idea to begin producing decorative tree ornaments made out of blown glass.
Spreading Holiday Cheer
Wine shops from around the region give their suggestions for bottles to bring to holiday parties.
Holiday season means parties, hostess gifts, office Secret Santas and other occasions where many people bring a bottle of some spirit or other to spread good tidings. So what to pick up? What's right? What kind of wine goes with what kind of food? And where to go for some good advice?
‘Tis the Season
Greed, ghosts and redemption in LTA’s ‘A Christmas Carol.’
It’s a tale nearly as old as time: The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge is ethically and emotionally transformed after being haunted by visits from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come in the Charles Dickens classic "A Christmas Carol," now playing at The Little Theatre of Alexandria.
Let There Be Light
'A Christmas Story' wins Best in Show.
Crowds lined Alexandria's waterfront Dec. 7 as nearly 40 boats cruised the Potomac River to take part in the 14thAnnual Holiday Boat Parade of Lights.
Shop ‘Til You Drop
More than 30 female artisans will showcase their crafts Dec. 8 at the 16th Annual Women’s Holiday Art Show in support of the City of Alexandria’s Domestic and Sexual Violence Services.
43rd Scottish Walk Weekend
Be prepared as pipes, plaid and pageantry fill the streets of Old Town Dec. 7 during the 43rd annual Scottish Walk Parade, the centerpiece of a weekend of holiday events that includes a Holiday Marketplace, Designer Tour of Homes and Taste of Scotland cocktail reception.
Thinking Small
White House Drug Czar visits Holy Cow.
White House Drug Policy Director Gil Kerlikowske paid a visit to Del Ray's Holy Cow restaurant Nov. 30 as part of President Barack Obama's initiative to support “Small Business Saturday.”
Let There Be Light
The City of Alexandria held its annual Holiday Tree Lighting in Market Square Nov. 29. Entertainment and a visit from Santa were part of the festivities that signaled the official start of the holiday season. For a complete schedule of holiday events, including free concerts to be held in Market Square, visit www.visitalexandriava.com.
Dancing into the Sunset
After 35 years, Kathy Harty Gray and her dance company are taking a bow.
Kathy Harty Gray's career may have started as a student at Julliard, but she and her students will celebrate her legacy in Alexandria.
Hollywood comes to Alexandria
Bringing a little taste of Hollywood to Old Town, the seventh annual Alexandria Film Festival kicks off Nov. 7.
It might be Patti North's favorite time of year, but it's certainly one of the most stressful. As chair of the Alexandria Film Festival, North has spent moths preparing for this year's event, pulling together movies ranging from a few minutes to an hour or more in length from around the world and helping to line up Q&A sessions with as many filmmakers as possible during the festivals' four-day run.
A Bike Trip Through History
The Center Hiking Club hosts this season’s final historic marker bicycle tour.
Now that last weekend's heat wave is over and things are back to feeling fall-like, it's time for the last historic marker bicycle tour of the season, led by Bernie Bern of the Center Hiking Club.
Review: A Stitch in Time
Powerful “Gee’s Bend” debuts at MetroStage.
It’s officially known as Boykin, Ala., with a population of 275. But the former slave plantation on the banks of the Alabama River gained prominence as Gee’s Bend, an isolated African American community known for the role its folk art quilts played in the struggle for Civil Rights.
Review: Mean Girls
"The Children’s Hour” at Port City Playhouse.
In 1809, a girls’ boarding school opened in Edinburgh, Scotland, closing a few months later amid rumors involving two of its teachers. The decades-long lawsuit that followed was the inspiration for playwright Lillian Hellman, who more than a century later penned the critically acclaimed “The Children’s Hour,” now playing at Port City Playhouse.
An Insider's Guide to the Arts in Northern Virginia
A selection of upcoming arts productions, happening right where you live.
There are more artists of every stripe making art in Northern Virginia than you may realize. Populating the bedroom communities, small towns, growing cities and metropolitan areas of Fairfax County, Arlington and Alexandria are your pick of dance, theatre, choral, symphonic, visual and performance, music and fill-in-the-blank groups. Look beyond Wolf Trap and Jammin' Java to the Torpedo Art Factory, the Workhouse Arts Center, and smaller, quality groups like ArtSpace Herndon and McLean Project for the Arts to cast their creative spell (that's only to name a few). Delve in and, we dare you, let your stereotypes of an artless string of suburbs dissolve. In place you'll get something much better than stereotypes: some culture.
A Year in Fairfax County
A sampling of some of the cherished, annual events of the county.
Upcoming events in the county.