After a muted 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, live music fans have a veritable feast of options for entertainment during this year’s long, hot summer days.
In addition to Reston Community Center’s ongoing concert series, this week will bring the launch of Friday Night Live! in the Town of Herndon, which scrapped the planned July 2 kickoff due to scheduling conflicts, and the Fairfax County Park Authority’s Summer Entertainment Series.
For anyone looking to spend a full day jamming to some tunes, however, the Roots Music Festival at Lake Anne Plaza (1609 Washington Plaza) might be the right tempo.
Launched in 2017, the festival focuses on folk, bluegrass, and other genres of American roots music. This year’s event will take place on Saturday (July 10) from 1-8 p.m.
The lineup features six bands that will each play for about an hour:
- 1 p.m.: Geraldine
- 2 p.m.: Split String Soup
- 3 p.m.: The Fly Birds
- 4 p.m.: Minks Miracle Medicine
- 5 p.m.: Annie Stokes
- 6 p.m.: Two Ton Twig
As in previous years, the music will be accompanied by a beer and wine garden scheduled to open at 12:30 p.m. Viewing areas are available at all restaurants around the plaza, including the patio at Lake Anne Brew House.
The festival is sponsored by the Friends of Lake Anne, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting Lake Anne Plaza with funding help from the CORE Foundation.
Friends of Lake Anne founder Eve Thompson, who serves as coordinator of the Roots Music Festival and owns the Lake Anne Coffee House and Wine Bar, says it has been gratifying to see the plaza come back to life over the past few months, as vaccines have allowed people to gather and socialize again.
“FOLA seeks to encourage vitality of the Plaza. It’s a great place to hear live music,” Thompson said by email. “It’s been a long hard year for most of the businesses on the Plaza…We are glad to see people out in the shops and restaurants again. We hope people will come out to enjoy the music!”
Six bands are on the lineup for the second annual Lake Anne Roots Music Festival.
The event, set for Saturday (July 14), will take place from 1-7 p.m. at Lake Anne Plaza.
Event-goers will get to take advantage of a full day of bluegrass and contemporary roots music from around the region. A plaza-wide beer garden is also part of the event, which is free and open to all.
The schedule for the festival is below:
- 1 p.m.: Bobby Thompson
- 2 p.m.: Morgan, Finch & Young
- 3 p.m.: Jeff Welsch
- 4 p.m.: Snakehead Run
- 5 p.m.: Splitt String Soup
- 6 p.m.: The Jakobs Ferry Stragglers
Photo via Lake Anne Plaza
Six folk, bluegrass and blues bands are on the lineup for the first Lake Anne Roots Music Festival.
Scheduled for the afternoon of Saturday, July 8, the festival will be headlined by The Woodshedders, a local favorite who has played numerous festivals around the region. According to their Facebook page, they “bring together the diverse influences of American Country, Rhythm & Blues, Old-Time, Bluegrass and Gypsy Jazz.”
Maurisa Potts, spokesperson for Lake Anne Plaza, said the Harpers Ferry, West Virginia-based group has an impressive stage presence.
“I’ve seen them before at another festival,” Potts said. “They have a huge following.”
Potts said the festival is taking the place of the Ukulele Festival, which had been held at the plaza on the second Saturday of July for the past seven years. She said while that festival has been “awesome and great,” the plaza thought it could do even more this year.
“We got a lot of feedback from residents and people who have come to the festival saying it would be great if we could do a roots-style festival,” she said. “People have said they will travel to festivals to go listen to some of these bands. … Once we were able to secure [The Woodshedders], we were able to build from there.”
Other acts scheduled to perform include Catchin’ Toads, Old Town Tradition, Snakehead Run Jug Band, Split String Soup and Eli Pafumi.
The free event is slated for noon to 6 p.m. July 8. In addition to the music, there will be a plaza-wide beer and wine garden, art vendors and more. The festival is sponsored by Lane Anne Merchants and the Reston Community Center.
Lake Anne also hosts a summer concert series, which began last night and will continue each Thursday through Sept. 14.
For more upcoming events at Lake Anne Plaza, visit its website.
Image via www.thewoodshedders.com
