The Lake Anne Summer Film Festival kicks off Friday with its first screening.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is turning 30, so come to the plaza to revisit this classic teenage tale.
Showtime is at sundown (about 9 p.m.). The big screen will be set up on the plaza. Bring a picnic, blanket and chairs for the free fun.
The Lake Anne summer films will run the second and fourth Fridays in July and August. Here is the full schedule:
- July 8 — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Celebrating 30th Movie Anniversary)
- July 22 — Toy Story
- August 12 — Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- August 26 — Lady Sings the Blues (kicking off Lake Anne Jazz Week)
Movies at Lake Anne/file photo
Editor’s note: The gondola rides have been postponed and will not occur in July, a Lake Anne spokeswoman says. Watch for a big event included the boats at Lake Anne later in 2016 or in 2017.
Original Story: It’s a go for a gondola at Lake Anne Plaza.
Surf Reston Stand Up Paddleboarding has received approval from Reston Association to have a two-week run at Lake Anne with a 36-foot gondola that was built in Venice.
The gondola will be here July 22-31. Surf Reston is now taking online reservations.
Says Surf Reston:
Lake Anne Village comes closest to reflecting founder Robert E. Simon’s original vision of creating a series of community focal points throughout Reston with densities and architecture that resembled Europe instead of the traditional sprawling American suburbs.
The Italian seaside city of Portofino was one of the inspirations for Lake Anne Village Center. James Rossant designed Lake Anne to emulate the Italian coastal town of Portofino with modern architectural themes.”
Rides on Lake Anne will be about 30 minutes and can accommodate up to four passengers for $49.
Longer rides or customized Gondola experiences are available.
The gondola, which will be steered by a gondolier, is coming from a New Jersey company, says Surf Reston owner Steve Gurney. If successful, it may become a permanent Lake Anne feature.
“This short-term demonstration project can provide the community with a better indicator of the demand and the community’s desire to support this service through a summer season,” he said.
Photo courtesy Las Olas Gondolas
Lake Anne Plaza will be filled with the sweet sounds of ukuleles once again when the 7th annual Ukulele Festival takes place on Saturday, July 9.
The free festival features performances by several acclaimed ukulele musicians, music demonstrations, a public morning jam session, festival vendors, and other family friendly activities.
The event will feature a wide variety of music genres ranging from blues, traditional Hawaiian, swing, and folk. Each group will lead festival goers in a strum-a-long session that will be fun for all ages.
Individuals are welcome to bring their ukuleles or pick up one at the festival and enjoy learning the tiny instrument.
2016 Schedule:
Open Mic Session
10:30 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Community Stage Morning Jam Session at Café Montmartre
Main Stage
- 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. Hula Monsters
- 1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. Aloha Boys
- 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Isa Pacifika Dancers (Traditional Hawaiian Dance Performance)
- 3:45 p.m. – 4:45 p.m. Rachel Manke
- 5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. The Sweater Set
The free festival is hosted by the Lake Anne Merchants with support from theReston Community Center, Friends of Lake Anne (FOLA), and theNorthern Virginia Ukulele Ensemble.
The festival will take place rain or shine.
Vienna’s Kiln & Co., a locally owned paint-your-own pottery studio, has set up in the old Lakeside Pharmacy space at Lake Anne Plaza for a summer pop-up studio.
The business is exploring the idea of signing a permanent lease, but for now will be open daily for young artists to drop in or to take part in a summer camp.
Summer camps will be offered beginning the week of June 27. Half and Full Day sessions are available. Camps have various themes such as “Zoofari,” “Under the Sea,” or Garden Party. Check out Kiln & Co.’s website for more information. Camps start at about $350 a week.
The art studio will also bring over products from Kustard & Company in Vienna for a summer frozen custard stand. Kustard & Company offers about a half-dozen flavors of custard daily, as well as custard pies, shakes and other treats.
The space at 1641 Washington Plaza has been vacant since September of 2014. The pharmacy, in operation for more than 40 years, had been the last original business at Lake Anne Plaza.
Here’s a chance for some free summer fun. Lake Anne Plaza’s Take a Break Concert Series returns to the waterfront tomorrow.
Every Thursday this summer, Lake Anne and Reston Community Center present free entertainment from 7 to 9 p.m.
Here is the schedule:
June 16
Dance Night with Radio King Orchestra
Big Band Swing with dance demonstrations and instruction.
June 23
Texas Chainsaw Horns
Blues
June 30
Swing Sisters (Cathy Fink & Marcy Marxer)
Acoustic Swing
July 7
Cheick Hamala Diabate
Traditional West African music mixed with modern grooves.
July 14
Four Star Combo
Vintage Rockabilly Honky Tonk
July 21
Dance Night with Cedar Creek
Country line dancing with dance demonstrations and instruction.
July 28
Fresh Air
Motown and 1960s classics
August 4
Dance Night with Sin Miedo
Salsa with dance demonstrations and instruction.
August 11
Uptown Vocal Jazz Quartet
Vocal Jazz
August 18
Dance Night with Ken & Brad Kolodner
Old time square dancing
August 25
IONA
Celtic
September 1
Chris Vadala Quartet
Be Bop Jazz (as part of Lake Anne Jazz Festival Week)
For more information, visit RCC’s website.
Baby Blossom, the locally owned baby supply and gift store at Lake Anne Plaza, will close its doors at the end of next week, co-owner David Goldberg said.
The shop, which has a location in Fairfax and an e-commerce site, has been located at 1631 Washington Plaza for five years.
Goldberg said he has enjoyed the Lake Anne location, but the building in which the store is located has been sold. Goldberg said he is scouting other nearby locations for a possible new store.
Meanwhile, remaining store merchandise is 40 percent off. If you are looking for a sweet deal on a floor model stroller, toys and other things for a baby, head to the store by June 26, which is expected to be Baby Blossom’s last day at Lake Anne.
The bricks at Reston’s historic Lake Anne turned into a colorful display of art over the weekend at the third annual Chalk on the Water Festival.
Professional, amateur and school-age artists drew murals, and the place winners received cash prizes.
The event was presented by Lake Anne and the Initiative for Public Art Reston (IPAR).
Check out some of the top murals in this photo gallery courtesy of Charlotte Geary at Modern Reston.
There is family fun this weekend at both of Reston’s large gathering places.
Chalk on the Water, Lake Anne’s third annual chalk art festival, is Saturday and Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Lake Anne Plaza.
All ages are invited to sign up for remaining spaces and create chalk murals on the bricks of the plaza. Everyone is also invited to just browse the street art.
Register on Chalk on the Water’s website. Plots start at $10.
Participants have a chance to win cash prizes for various categories, awarded by community judges. Funds raised from the festival will be donated to the Initiative for Public Art Reston.
Sunday at Reston Town Center is for all things yoga. The eighth annual Love Your Body Yoga Festival will feature free yoga classes from a variety of local teachers from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There will also be classes for kids in a separate tent, and a marketplace for vendors.
New to the festival this year is a Farm to Table tent, where local farmers, distributors and food artisans will prepare and offer healthy food. Among the vendors:
- Second Spring Farm – ecologically grown vegetables
- Golden Valley Guernseys – premium raw Guernsey milk
- Prior Unity Garden – garden design, installation, classes
- LivingClean with Paula – growing sprouts & microgreens
- 100 Bowls of Soup – nourishing soup & stock
- EatLuv – handcrafted clarified butter
- Fairfax County Farmers Markets – 11 weekly markets
Photo: Chalk on the Water 2015
The bricks at Lake Anne Plaza will turn into brightly colored murals at the third annual Chalk on the Water Festival, which returns to the plaza June 11-12.
Registration is now open for individuals of all ages for the two-day street-painting festival.
Festival goers can purchase a “plot” of brick space on the plaza and paint whatever flows from their imagination. Cost for spaces are $10 for families and school-age children (elementary to high school), $15 for amateur artists, and $15 for professional artists.
Register on Chalk on the Water’s website.
Only 150 spaces/plots are available for this event. Participants have a chance to win cash prizes for various categories, awarded by community judges.
Lake Anne collaborated with Initiative for Public Art-Reston (IPAR) to bring this public art themed event to the plaza. Funds raised from the festival will be donated to IPAR.
The festival is sponsored by the Friends of Lake Anne (FOLA), Reston Art Gallery, and Washington Parent Magazine. For sponsorship inquiries, visit www.chalkonthewater.com.
The Lake Anne Summer Film Festival will return for four dates this summer.
Organizers will set up the big screen on Lake Anne Plaza on the second and fourth Fridays in July and August. Bring the family, a picnic, blankets and chairs for the free fun. Shows begin at sundown.
On the schedule:
- July 8 — Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (Celebrating 30th Movie Anniversary)
- July 22 — Toy Story
- August 12 — Breakfast at Tiffany’s
- August 26 — Lady Sings the Blues (kicking off Lake Anne Jazz Week)
Another free summer series also starts at Lake Anne Plaza next week. There will be free Yoga on the Plaza on Sundays from 9:30 – 10:30 a.m. from May 15 to Aug. 28. Instructors will lead you through an all-levels yoga class on the plaza. Bring your own mat and water.
Movies at Lake Anne/file photo
The Reston Farmers Market opens for its 18th season at Lake Anne Plaza’s parking lot Saturday with its usual — and sometimes unusual — assortment of produce, eggs, meats, homemade baked goods, pickles, popcorn and honey.
The market, which spreads out into the craft market on the plaza, is the most robust farmers market among the 11 markets operated by Fairfax County. It was also named “Best Market in Northern Virginia for 2013” by Virginia Living Magazine.
Fairfax County markets are producer-only, meaning that all of the farmers and producers may only sell what they raise on their farms or make from scratch. The farmers and producers all come from within a 125 mile radius of Fairfax County.
Market hours are 8 a.m. to noon. There’s also a master gardener to answer questions, live music, and a variety of other goods and services — as well as people-watching — to keep you entertained.
Here’s a list of the vendors who will be set up for the 2016 season, which will run through mid-November.
- 78 Acres, Inc.
- A Bit More Sweets and Specialties
- Arnest Seafood
- Baguette Republic
- Bees ‘n Blossoms
- Blue Ridge Dairy Co.
- Breezy Meadow Farms
- Cavanna Pasta
- Cherry Glen Goat Cheese
- Colonial Kettle Corn Inc.
- Fresh Crunch
- Glascocks Produce
- Grace’s Pastries
- Hutt Produce LLC
- J & W Valley View Farm
- Jerry’s Gourmet Berries, Inc
- Kiwi Kuisine
- Ladybug Mountain Farm
- Misty Meadow Farm Creamery
- Mt Olympus Farm
- Nitro’s Creamery
- Ole Pioneer’s Kitchen
- Penn Farm
- Potomac Vegetable Farms
- Reid’s Orchard, Inc.
- Smith Family Farm
- Spring Valley Farm and Orchard
- The Farm at Sunnyside
- Toigo Orchards
- Valentine’s Country Bakery and Meats
- Virginia Vistas Greenhouses
After a year of hammering, scraping, painting, refinishing, and finally, brewing beer, Lake Anne Brew House owners Jason and Melissa Romano are finally nearly ready to pour.
Lake Anne’s first nanobrewery will open Saturday at 10 a.m. There will be a ribbon cutting at noon, as well as a party on the plaza in front of the business with live music and food from Clyde’s, Kalypso’s and The Bratwurst King.
But the star attraction will be the beer. Jason Romano, a cybersecurity professional, has been home brewing for 20 years. His first batches of beer for the brew house — made on site in six tanks squeezed into the 1,000-square-foot space — will feature a little of something for everyone. Read More
Lake Anne Brew House will have its grand opening in a little over two weeks, co-owner Melissa Romano confirms.
Romano told Reston Now previously that the business was eyeing a mid-April opening.
The grand opening has now been set for Saturday, April 16.
The Brew House — Reston’s first nanobrewery — will be open 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., with a special ribbon-cutting ceremony at noon, Romano wrote on the company’s Facebook page.
The Brew House will also be open Sunday, April 17 from noon to 5 p.m.
Romano and her husband, Jason, purchased the former Singh Thai space at 11424 Washington Plaza W at Lake Anne Plaza nearly a year ago. They have done extensive renovations to the space and patio, but Melissa Romano said in October the permitting process took longer than expected because a nanobrewery is new territory for the county.
Photo courtesy of Lake Anne Brew House Facebook page.
After months of construction and inspections, Lake Anne Brew House — Reston’s first nanobrewery — has an opening date in mind.
Co-owner Melissa Romano wrote on the company’s Facebook page on Tuesday that the brewery had passed its final Fairfax County Department of Health Reviews and is ready to start brewing beer.
“Our inspectors were incredibly complimentary of our space and we are both beaming with pride and simultaneously exhausting huge exhales!,” wrote Romano. “Jason will brew the flagship batches later this week in anticipation of a mid-April opening, so be on the lookout for more posts and photos soon.”
The Romanos purchased the former Singh Thai space at 11424 Washington Plaza W at Lake Anne Plaza nearly a year ago. They have done extensive renovations to the space and patio, but Melissa Romano said in October the permitting process took longer than expected because a nanobrewery is new territory for the county.
Melissa Romano says they will be “working around the clock” to brew and prep.
“We will host soft openings for our Kickstarter contributors before opening to the public, but hope to be serving everyone by mid-April,” she said.
Nanobreweries are a growing segment of the craft beer market that typically produce fewer than three barrels at a time. A barrel is typically 31 gallons or two kegs.
Look for updates on an exact opening date soon.
Photo by Michelle Schoening for Lake Anne Brew House
All bulldogs are Irish bulldogs at Lake Anne Plaza Saturday.
PetMAC at Lake Anne Plaza is holding a fundraiser from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Stop by the bulldog kissing booth, where the Rebound Bulldog Rescue Foundation will be bringing an assortment of pooches decked out in their St. Paddy’s Day best.
Kiss a dog for dollars and help support the rescue group.
PetMAC is located at 11412 Washington Plaza West.
