Unfortunately for local foodies waiting to see the vendor and entertainment lineups for this year’s Taste of Annandale, no announcements are coming.
The annual community celebration has been put on hold for 2026 “due to a combination of logistical and personal issues,” organizers told FFXnow.
Board members Anna Ko, Ellie Ashford and Rev. Shelli Poe of the nonprofit Annandale-Mason Roundtable made the “difficult” decision to pause Taste of Annandale for a year despite a successful 2025 event that they say drew thousands of attendees and featured hundreds of vendors.
“The Roundtable is sorry to disappoint the community and the many vendors who have inquired about participating this year,” the nonprofit said in a statement, noting that organizers are “exploring options” for bringing Taste of Annandale back in 2027.
With a 2026 event no longer in the works, the roundtable says funds raised for the occasion in 2025 will now be distributed instead to community-serving nonprofits, such as the 2Twenty Club. Organizers donated $1,000 earlier this year to that Springfield-based organization, which provides meals to students at Title I schools.
Started in 2015 by the Annandale-Mason Roundtable, which emerged out of a series of diversity-focused community conversations in 2010 and 2011, Taste of Annandale has steadily grown over the years and become an annual fall tradition for area residents.
In addition to featuring dozens of food stalls offering a range of cuisines, the festival typically offers live entertainment and family-friendly activities, such as musical performances, a lion dance, a pet costume contest, and a 5K race. Last year’s event on Sept. 20, 2025 at the Eileen Garnett Civic Space (7200 Columbia Pike) introduced a petting zoo and an eating contest.
