Over the years, the Bull Run Special Events Center in Centreville has hosted just about every type of large-scale event: a winter carnival, the circus, events for foodies and wine aficionados, and cultural festivals of every kind.
Now, NOVA Parks, which runs Bull Run Regional Park, wants to look to the future and find “transformative” ideas for what the venue could become.
The regional parks agency is seeking “experienced partners” to provide both “thought leadership and financial partnership” to provide new amenities, make capital improvements, and provide programming at the special events center, according to a request for information posted on NOVA Parks’ website.
The parks system is interested in expanding public-private partnerships and uses of the space, which is located within the 1,500-acre Bull Run Regional Park at 7700 Bull Run Drive.
“We’re looking for people who see what this property could become, not simply what it has been,” Justin Wilson, executive director of NOVA Parks, said in a press release. “The Bull Run Special Events Center has tremendous scale and potential, and we want to hear bold, creative ideas for bringing that potential to life.”
NOVA Parks says the information request is a way to find potential models for, and innovative ideas around, the future of the property, which has a capacity for around 10,000 people and 5,000 vehicles on grass parking. The agency could “enter into direct negotiations with a single entity to secure a new partnership” or pursue additional future requests for information.
“There’s an opportunity here to create something distinctive for Northern Virginia,” Wilson said. “If you have a vision for the future of special events, entertainment or destination experiences in this region, we want to hear from you.”
In addition to the Special Events Center, Bull Run is home to the Atlantis Waterpark, the Bull Run Shooting Center, campground, playgrounds, and hiking trails.
The massively popular Bull Run Festival of Lights, a 2.5-mile drive by light displays that ends at a holiday village and carnival, appears to be safe regardless of the events center’s future: the request for information specifically lists October to early January as blackout dates for the event. For the upcoming holiday season, the festival will run from Nov. 14 through Jan. 3, 2027.
Additionally, NOVA Parks’ Board of Directors recently committed to investing $880,000 in light show improvements over the next five years, including $220,000 in the current fiscal year 2027. A spokesperson previously told FFXnow that some of the new lights will include an expansion of the “Wizard of Oz”-themed area and a camping theme display.
