Festival, Beer Garden Planned For New Alexandria Waterfront Plaza

UPDATE: The location of Portside in Old Town has changed.

ALEXANDRIA, VA—Alexandria's new waterfront plaza at the base of King Street will have a delayed opening due to flooding, but the festival to celebrate the opening is still hapepning. The Portside in Old Town Festival will happen from Oct. 12-14 with programming such as a pop-up food and drinks, tall ship tours and more. The new location is Waterfront Park (1A Prince Street) and the Alexandria City Marina (0 Cameron Street).

The free festival will offer history, art, music and fitness and other activities for all ages. The festival activities include free tours of the tall ship Godspeed, a waterfront beer garden from Port City Brewing Company, a pop-up Pizzeria Paradiso, live music and more.

Guests can marvel at LED light performance artists presented by The Athenaeum, a pop-up exotic car exhibit previewing the 2019 Alexandria Festival of Speed and Style, a free kids’ pizza-making demo by Pizzeria Paradiso, a free kids decorative craft project from AR Workshop and a free outdoor group fitness class from Sand & Steel Fitness and more. Tours of tall ship Godspeed are accompanied by special exhibits highlighting Jamestown’s history as well as Virginia’s 1619 American Evolution commemoration.

The festival also highlights ongoing Portside in Old Town programming including Portside History from the Office of Historic Alexandria, Portside Arts from the Torpedo Factory Art Center and the Mobile Art Lab, Portside Fitness from local fitness studios, and Portside Kids activities for families. The Torpedo Factory's Late Shift on Friday night will feature gallery talks, artist receptions, music, live performances, hands-on artmaking and three floors of open artists’ studios, while Art Safari on Saturday afternoon welcomes kids and families to a festival of artist-led hands-on activities.

Beyond the festival, the Alexandria Film Festival will have outdoor screening of film shorts in November. As the Christmas holiday rolls around, pop-up activities will include story time with Santa, a community sing-a-long, a hot chocolate bar, a Pacers holiday run meet-up as well as annual favorites like the Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights, Waterskiing Santa show and First Night Alexandria on New Year’s Eve.

Activities at Portside in Old Town

Godspeed Tall Ship Tours and History Exhibits
Friday to Sunday, October 12-14; Oct. 12, from 3 p.m.-6 p.m.; Oct. 13, from 1 p.m.-6 p.m.; Oct. 14 from noon-5 p.m.
Alexandria City Marina, 0 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Godspeed is a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607. Browse through dockside exhibits highlighting Jamestown’s history and Virginia’s 1619 American Evolution commemoration as well as an exhibit about Alexandria’s history presented by the Office of Historic Alexandria. Tours are first-come-first-serve, free and not ticketed.

Waterfront Beer Garden by Port City Brewing Company
Friday to Sunday, Oct. 12-14
Saturday, Oct. 20
Saturday, Oct. 27
Waterfront Park, 1A Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Enjoy award-winning craft beer plus entertainment including live music, DJ's, American Beer History Trivia and more, plus bites from local restaurants Pizzeria Paradiso, Chadwicks and Mia’s Italian Kitchen. In addition to classics like Optimal Wit, Port City will highlight different beers each weekend, including their beloved Oktoberfest, an IPA showcase, and the newest beer in their Lager Series, Baltic Porter.

Pop-up Pizzeria Paradiso
Friday to Sunday, October 12-14
Waterfront Park, 1A Prince Street, Alexandria, VA 22314

Pizzeria Paradiso's pop-up will make food from outdoor pizza oven. On Sunday, October 14, Pizzeria Paradiso presents a free kids’ pizza-making demo from12 to 1 p.m. Bring the little ones and join Pizzeria Paradiso Founder and Chef Ruth Gresser to learn how to make your own pizza or just have fun playing with pizza dough.

What's in store for 2019

Activities coming in 2019 are a visit from the six-foot-tall Virginia is For Lovers LOVE letters in February, a temporary public art installation from New York City studio SOFTlab from March to November and the arrival of tall ship Providence in June as a permanent attraction. The ship is a replica of one of the Navy's first ships, which was captained by John Paul Jones. Public tours, chartered cruises, educational programs and beer cruises will be available in partnership with Port City Brewing Company.

Located next to the existing Waterfront Park, the new King Street Waterfront Park will encompass the location of the Old Dominion Boat Club, a current park at the foot of King Street and a parking lot. It's expected to have panoramic views of the Potomac River.

The park has an anticipated opening in the fall and will be considered an interim park. The park will be open until the public until work can start on the permanent park, which doesn't have a set construction date yet. The final park would have an interactive water feature, shade structure and other amenities.

See more information about Portside in Old Town here.

Image via City of Alexandria