Around Town

A local festival celebrating all things chocolatey is making a comeback in the City of Fairfax.

The Chocolate Lovers Festival is scheduled to launch the weekend before Valentine’s Day, running from Friday, Feb. 3, through Sunday, Feb. 4. This is the first time the festival has been held since the start of the pandemic.


Around Town

Special Olympics Virginia is ready to make another splash at the Mosaic District.

The nonprofit’s annual Polar Plunge fundraiser will return to the Merrifield community for a fourth year on Saturday, Jan. 14. As in previous years, participants will jump into a pool of icy water to raise money for the organization’s more than 18,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.


Around Town

Bestselling and award-winning author Kwame Alexander and illustrator Dara Coulter will visit Reston later this month for a book signing and reading.

Alexander and Coulter will take part in the event at Scrawl Books (11911 Freedom Drive) on Sunday at 4 p.m. The team is celebrating the release of “An American Story,” a picture book that tells the story of teacher struggling to help her students understand the history of American slavery.


Around Town

A bestselling author who wrote a book on the cost of racism will be the keynote speaker for Reston Community Center’s 38th annual Reston Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. birthday celebration.

The main event on Monday, Jan. 16, features Heather McGhee, the author of The New York Times bestseller “The Sum of Us: What Racism Cost Us and How We Can Prosper Together.” The address begins at 11 a.m. at RCC Hunters Woods. Tickets are $5 for Restonians and $20 for all others.


Around Town

A new group exhibit organized by Reston’s Tephra Institute of Contemporary Arts is set to open this weekend.

Between a rock and a soft place” aims to reframe the concept of rest as a practice on its own and irrespective of the concept of work, a press release said. An opening reception is slated for tomorrow (Saturday) from 5-7 p.m.


Around Town

Rep. Gerry Connolly will put his experience dealing with Scrooges on Capitol Hill to the test tomorrow when he takes the stage for a youth production of “Commedia Christmas Carol.”

The congressman and Providence District Supervisior Dalia Palchik will join student actors with the Traveling Players Ensemble for their take on the Charles Dickens holiday classic at 8 p.m., the Tysons-based theatrical company announced earlier this week.


Around Town

Close to 600 racers gathered at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston over the weekend to raise money for the park’s trails.

The annual event, called 2022 Capital Cross Classic, took place on Sunday (Dec. 4) at the park, which is located at 1400 Lake Fairfax Drive.


Around Town

Tysons Galleria is getting a triple dose of Santa Claus this December.

In addition to the previously reported “Pictures with Santa” event, which is now taking place daily near Sweetgreen, the mall will host a Fashion Santa and the return of Black Santa, who proved to be a big draw for Neiman Marcus last year.


Around Town

Thousands of lanterns will take over Lerner Town Square at Tysons II this winter.

Based in New York City, the Winter Lantern Festival will bring over 10,000 Chinese-style lanterns to Tysons for a nearly two-month stay from Dec. 16 through Feb. 12. This will be its first-ever stop in the D.C. area, the festival announced Wednesday (Nov. 30).


Around Town

More than 920 military veterans laid to rest at Chestnut Grove Cemetery in Herndon will be honored during a special ceremony later this month.

The Town of Herndon is working with the Herndon Woman’s Club and Wreaths Across America for the remembrance ceremony, which is open to the public and begins at noon on Saturday, Dec. 17.


View More Stories