Friday Download, 11/8: Northern Virginia Christmas Market, Old Town Book Fair, ice-skating and stargazing
The weekend forecast and things to do, plus the week’s top Fairfax County headlines
The Friday Download is your guide to the week and weekend in Fairfax and around the area. Subscribe today to get the next one in your inbox and help The Machine do this work.
Happy Friday, Fairfax County.
It’s a long weekend with Veterans Day, and you deserve to spend it doing something fun. Preferably outside, away from a screen. And that’s coming from a Machine.
Here are this week’s top local headlines, the forecast for the weekend and 16 ways to spend it around NoVa — from craft markets and fairs to stargazing to Meadowlark’s Winter Walk of Lights.
The latest from The Machine
[Follow The Machine on Instagram and on Twitter]
Local news I read this week
Business and development 📈
Criminal justice and public safety 🚓
Culture ✌️
These are the 50 best restaurants in Northern Virginia for 2024 (Northern Virginia Magazine)
Education 📖
Government and politics 🏛️
Red shifts in Fairfax, Loudoun, Fauquier and Prince William caught Democrats off-guard (WaPo)
Rep. Gerry Connolly announced he has cancer of the esophagus and will undergo treatment (Instagram)
A Virginia principal went to vote. She was asked whether she was a citizen. (WaPo)
Transportation 🚍
Weekend weather (from the National Weather Service)
Friday: Sunny. Highs in the lower 70s, lows in the lower 40s. ☀️
Saturday: Sunny during the day but mostly cloudy late. Highs in the upper 50s, lows in the upper 30s. ⛅
Sunday: Mostly cloudy, with showers likely as the day rolls on. Highs in the upper 50s, lows in the lower 50s. 🌧️
Monday (Veterans Day): Mostly sunny to partly cloudy. Highs in the lower 70s, lows in the upper 40s. ⛅
Want to sponsor a post like this one and reach Fairfax County readers? Send The Machine an email.
Things to do
Ice-skate at Reston Town Center as its rink opens for the season (Friday) ⛸️
Stroll through Meadowlark Botanical Gardens’ Winter Walk of Lights (Friday through Jan. 5) ❄️
See rapper and genre-bending singer Don Toliver perform at EagleBank Arena (Friday) 🎤
Stargaze at the Udvar-Hazy Center (Friday evening and midday Saturday) 🔭
Shop the 31st annual Northern Virginia Christmas Market, at Dulles Expo Center (Friday through Sunday) 🎄
Check out Nordic goods and foods at the annual Icelandic Christmas Bazaar in Fairfax City (Saturday) 🌭
Catch Outkast legend André 3000’s new show at the Kennedy Center (Saturday) 🌹
Go birding and play one of my favorite board games, Wingspan, at Huntley Meadows Park in Alexandria (Saturday) 🐦
Sip your way around the Old Town Book Fair: Adult Edition (Saturday) 📚
Shop a veteran-powered craft fair at Mustang Sally’s in Chantilly (Saturday) 🖼️
See the floats of the 2024 Herndon Homecoming Parade (Saturday) 🎉
Buy vintage furniture, art, clothes and more at the McLean Antiques Show & Sale (Saturday to Sunday) 👗
See the Capital Wind Symphony perform John Williams’s “Star Wars” themes and more at Capital One Hall (Sunday) 🎵
Watch and support independent films at the annual Alexandria Film Festival (through Sunday) 📽️
Mark Veterans Day with ceremonies and events at Mount Vernon (Saturday and Sunday), at Arlington National Cemetery (Monday) and around the area 🎖️
Take photos with Santa (yes, already) at the Fair Oaks Mall or Tysons Corner Center (both through Dec. 24) 🎅
My plans
Good friends of ours are coming in from Baltimore and Roanoke on Saturday to see the new house for the first time and stay over.
You know what that means for today: frantically cleaning up everything before they get here.
Icelandic Christmas bazaar!? Fairfax has everything. But can one do that and fit in Andre 3000 on the same day?!