Such a good time. Hubby and I went for a "date day" got to try so many different flavors and…read morevendors were so nice! Lots of people, but it didn't feel super crowded. Soo much coffee! And took home some good tea and, chili paste and BBQ sauce .

Very well planned and set up was better than last year-seemed more spacious. 10 rows of chocolate…read moreor coffee, salsa, jewelry, etc. We spent 3hours there today and bought bars, jewelry and dips. Definitely had a caffeine high after 2 rows of chocolates and coffee samples.

Nice free festival to go to. We were able to take the shuttle bus from Herndon high school. At…read morefirst there are arts & crafts as well as other tents with food vendors. Then there's an area for drinks and enjoying the live entertainment. Further in there's a bunch of rides. Overall cute smaller local summer festival to go to if you're in the area.

Located in Old Town Herndon, this festival is usually in the beginning of June. Been here 2 years…read morein a row only because it's something fun to do on a Friday night, eat mediocre food and some live entertainment. It's free to go in but you do have to pay for the rides and food. Theres a few art/jewelry vendors that sells some cute accessories and the rest is mostly food and a whole carnival area with rides. Food is on the expensive side, I mean its everything greasy and oily imaginable under the sun. I mean yeah I can't lie deep fried Oreos is a must but theres fried cheesecake, fried reeces, fried snickers like anything you can think of. A small cup of beer is about $6 and food usually varies from $5-$12 depending on where you go. It is mostly tweens and alotta kids, but its just something fun to do and to get out. It does get crowded on Friday and Saturday nights but not overcrowded where you can barely walk. Not bad to get in for free its your discretion how much you want to spend.

Why wouldn't that have a shady area or more cooling stations…read more Non gender porta potty's - gross. Very little choices for picky kids, vegan or other diets- maybe pack your own stuff. Fair food.

The Fairfax Fair is a Northern Virginia social institution!…read more Most people's first initiation into this yearly carnival is sometime around high school when they hold hands with a certain special someone on the ferris wheel or if they took the group date route, had worn matching tee shirts emblazoned with their crew's name in neon grafitti writing. Either way, the Fairfax Fair is the start of many, many blissful summer memories. A few of mine include: 1) The time I volunteered for a major sponsor of the event to dress up as the Cow from Cartoon Network's "Cow & Chicken". All of these little kids tried to pull my udders and punch me in the eye (which was conveniently located through Cow's open mouth). 2) The time my best friend performed on the Budweiser stage with her hs sign language choir. It was like an awkward scene out of Napoleon Dynamite that I will cherish in my heart forever. Whatever your age, gender, race, or socio-economic class the Fairfax Fair has something for everyone. Meat on a stick? Check. Laser light shows and fireworks? Check. Carnival rides? Check. Crazy circus carneys? Double check. Burnt out music artists from the 80's? QUADRUPLE CHECK!!! Musical guests have included eighties wonder kids Rick Springfield, Pat Benatar, Rob Base, Flava Flav, and more! I am secretly hoping that the Backstreet Boys will be hitting the county fair circuit soon so I can take care of some unfulfilled high school dreams. So anyways, what are you waiting for? The Fairfax Fair is coming to town this Friday, Saturday and Sunday!! Buy your tickets now -- the Fairfax Fair is your chance to do the Hump with Digital Underground himself. PS: If you don't know how to do the Humpty Dance here are a few rules: #1) Limp to the side like your leg is broken #2) Shake and twitch kinda like you're smokin'

A waste of money as it is a small display. Go to Meadowlark Garden instead for less money and a…read morebetter display.

Overpriced for 20mins walk. We drove about an hour and a half for what we aren't expected.read more

exceptional family fun every year - great food, authentic Arabic sweets, Arabic music and dancing,…read moreopen air seating, Kid Zone that keeps the family happy all day!

23rd Annual Middle Eastern Food Festival was a great event. I missed 22 other years but I will be…read morecoming again. The staff is incredibly organized, it feels more like an organized Japanese, not Middle East Festival. Everything is presented nicely in different and multiple formats (plates, hand brochure or large food panel with pictures) so it is really hard not to know what is available. Hosts are welcoming and asking how they can assist. The only improvement would be to place a schedule of events on the website so people can gauge what event they want to attend (dance, or roasted lamb dinner or whatever else). There are many ethnic drinks offered and they complement great food. I had a Kibbeh Platter and it was so good that I wanted to meet the lady cook. This is really easy festival to remember because it always during the Labor day weekend. There is a lot of stuff for the kids (free pony rides for example) in the large backyard or you can have a church tour. The assembly hall is large and Arabic music entertained us entire time. The Sweets table is a LONG table with any baklava that you may think off (walnuts, cashews, pistachios, hazelnuts, ...) Sweets that I tried were all very tasty. I leave this place with a satisfied belly and notion that everything was perfect and I credit the great hosts for that.

This like most of the other Greek festivals in the US, is a fundraiser for the local church (in…read morethis case, the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox church) in Sterling. (Currently, their church is in a warehouse.) The festival is usually over the Presidents' day weekend beginning at 4pm Friday and 11-9 Saturday and 11-7 Sunday. (webpage: https://www.facebook.com/TasteOfGreeceAshburn ). Traditionally, in Greece, festivals center around the church on important church days, and are day long outdoor events for the whole family that go late into the evening. Taste of Greece is held in the old Ashburn firehouse until they can get land and have a more traditional and larger outdoor festival. There is free parking with attendants to help. The atmosphere is warm, lively, the music traditional, there's a stunning collage of pictures of Greece on a screen, the decorations very tasteful and give a feel for the warm friendly culture. Go with friends and family, to spend several hours, relax, drink coffee or beer and have a good time There are 100-150 families trying to raise money to build a traditional home for the church, so the number of people that plan and execute the festival is very small. For such a small community this festival is amazingly well done and will certainly grow. It has become so popular that they are outgrowing the firehouse, so go and help them get their church built sooner so they can make the festival even better! The operation is very well planned, efficiently run, the food is plentiful, the dishes authentic, the music, costumes and dancing uplifting and festive. There is a raffle with multiple prizes. Local greek restaurants provide the kitchen services and cook staff and the church members serve their guests. The menu includes 3 tradition dishes gyros (pronounced YEE-ro not gii-ro) which is meat roasted on a spit and sliced into a pita with lettuce, tomato and thick tzatziki (or cucumber yogurt garlic dip); moussaka ( pronounced moo-sa-KA) which is potato, eggplant and ground meat, baked under a bechamel (white) sauce. Pastitsio (pronounced pas-TI-tsi-o) long hollow pasta in a lasagna like sauce, also baked under a bechamel layer. Both dishes are rich and flavorful. There's Baklava and Greek coffee for dessert. My personal favorite is the spinach pie (spa-na-KO-pita) Food can also be taken to go, an option if you go during peak lunch and dinner hours, when it's so crowded it's hard to find seats. The church has other fundraisers just before Thanksgiving where the women's group makes and sells pans of spanakopita and tiropita (cheese pie) and another before Christmas when they sell tsoureki ( pronounced ts-oo-REK-ee) a sweet bread with a lucky coin somewhere in the cake for new years.

To understand the Taste of Greece, one first has to understand the location of Ashburn in Loudoun…read moreCounty. About 40 years ago it was mostly the farmlands. Its population doubled in last 20 years. Ashburn is a part of Loudoun County, which is a wealthy county and about an hour away from Washington, DC (on a good day). Out of over hundred local ethnic festivals I have visited, this is the first one that was held in Loudoun County! The 8th Annual Taste of Greece was a rare opportunity to have an ethnic festival where the houses came well before schools, churches and recreational centers. It was held in the county firehouse, nestled among thousands of (over 2,000SF) houses. It is a fairly new church community (most of the things in Ashburn are fairly new) fundraiser and it is easy to understand how in this neighborhood the Taste of Greece can charge $12 for Gyro or $5 for a small piece of baklava. Good for the church, I say! The energy and desire of the "Greek Ladies" was contagious. They are kind and willing to talk about anything, and very agreeable. The space was too small, especially when the families started coming (after soccer games) with their children. The plastic forks and knives were positioned in the furthest possible spot to reach; wait for food was 10-15 minutes, parking was not available and seats were scarce. The food was good but not the best ever. There was music and dance. The crowd was diverse (like the county) and they took this rare opportunity to have a true ethnic food in the form of ethnic food festival in their county - without a long drive that they probably experience every working day. Taste of Greece is certainly a big deal for Loudoun County and I was happy to support the Greek American community with my Gyro meal and Mythos (Greek) beer. I hope they will grow and that many other ethnic festivals will follow soon.

The Thai New Year's Day is 13 April every year. If your New Year resolution did not pan out as you…read moredesired, you can always start new one with the Chinese, Vietnamese, Persian or Thai New Year. The Songkran, Thai New Year in Sterling temple exceeded my expectations. I did not expect that it will feel like you are on the street of Bangkok. Food and smiles everywhere! There is a food that you can find in a Thai restaurant and the one that you may not find in a Thai restaurant. I had grilled squid and Beef noodle soup that was made right there in front of me. Choice of noodles - noodles get dipped in the boiled water and 30 seconds later your noodles are done. Choice of meat - liver and other parts get put in. Green plants (lemongrass), salt and been sprouts and sauce is added and then another scoop from another boiling pot and your broth is poured over your ingredients with peanuts and spices on top of it all. I could not find Thai doughnuts and tasty curry puff was under $1 (6 for $5). At least 30 different meals (including a lot of fish) were offered. Besides eating Thai delicacies, you could listen Thai music, buy clothing or jewelry or get inspired by the Buddhist monks in orange clothes. Free parking, affordable food cost and jovial surroundings makes it an enjoyable festival.

Good social media marketing, poor experience. My toddler did…read moreenjoy the 2 minute light walk through. There was misinformation on the website about the ages required to pay and their platform that they used fever refused to refund my money because they said it was up to the vendor. The manager on site acted like they would do it and showed me a QR code . The vendor said it was up to fever. It was just a back-and-forth of neither of them wanting to refund my money.

Great holiday Chinese light show! Inside there is dumplings…read moreand hot chocolate! enjoyable walk on a cold evening Wish there were Elotes

The 10th Anniversary Vietnamese Festival at Tysons Corner Plaza was a fun event. Good food and…read moreperformances. We especially enjoyed watching the pho and crawfish eating contests.

Viet Fest was fun. The only thing that was not cool was hot sun on the fine summer day at…read morebeautiful Tyson's Plaza. Most people do not know about the plaza or festival. You can reach it via metro or park in a huge garage at the Mall. Food is very good and reasonably priced - between 3$ and $8. Sandwiches(banh mi) , soups(pho) and egg rolls are available. Cultural dance and music performances going on while you are eating.. Even Psychic readings is available - same shop was at the Bolivian Festival week later which proofs how our hopes are the same, no matter how we look or talk. No entrance fee - just open yourself to a different culture and food. Kids playground available - Lions dance - ice cream...kids friendly

Over the years, Viva Vienna has become a beloved family tradition! I'm not much of a carnival goer,…read morebut the fact that there is plenty of parking and a hop, skip, and a jump away from home makes it a winner in my book (perfect for those late afternoon toddler meltdowns!). My favorite place to park is near the Vienna Community Center and taking a short walk on the W&OD Trail. I've been doing this for years and it has worked out almost 95% of the time. Other must dos: - Watch the Vienna Singing Princess show (it truly is an hour of campy Disney-esque bliss) - Spinning teacups, carousel, and the spinning dragon ride - Grabbing all the fun free schwag in the vendor area - Moose Juice and funnel cake for the kiddos, chicken on the stick for the boy - Allllll the carnival games This year they switched out paper tickets to a card system. I still had some leftover tickets from last year and they were able to exchange without an issue. We have gone in the rain and on sunny days and it's always a blast. You will always run into a neighbor and it makes me feel like I'm on the set of some small town television show.

Don't put your name in the beginning of the entrance (bunch of computers) for the raffle. Not sure…read morehow they allow this to go on as a "raffle", it is just a information gathering tool so that people from "VVR rewards" can sell you on a timeshare You get a call that says you are eligible to win a gift card up to $200. Also, that you have won a trip to Williamsburg Virginia. The fair overall was OK but them allowing these type of vendors and not disclosing. The purpose is not a good look.