Crowds descend on Annandale for first ‘Taste’ Festival
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| The First Taste of Annandale drew crowds of people to Tom Davis Drive June 13 despite hot, muggy weather. |
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| The event started at Annandale United Methodist Church with an early-morning 5K Diamond Dash Fun Run through neighborhood streets. |
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| Two lucky 5K participants, Silvia Orellana, 34, of Annandale, and Fernando Sattori, 32, of Springfield, won a raffle for two half-carat diamonds contributed by Lambros Magiafas of Lambros Goldsmiths, worth $7,000 apiece. Left to right: Taste of Annandale Steering Committee Chair Rev. Clarence Brown of Annandale United Methodist Church; Mason Supervisor Penny Gross; state Sen. Dave Marsden; Sattori; Orellana; Lambros; and Fairfax County Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova. |
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| The Honey Pig was one of more than 20 food vendors at the Taste of Annandale. |
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| Rep. Gerry Connolly (middle) and Board of Supervisors Chair Sharon Bulova (right) were among the officials who spoke at the opening ceremony. |
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| The Fairfax Chinese Dance Troupe. |
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| Byum Palk of the Blue Sand restaurant in Seoul Plaza makes sushi. |
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| The Imm Thai restaurant offered dim sum, kapow chicken, fried rice, chicken wings, and mango sticky rice. |
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| Jeanette Sambibanez and Ciro Pinto of Garbo y Salero, a Peruvian dance company based in Lorton. |
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| A Fairfax County police officer stirs up some chili before the cook-off. Taste of Annandale attendees tried chili made by police officers and firefighters and voted the police chili the best. |
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| People watch the performances at the Taste of Annandale. There was live entertainment all day long representing diverse cultures and styles. |
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| Representatives of South Baylo University hand out coupons for free accupuncture treatments. |
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| The guys from Food Corner Kabob setting up their booth. |
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| The staff of the Dona Mary Taquitos food truck makes pupusas and tacos. |
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| Annandale High School students Kailyn Garar and Kelsie Licatovich. AHS sold water and slushies to benefit the Annandale Youth Fun. |
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| Samual Zaballos, intake specialist at the Children’s Development Center in Annandale, performs with a couple of furry friends. |
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| Annandale High School graduate Ki Lee founded Kroupons. For a $10 yearly fee, members get 10 to 30 percent discounts every time they eat at a Korean restaurant, including several in Annandale, such as Anagol, Palace, Bon Chon, Kabuja, and Red Holic. |
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| A Polynesian dance performed by Ta’ata Roiroi. |
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| Linda Brack and Sarah Wittig of Long & Foster realtors. |
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| Members of the Natananjali School of Dance perform a temple dance from South India in praise of Lord Shiva. |
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| Jay Heo of the Honey Pig works the grill. |
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| The HyeTension band energizes the crowd. |
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| Young members of Garbo y Salero with the Peruvian dance group’s director,Karin Meza. |
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| The crew from Silverado. |
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| The Bailey’s Crossroads Rotary Club is selling raffle tickets for a classic Mustang. |
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| Members of C4 Performing Arts, based at Fairfax High School, perform a West African dance number. |
6 responses to “Crowds descend on Annandale for first ‘Taste’ Festival”
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Thank you Ellie and the volunteers for organizing such a great and positive event. It is this kind of activity that distinguishes our community and makes us proud.
I look forward to it next year!
Richard Zambito
Thanks Richard, but a lot of people were involved in organizing the Taste of Annandale. I was glad to play a small part.
Taste of Annandale was great. Given that we don't have Mason District Park Day anymore, this festival is a welcome event. Hope you have it for years to come.
We'll make a point of going earlier next year. I brought my kids for an early dinner (5:15) as was disappointed to only see 5 options remaining and no children's activities. I had thought it went until 8! Will definitely make a point of going for lunch next year.
This was a great event! I also went a little later in the day and was sad that I missed many of the displays and food vendors but it was a cool event. It should definitely stay at full strength until it's posted end time in the future though. I think this is a great Annandale celebration for the spring/summer to compliment the fall Annandale parade and festival! Congratulations and thanks to the people who worked hard to put this event on! Out of curiosity, was Tom Davis invited? It would be cool to see him at this and on the road named after him.
Yes, Tom Davis was invited but he had an out-of-town commitment.