Looking for Halloween inspiration? If you want to make something unique for your jack-o-lantern this year, get inspiration from thousands of carved pumpkins at THE GLOW: A Jack O’Lantern Experience this month. The huge outdoor display, which made its Northern Virginia debut last in 2017, returns to Lake Fairfax Park for all of October. Now through October 28, 2018 (on Thursday through Sunday nights), stroll through the park to see more Continue Reading...
Occoquan park reopens this week, unveils new events venue and cafe
Occoquan Regional Park will reopen this weekend, and when it does, it will be unveiling some big additions and new features. The park in Lorton, Virginia, which Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority (NOVA Parks) manages, had been closed while it underwent major renovations. On June 23, 2018, it reopens and debuts a new venue during a free festival, Occoquan Recreated: A Grand Reopening! This free community event will include live Continue Reading...
Christmas tradition: Bull Run Festival of Lights
UPDATE DEC. 20, 2017: Win one of two car passes to this event! See details below! By Patricia Hall, FairfaxFamilyFun.com If you drive along I-66 (especially traveling east from Manassas) in winter, you can't miss the lights that sometimes peek out from the trees. This means the Bull Run Festival of Lights is back! Visiting this annual holiday lights display at Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority's Bull Run Regional Park in Continue Reading...
Chill and chilly fun: Burke Lake Park Winter Wonderland
As one of the Fairfax County's biggest parks with the most offerings, Burke Lake Park makes for a great place to visit at any time. The 888-acre park with trails, sporting and water activities, a carousel, mini golf course, and miniature train is especially popular in the summer. But come some days in December, the park transforms into a Winter Wonderland. Fairfax County Park Authority is again hosting this event, which features a full day of Continue Reading...
The Glow debuts as NOVA’s latest Halloween event
Halloween is huge in Northern Virginia and the Washington, DC, area. From family-friendly festivals to terrifying haunted houses, each fall you can count on more than 100 events to celebrate the spooky and downright scary. The latest addition to the area falls into the former category and makes an illuminated show out of a Halloween icon. The Glow, coming to Fairfax County October 6-29, 2017, is a display of more than 5,000 hand-carved Continue Reading...
Explore the outdoors at Herndon’s nature festival
Back-to-school time means back to classroom learning, but all year long we have our "outdoor classrooms." You can learn much about flora and fauna at the upcoming NatureFest that the Town of Herndon hosts annually. This nature festival is a free community event, this year on Sunday, September 24, 2017, from 1 pm to 5 pm at Runnymede Park, 195 Herndon Parkway. The event is for all ages but is geared to children, with special nature stations Continue Reading...
Take the nature center with you: Rent a Nature Backpack
By Patricia Hall, Fairfax Family Fun You spent a nice day outside with the kids, exploring nature at a local park. Your kids are enthused about the activities you were doing, and you’d love to keep the interest going, but it’s time to go home. Maybe tomorrow you’ll come back, or you’ll just find something books and other items on the subject. Or maybe you don’t need to do any of that at all… maybe someone has already put all that together for Continue Reading...
You can now check out nature backpacks at the library
You can now check out more than books, movies, and music at the Fairfax County Public Library. Thanks to the Library of Virginia (through a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services) you can rent activity backpacks designed to get kids to play and explore outside. The library system is loaning free nature-themed backpacks so kids of all ages can learn about nature and science through outdoor exploration. You can use the backpacks Continue Reading...
Family travel: Three days in Manchester, Vermont
This post is part of our series highlighting family travel in Manchester, Vermont. Also see our post on the Wilburton Inn and historic Hildene. By Patricia Hall, Fairfax Family Fun There's never enough time. If you travel as we do -- wanting to see as much of an area as possible -- there is just never enough time to see it all. Even if you are highly organized. Even if the place you are visiting was supposed to be a relatively quiet little Continue Reading...
Enjoy exploring with Kids to Parks Day (and Northside shoes!)
By Patricia Hall, Fairfax Family Fun This is a great weekend to head outdoors! Why? The seventh annual Kids to Parks Day takes place this Satuday, May 20, 2017! This is a great occasion to head out to local and national parks all over the United States. The goal of this annual celebration, sponsored by the National Park Trust, is to encourage everyone, but especially children, to get outside and enjoy nature. We have all the details on this Continue Reading...
