Featured Spring Events
19th – 21st
Spring Wine Festival & Sunset Tour
6 to 9 p.m.
Admission: Friday: $49 for members; $59 for non-members; Saturday: $53 for members; $63 for non-members; Sunday: $43 for members; $53 for non-members
George Washington’s Mount Vernon
3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
703-780-2000
Head to Mount Vernon for their most popular event of the year. Taste unlimited samples of wines from Virginia’s finest wineries. Bring a blanket and relax on the east lawn overlooking the Potomac River. Enjoy the live music of Bruce Ewan and the Solid Senders.
20th & 21st
3rd Annual Alexandria Old Town Springtime Art Festival
10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Admission: Free
John Carlyle Square
300 John Carlyle Street
The Annual Alexandria Old Town Art Festival is heading back to John Carlyle Square in 2023. All artwork is juried, which provides a higher level of quality, diversity and creativity of art on display, exemplifying the gifted artists in regions from all over the country. The show was rated as one of the top 100 art shows in Sunshine Artist Magazine.
21st
Old Town Festival of Speed & Style
10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Admission: Free
Market Square & Beyond
300 King Street
The Old Town Festival of Speed & Style highlights the unique offerings of the Old Town community – history, architecture, great food, fabulous people, art, style and energy. View dozens of rare and exotic cars up close, made famous by their speed, performance and elegance. This will be enhanced by a presentation of style, fashion and live music provided by over 40 local merchants. All proceeds benefit ALIVE! and The Campagna Center.
More Spring Events & Tours
Daily through July 15th
Alexander D’Agostino: “A Shrine for the Forgotten” Exhibit
Admission: Free
Torpedo Factory Art Center
105 N. Union Street
703-746-4570
Baltimore-based solo artist exhibition recipient, Alexander D’Agostino, presents “A Shrine for the Forgotten.” The work explores queer histories and images, through performance, installation, and reclaiming material from queer archives and other cultural resources related to the historic marginalization of LGBTQ people.
6th
Secret Language of the Fan and Chocolate Bon-Bons
7 p.m.; doors open at 6 p.m.
Admission: $40 per person
Carlyle House
121 N Fairfax Street
703-549-2997
Discover the secret language of the fan as many women in the 19th century did. While practicing your fan skills enjoy different flavored chocolate bon-bons from Potomac Chocolate. Tours of the first floor of the house will run from 6pm-7pm with the program starting promptly at 7.
6th & 7th
Revolutionary War Weekend at George Washington’s Mount Vernon
9 a.m. to 5p.m.
Admission: $35 for adults, $21 for youth
George Washington’s Mount Vernon
3200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway
703-780-2000
Mount Vernon’s serene 12-acre field transforms into a battleground as Continentals, Redcoats and Hessians conduct military drills, perform cavalry demonstrations and engage in 18th century tacticals. Meet the soldiers who are encamped at Mount Vernon, discuss military techniques and greet General Washington. Walk through the Museum of the American Revolution’s replica of General Washington’s War Tent, which served as the marquee—or office and sleeping quarters—that he used as the command center of the Continental Army.
6th, 13th, 20th & 27th
Preservation Tours: Lost Buildings of Alexandria at Carlyle House
10 a.m.
Admission: $20
Carlyle House
121 N. Fairfax Street
703-549-2997
In honor of National Preservation Month, join Carlyle House and Lee-Fendall House on a tour of “Lost Alexandria.” Learn about the historic buildings that were not preserved and why.
20th
Discovering Alexandria Architecture Walking Tour
2 p.m.
Admission: $20 per person
Carlyle House
121 N. Fairfax Street
703-549-2997
Alexandria has grown from a small town in the 18th century to a bustling small city in the 21st century. Join for a tour of Alexandria and explore the various architectural styles that adorn the city streets. Reservations are required as space is limited. Please wear comfortable shoes for this 1.5-hour guided tour. Tours are held rain or shine unless there is severe weather.
For more spring events and activities in Alexandria, see the listings below and learn more at VisitAlexandria.com/Spring .
ABOUT ALEXANDRIA
Named a Top 3 Best Small City in the U.S. 2021 by the Condé Nast Traveler Readers’ Choice Awards, Alexandria hums with a cosmopolitan feel and a walkable lifestyle—a welcoming weekend escape next to our nation’s capital. Founded in 1749, Old Town Alexandria is the nation’s third oldest locally designated historic district, boasting more than 200 independent restaurants and boutiques alongside intimate historic museums and new happenings at the waterfront. At the heart of it all is bustling King Street, a walkable mile recognized as one of the “Great Streets” of America. Walk in the footsteps of George Washington and America’s Founding Fathers while learning about Black history and African American change-makers that have shaped the history of Alexandria and the U.S. Learn more at VisitAlexandriaVA.com.
Connect with us!
Blog: Blog.VisitAlexandriaVA.com
Facebook: Facebook.com/VisitAlexandriaVA
Twitter: Twitter.com/AlexandriaVA
Instagram: Instagram.com/VisitAlexVA
Hashtags: #visitALX
Not to be missed on the Waterfront – Two Boxes of Oranges and Admonia Jackson
Admission: Free
Waterfront Park
1A Prince Street
visitalexandriava.com/public-art
Two Boxes of Oranges and Admonia Jackson is the fifth temporary public art installation on Old Town Alexandria’s waterfront, part of the City of Alexandria’s Site See: New Views in Old Town series. Created by Jamaican-born, New York-based award-winning artist Nina Cooke John of Studio Cooke John, the installation is inspired by the ships uncovered on Alexandria’s waterfront in 2015 and 2018 and the many layers of history that are not readily seen. The installation forms an abstracted ship’s hull with steel vertical elements that rise and bend, referencing the curve of the hull’s frame. Visitors can stand within the space and imagine a time in Alexandria’s history when the ships carried not only cargo like tobacco, molasses, rum and limes, but also enslaved people who were traded as part of the transatlantic and domestic slave trades. The outer blue of the installation is contrasted with an orange inner surface depicting text pulled from ships’ manifests listing items like herring, coconuts and gin, alongside names and descriptions of enslaved people, such as “Jane Tailor, female, 5’ 2”.” Also listed are “two boxes of oranges” and “Admonia Jackson.”