A massive weekend of public events is upon the City of Falls Church with two of its most popular events of the year. The 49th annual combined Falls Church Fall Festival and Taste of Falls Church event is on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. behind City Hall. Then on Sunday, the Falls Church Education Foundation’s annual Run for the Schools, with more than 900 runners already registered. The weather forecast is perfect both days, highs in the low 80s and no rain.
Saturday will be a day of live music, activities and tastings from local restaurants. Over 90 vendors and civic organizations will join the day. Fifteen restaurants and breweries are participating in this year’s Taste of Falls Church sampling portion. Attendees can try foods and beers in exchange for taste tickets, which are available to purchase for $3 at the festival or for pre-order starting on Monday, Sept. 8.
There will be a main stage and a children’s stage with performances for kids from 11 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Arlington-based guitar duo Wicked Game will kick off the main stage performances at 10 a.m., followed by Flashback Band, The Coozies and Gotcha Covered. The kids’ lineup includes Latin American music and a CityDance dance class, as well as puppet and magic shows.
Saturday at City Hall also includes the weekly Farmer’s Market in its front parking lot.
The City of Falls Church Police Department has issued a traffic advisory about the two days of events. On Saturday, portions of Little Falls Street, between Park Avenue and Great Falls Street, will be closed to vehicular traffic for the festival.
Between 7 a.m. and noon, no vehicular traffic will be allowed onto Little Falls Street from Park Avenue. The traffic light at Little Falls Street and Park Avenue will also be on flash during this period. Little Falls Street at Great Falls Street will only be accessible to Falls Church Festival and Farmers Market vendors.
From 10 a.m. to noon, Little Falls Street will reopen to one-way-only traffic from Great Falls Street. After Noon: Little Falls Street will open up to all traffic in both directions.
Primary parking for the Falls Church Festival will be on select side streets and the Kaiser Permanente garage. The public is urged not to park in private lots.
Accessible parking for the Farmers Market (8 a.m. to noon) and Falls Church Festival (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.) will be located on Great Falls Street.
On Sunday a number of road closures and parking restrictions will be in place for the Run for the Schools race. From 7:45 a.m. to 10 a.m., the streets noted below will be closed and parking will not be permitted: Walnut St., Lincoln Ave. from Walnut St. to N. Spring St. and from Great Falls St. to Meridian St., N. Spring St. from Lincoln Ave. to Fulton Ave., Fulton Ave. from N. Spring St. to Pennsylvania Ave., Pennsylvania Ave. from Fulton Ave. to Park Ave., Park Ave. from Pennsylvania Ave. to N. Maple Ave., N. Maple Ave. from Park Ave. to W. Jefferson St., W. Jefferson St. from N. Maple Ave. to Little Falls St., Little Falls St. from W. Jefferson St. to Great Falls St., Great Falls St. from Little Falls St. to Lincoln Ave. and from Dorchester St. to N. West St., Meridian St. from Lincoln Ave. to the City boundary, Dorchester Rd. from Meridian St. to Great Falls St., N. West St. from Great Falls St. to Highland Ave., Highland Ave. from N. West St. to Walnut St.
All those streets and designated blocks will be closed for the duration of the race. Roads will reopen at approximately 10 a.m.