Friday Download, 10/11: Fairfax Fall Festival, butter chicken and Kevin Bacon

The long weekend’s forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines

(Ryan Bacic/The Machine)

Happy Friday, Fairfax County.

Monday is Indigenous Peoples’ Day, which for some of you means a bonus day off. But no matter how long your weekend is, it’s set to be a sunny one.

This, in The Machine’s estimable calculation, is peak fall.

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The latest from The Machine

• Do you go all-out with your Halloween decor? Do your friends or neighbors? Send The Machine your photos of great Halloween houses in Fairfax County or beyond, and we’ll feature them in a roundup later this month.

Local news I read this week

Business and development 📈

• Fairfax County greenlights 200-unit development near Huntington Metro (FFXnow)

Criminal justice and public safety 🚓

• Reston-based MS-13 leader killed six people in five years, prosecutors say (WaPo)

• Jury finds former officer not guilty of manslaughter in fatal Tysons shooting (WaPo)

• Fairfax County will use AI to help handle nonemergency 911 calls (FFXnow)

Culture ✌️

• The Post’s food critic named Afghan Bistro in Springfield and Neutral Ground in McLean to his list of the 40 best area restaurants

• Leaders gather in Vienna to celebrate 50th anniversary of W&OD Trail (WTOP)

Education 📖

• Once the top-ranked school in the nation, TJ drops again (Fairfax County Times)

Government and politics 🏛️

• A challenger to Rep. Don Beyer created an AI “DonBot” to stand in for him if he won’t debate again (Reuters)

Hurricane Helene

• Homeward Trails Animal Rescue took in more than 90 cats and dogs from the hurricane-hit Southeast; adoption fees are waived through Tuesday. (WJLA)

• ‘Hurricanes are our bread and butter’: Civilian rescuers from Fairfax deploy to Florida (WTOP)

Real estate 🏢

• The highest rent in the county? It’s in Tysons. (Northern Virginia Mag)

Weekend weather (from the National Weather Service)

Perfect fall hiking weather.

• Friday: Sunny. Highs around 70 and lows in the mid-40s ☀️

• Saturday: Sunny to partly cloudy. Highs in the upper 70s, lows in the lower 50s. 🌤️

• Sunday: Sunny to partly cloudy, with a chance of showers at night. Highs in the upper 70s, lows in the upper 50s. 🌤️

• Monday: Mostly sunny to partly cloudy. Highs in the mid-60s, lows in the lower 40s. ⛅

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Things to do

• Explore works by more than 200 artists at the Capital Art and Craft Festival at Dulles Expo Center (Friday through Sunday) 🖼️

• See “The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” the former Broadway musical comedy, at the Kennedy Center (Friday through Oct. 20) 🐝

• Stop by Fairfax City’s 48th annual Fall Festival for food and artisan vendors, three stages of live music, and family activities (Saturday) 🍂

• Get your kids in the holiday spirit at Vienna’s Halloween on the Green (Saturday) 🎃

• Cut loose at a free concert by Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael at Reston Town Center, as part of the Washington West Film Festival (Saturday) 👞

• Shuck till you drop at the 5th annual Old Town Oyster Week (Saturday through Oct. 20) 🦪

• Bring your pup to McLean Pet Fest for food trucks (for you) and a trip to Fido’s Bone Bar (for them) (Sunday) 🐕

• Enjoy a pop-up carnival at the Fair Oaks Mall (through Sunday) 🎡

• Check out the inaugural DMV Butter Chicken Festival, at local spots like Commonwealth Indian in Reston and Taco Bamba in Fairfax (Sunday through Oct. 20) 🧈🐔

• Bring your family to Disney on Ice, at George Mason’s EagleBank Arena (through Monday) ⛸️

My plans

We’re driving out tonight to spend the long weekend with my family, near Cape May, N.J. It’s a summer town in October, which means the beaches are empty and the frozen custard shop’s pumpkin-cinnamon twist is back.