Portside In Old Town Summer Festival Held Over Two Days In Alexandria

ALEXANDRIA, VA — While the first day of summer falls on June 21, Alexandria is ready to kick off the season with the two-day Portside in Old Town Summer Festival Friday and Saturday.

The returning festival hosted by Visit Alexandria with city government takes place in Waterfront Park at the foot of King Street in Old Town Alexandria. Friday's festival will merge with the 45th annual ALX Jazz Fest for the second year and is sponsored by Ting Internet along with partners Virginia Tourism Corporation, Dominion Energy and Volunteer Alexandria.

Friday's festival from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. focuses on the ALX Jazz Fest with jazz performances and readings by local poets. The musical lineup includes jazz vibraphone from the Joe Baione Quintet, Alexandria's own bassist and composer Michael Hawkins and his band The Brotherhood, and celebrated vocalist Sharón Clark. Musical performances will be held with interludes of poetry readings by Alexandria poet laureate Zeina Azzam, author and artist Sami Miranda, and two Alexandria City Public Schools student poet laureates. Friday’s event will be emceed by C. Alexandria-Bernard Thomas, a queer Black non-binary award-winning poet and teaching artist. The musical performances will serve as inspiration for a mural painted live on site by Aniekan Udofia.

Saturday's festival continues from 1 p.m. to 9 p.m. with musical performances from acts like nouveau flamenco group Ouros with Danny Knicely on mandolin; Ethiopian folk and jazz from Kalkidan Meshesha; indie soul group Oh He Dead; blues from The Linwood Taylor Band and special guest Sol Roots; zydeco tunes from Louisiana’s Curley Taylor & Zydeco Trouble; and salsa from Hermanos Galván y Orquesta. The guest musical curators and emcees for Saturday's performances are Vaughn and Robyn Ambrose, who are Alexandria-based musicians and founders of the Yellow Door Concert Series.

Some activities will happen on both days of the festival from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Both days of the festival will have a Lawn Game Zone with cornhole, Connect 4 and more backyard games. Alexandria's Office of the Arts will host local artists and let attendees explore various art projects and create their own. Historic Alexandria will teach attendees how to make chocolate with tools and techniques from Central and South American ancient cultures,

On both days, Alexandria's Port City Brewing Company will serve their local craft beer and hops-infused sparkling water, Hopwell, as well as Lost Boy Cider’s Comeback Kid cider and Virginia wine from Breaux Vineyards. Food and drinks will be available from Alexandria businesses like Borinquen Lunch Box, Chalkboard Wings & BBQ, Dolci Gelati, The Italian Place and Kungfu Kitchen. A retail pop-up at the foot of King Street will include handmade wares from Made in ALX, natural bath and skincare products from White Lily Shoppe, jewelry from Inti Phaxsi Gems and leather goods from Sophisticate Supply.

On Saturday, another highlight will be the reopening of Tall Ship Providence for tours at its new Senator John Warner Maritime Heritage Center. Safe Space NOVA will offer activities on Saturday like rock painting, bubbles, plantings and more to support LGBTQ+ youth, while Alexandria’s UpCycle Creative Reuse Center will allow attendees to make art out of repurposed items.

Drivers should expect traffic impacts from the festival. The unit block of Prince Street will be closed starting 12 p.m. Saturday with access only for event personnel, performers and vendors. The street will reopen at the end of the event or when Alexandria Police deem it safe to reopen. Old Dominion Boat Club members, patrons of Chadwicks and The Strand Lot should enter from Duke Street.

On Friday and Saturday, parking spaces on Strand Street next to Waterfront Park and all parking spaces in the unit block of Prince Street will be reserved for event use only from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m. On Friday and Saturday, six spaces on the east side of S. Union St. between Prince St. and Wales Alley will be reserved for event parking from 9 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. After the event, parking spaces on the north side of the Prince Street unit block and Strand Street next to Waterfront Park will be reserved for loading.

The city says businesses expecting deliveries on Friday or Saturday can use Union Street. Questions or concerns can be directed to Charlotte Hall from the Old Town Business Association at charlotte.hall@oldtownbusiness.org.

Attendees are encouraged to use public transportation. The King Street Metro station is on the Blue and Yellow Lines and is a 25-minute walk from the waterfront. At the King Street station, travelers can also take the free King Street Trolley to Market Square and walk 5 minutes down King Street to the festival. DASH Bus is also free with Lines 30 and dropping off at Market Square. Another option is the water taxi, which stops at the Old Town Alexandria waterfront.

For bicyclists, a complimentary bike valet service will be offered on Saturday from 12:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the HB Parking Lot at 300 N. Lee Street. Capital Bikeshare has dock stations to pick up or drop off bikes at Prince Street and Union Street, Duke Street and Union Street, 908 King Street, 301 King Street, King Street and S. Patrick Street, and S. Royal Street. There are also rentable e-scooters and e-bikes throughout Old Town, which should be parked in scooter corrals like Prince and Strand Streets or a bike rack when possible.

Rideshare services such as Lyft or Uber as well as taxis can pick up or drop off around Market Square, 301 King Street. Street parking will be limited, but some paid garage parking options include Courthouse Square Garage (111 S. Pitt St.) HB Parking’s surface lot (300 N. Lee St.); Thompson’s Alley Garage (10 Thompson’s Alley); N. Union St Garage (220 N. Union St.); and Market Square Garage (108 N. Fairfax St.). The city anticipates many garages near the waterfront on Union Street will reach capacity.