Save the date: the 4th Taste of Annandale is Oct. 13

The third Taste of Annandale was last October.

The Taste of Annandale is coming back for a fourth year. The 2018 festival will be Saturday, Oct. 13. It will be at the same venue – Tom Davis Drive – as the previous events.

There will be food, live entertainment, a 5K race, a children’s program, and possibly some new activities.

In one major change, the Taste of Annandale 4.0 will end a bit earlier, at 4 p.m. That’s being done because last year when the festival ended at 6, some of the restaurants ran out of food and left a bit early. This time, we’ll make sure all the vendors stay until the end.

Anyone interested in learning more about participating in the 2018 Taste of Annandale – as a sponsor, food vendor, other vendor, or entertainer – can contact the Annandale Blog editor, [email protected], or Taste of Annandale Planning Committee Chair Bob Kahane, [email protected].

After expenses, the 2017 Taste of Annandale netted a profit of more than $9,400. All proceeds are supporting the Re-Imagining Community Through Art initiative, a series of dialogues with community members and local high school students who participate in art and poetry workshops with professors at George Mason University.

Spearheaded by the Fairfax County Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, the initiative brings together youths, members of the public, faith communities, law enforcement, and others for dialogue sessions on their vision of community.

The first dialogue was held last May at the Dar Al-Hijra Islamic Center in Seven Corners, and the second took place in October at the James Lee Community Center in Falls Church. At those sessions, students from Annandale, Stuart, Falls Church, and Woodson high schools displayed the art they produced for the project to illustrate their feelings about community.

The public is invited to the third session, “A Dialogue Through Poetry and Art,” March 22, 6:30-8:30 p.m., at Bailey’s Lower Elementary School, 6111 Knollwood Drive, Bailey’s Crossroads.

Attendees will be treated to a free Latin American dinner. Childcare will be provided. It’s not necessary to have attended one of the earlier dialogues.

For more information, contact Norma Lopez of the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services, 703-533-5475.