Reston’s annual celebration of its founding is set to return tomorrow (Saturday) — only this time, the festival will honor the nation’s origins as well.
The 2026 edition of Celebrate Reston, which was renamed last year after two decades as Founder’s Day, will feature a number of activities nodding to the U.S.’s 250th anniversary, while also putting a spotlight on the local community.
“This year feels especially meaningful as we celebrate 62 years of Reston alongside America’s 250th, highlighting the vision, creativity, and sense of community that continue to shape who we are today,” Reston Museum Executive Director Lisa Watts said in a message to museum supporters.
Reston Museum is the primary organizer of Celebrate Reston, which began in 2004 to honor Reston founder Robert E. Simon’s 90th birthday. The event is also supported by the Reston Community Center (RCC) and the Lake Anne of Reston, A Condominium Unit Owners Association (LARCA).
Taking place at Lake Anne Plaza from noon to 4 p.m., this year’s Celebrate Reston will tie together the histories of Reston and the U.S. with a keynote presentation from retired Del. Ken Plum titled “All Men Are Created Equal: America’s 250th Anniversary and the Founding of Reston,” according to a flyer.
The event will also throw back to colonial times and the American Revolution with live performances by George Mason University’s Fife and Drum Corps and the Reston Community Players, which will tackle hits from the award-winning musical “Hamilton.”
Further filling out the afternoon’s musical entertainment will be the local Foley Academy of Irish Dance and Bach to Rock students.
Community members whose artistic preferences trend more toward the literary can find talks by local authors, including former Reston Museum executive director Alexandra Campbell, at the museum (1639 Washington Plaza) and Reston’s Used Book Shop (1623 Washington Plaza North).
In addition, Public Art Reston “will provide live art along with scheduled architectural and art walk tours,” the event flyer says.
Celebrate Reston will also host local vendors, the Fairfax County Park Authority’s mobile nature center Wonder Wagon and a fire truck refurbished by MindShift Gym to serve as a jungle gym and obstacle course.
Previously named Urban Evolution and located in Lincolnia, MindShift moved to an office building in Reston (11501 Sunset Hills Road) last summer. The fitness center offers classes in parkour, aerobatics and aerial silks.
For those who arrive early for Celebrate Reston, the festival will be preceded by an announcement of the inaugural Lake Anne Good Neighbor Awards winners. Hunter Mill District Supervisor Walter Alcorn is set to present the prizes in an 11 a.m. ceremony at OmBaked CBD Boutique (11414 Washington Plaza West), whose owner Radhika Murari organized the awards.
Founded in 1964, when its first family moved into Lake Anne Village Center, and officially dedicated in 1965, Reston was conceived by Simon as an integrated, planned community at a time when most of Virginia was still clinging to segregation.
Lake Anne was designated as a national historic place in 2017, though aging infrastructure and stagnant development have spurred recent efforts by Fairfax County to revitalize the community.
