Weekend Fun Nearby: Herndon Festival

Sign of summer: The 35th annual Herndon Festival kicks off Thursday night.

This four-day street fair is fun for the whole family, with rides, beer trucks, a wine garden, food vendors and some new special events.

Here is what you need to know:

Festival hours are Thursday, 6 to 10 p.m.; Friday, to 11 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The Herndon Festival takes place in downtown Herndon, on Lynn Street and surrounding areas. There is offsite parking and shuttle buses from Herndon High School and Worldgate.

Admission is free. You need tickets ($1.50 each) for rides (most of which cost several tickets. All-you-can-ride wristbands and ticket books are available.

There are four entertainment stages with a wide variety of musical acts each day, including a Fleetwood Mac tribute band; a Simon and Garfunkel tribute band; Hip-hop; country; and more.

There will be a Kids Alley stage with entertainment such as The Unicycle Lady, The Monkey Man, and mimes and jugglers. See the full entertainment schedule on the festival website.

There will be fireworks Thursday and Saturday nights about 9:30 p.m.

Food vendors will be on hand. See a complete list on the festival website.

Also for kids: The Childrens Hands-On Art area at Station and Lynn Streets.

There will be a 5K and 10K Race on Sunday. The course goes through downtown Herndon and is open to all ages.

There will also be a video game competition on Saturday and a demonstration by the Northern Virginia Roller Derby on Thursday night.