Back at school, and summer is closing out in installments. Two concert series play their last show, the county shelter waives every adoption fee Friday through Sunday, and one signup shuts today.
The 5-second plan
Young kids: Rocknoceros on the One Loudoun plaza, Mon 8/31 at 11. Free, and it's the last one of the summer.
A couple: Eddie Merlot's does four courses for two for $99, tonight, dine-in only. It's the one sit-down dinner in this issue.
In your twenties: FXA's Thursday spikeball league closes signups today. $40 on your own and they place you.
A teenager: Battle of the Bands is free to enter and the form shuts Mon 8/31 at 5 p.m.
Staying in Ashburn: Hoppers on the lawn at One Loudoun, Thu 8/27 at 8. Free, bring a chair, and it's a school night.
The one to plan around: the Watermelon Bash at Great Country Farms, Sat and Sun. $16 at the gate, dachshund races Saturday at 4.
Worth the drive: the Maryland Renaissance Festival opens its 50th season Saturday. Buy the date you want before you go, because there is no gate sale.
🧠 Before you go — today’s Ashburn puzzle. Two minutes, keep your streak. Play →
Editor's Pick
Bluemont Vineyard pours three wines against your star sign on Friday night, and the overlook after hours is the other half of the ticket. A written horoscope comes with the flight. Note two things: check in at the Barrel Haus, further up the mountain than the main tasting room, and seating is first-come. The same night runs again Sep 26 and Oct 26.
Fri 8/28, 6–9 p.m. · $45, before tax and an automatic 20% gratuity · ~35 min, the Barrel Haus, Bluemont · 21+
This Weekend
Six things, the one that runs all three days costs nothing, and Saturday has the dachshunds.
Watermelon contests, then a dachshund race: Great Country Farms gives the weekend over to watermelon: an eating contest at 11:30, seed spitting at noon, family water games at one, and a Gallagher-style smash show at two. The Doxie Derby runs at 4 on Saturday only, so go Saturday if the dogs are the draw. Grown-ups get a punch card good for watermelon drinks at Bluemont Vineyard, Dirt Farm Brewing and the Henway Cider Barn, running until 8.
Sat 8/29 and Sun 8/30, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.; Doxie Derby Sat 4 p.m.; play area 9–5 · $16 per guest at the gate · ~35 min, 18780 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont · All ages
Every adoption fee waived, Friday to Sunday: the county shelter covers cats, dogs, rabbits and livestock for the three days. Cats, dogs and rabbits leave spayed or neutered and chipped. Cats and dogs also come vaccinated and go home with three months of flea and tick cover and a bag of food, and dogs add three months of heartworm cover. Worth saying: the fee is the part that's waived, not the fifteen years after it.
Fri 8/28 to Sun 8/30, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. daily · No adoption fee · ~20 min, 42225 Adoption Drive, Leesburg · All ages
A film on the lawn, and the popcorn is free too: One Loudoun screens Hoppers on the Exchange Street lawn Thursday night. No seating provided, so a blanket or chair is the whole preparation. Alamo Drafthouse hands out the popcorn. It's an 8 p.m. start on a school night, so it works for a family that can take a late one and not for a family that can't.
Thu 8/27, 8–10 p.m. · Free · In Ashburn, 20387 Exchange Street · Big kids who can stay up
The Navy Band closes the South Riding series: The Cruisers play jazz, blues and classic rock on the
Town Green Friday night, the last date on the 2026 series. Bring a blanket, pay nothing. The organizer posts changes to its Facebook page and community app.
Fri 8/28, 8–9:30 p.m. · Free · ~20 min, 43080 Center Street, South Riding · Big kids and up
A Saturday market with 130-plus vendors, on Atwater Drive: EatLoco sets up in the Christian Fellowship Church lot, about a hundred yards from its old One Loudoun spot, so navigate to Atwater Drive. Nine to one, and it runs every Saturday of the season.
Sat 8/29, 9 a.m.–1 p.m. · Free to walk in · In Ashburn, Atwater Drive · All ages
Four courses for two, ninety-nine dollars, Wednesdays only: Eddie Merlot's runs its Prime Dine deal tonight, dine-in only. The page says limited time with no end date, so call before you book.
Wednesdays, dinner service · $99 for two, as posted on Aug 25 · In Ashburn, 20350 Minot Dr · Adults
Family
One of these is the last of the summer, and the fall registration everyone forgets opened three weeks ago.
The last Monday concert of the summer: Rocknoceros plays the One Loudoun plaza on Aug 31, closing a series that has run every Monday since June 1. Eleven o'clock lands before nap, and the plaza is stroller-flat. Watch the address: Easthampton Plaza, not the Exchange Street lawn the movies use.
Mon 8/31, 11 a.m.–noon · Free · In Ashburn, 20626 Easthampton Plaza · Little kids
Baby, toddler and preschool storytimes on separate days: Ashburn Library splits them by age, so an eight-month-old and a four-year-old are never in the same room. Saturday is the only weekend option. It's the standing schedule rather than a one-off, so check the branch calendar before you go.
Baby Mon (except the second of the month) and Thu 10 a.m., Sat 11; toddler Tue and Wed 10 a.m.; preschool Tue and Thu 11 a.m. · Free · In Ashburn · Under 5
A petting zoo and a Touch-A-Truck line, free on Labor Day: Kids Fest takes over the Segra Field lots with bounce houses and sixteen food vendors alongside them. The county bills it as free, with food for sale. Community centers are shut that day, so this is the county's own answer for the Monday.
Mon 9/7, 11 a.m.–3 p.m. · Free, food for purchase · ~15 min, 42095 Loudoun United Dr, Leesburg · Little kids
Open since Aug 6, and filling: the county's
fall activity guide is live, and class titles link straight into registration, so there's no course-code hunt. Cost runs per course, not one flat fee. Looking further out, the county publishes next summer's camp guide on Feb 10; it has not said when camp signups open.
Registration open now, classes run Sept to Nov · Priced per course · Countywide · All ages
What Actually Matters
Four clocks. One runs out Thursday morning, and the hardest is Monday at five.
Thirty slots, and the form shuts Monday at 5: Battle of the Bands takes middle and high schoolers as bands, solo singers, instrumentalists or DJs, up to eight to a group. Free to enter, the field caps at 30, and the performance date is announced separately.
Applications close Mon 8/31, 5 p.m. · Free to enter · Online · Middle and high school
Walk-in shots Thursday, and the window is two hours: Animal Services takes no appointments, so arrive before nine. Four pets per family, cats in carriers, dogs on a fixed lead six feet or shorter. Bring proof of an earlier rabies shot for the three-year version.
Thu 8/27, 9–11 a.m. · $10 a shot; microchip $15, free for county residents · ~20 min, 42225 Adoption Drive, Leesburg · All ages
Short hours on Labor Day, and no childcare anywhere: the county runs Ashburn, Claude Moore and Dulles South from 11 to 6, with the indoor pools closing at 5:45 and no Kid Kare, childcare or preschool at any site. Community centers and Franklin Park Arts Center are shut. The two outdoor pools that close for the season that evening are Lovettsville and Franklin Park, open 11 to 6:30.
Mon 9/7 · Free and paid · Countywide, including the Ashburn Recreation and Community Center · All ages
Talk to a planner about data centers, Sept 28 at Broad Run: the county's data center standards get a drop-in session in the Broad Run High School cafeteria. No presentation, no speaking slot: you talk to planning staff one to one. The public hearings come later, Planning Commission in February 2027 and the Board in July 2027. The comment form is open now.
Mon 9/28, 6–8:30 p.m. · Free · In Ashburn, 21670 Ashburn Road · Adults
Registration Radar
Four of them. One closes the day this lands, one is a price rise on Tuesday, and one league means it when it says final.
Spikeball signups shut today, $40 on your own: FXA shuts signups for its Thursday spikeball league on Aug 26, so treat it as a this-morning job. $40 to enter alone and be placed, $80 for a pair. The listing names no field, only multiple locations, most in Fairfax County.
Closes today, Wed 8/26; season starts Thu 9/10, 8–9 p.m. · $40 solo, $80 a team · Multiple locations, mostly Fairfax County · Adults
$225 today, $250 from Tuesday: Dulles Youth Basketball takes grades K through five, and the $25 isn't the only thing at stake: there's no closing date, because registration ends when the league fills. Every registered player also has to attend October evaluations, and those dates aren't posted yet.
Price rises Tue 9/1 · $225 now, $250 after · In Ashburn · Grades K–5
AYBL basketball, $240, closing Sept 7: AYBL runs house basketball for grades three through twelve at $240 a player, and states on its own homepage that nothing is considered past the closing date. Eligibility follows school attendance area rather than address, homeschooled and private-school kids included.
Registration closes Mon 9/7 · $240 a player; multi-player discounts and scholarships offered · In Ashburn · Grades 3–12
Three nights, one deadline: FXA's fall ultimate leagues, on the same signup page as the spikeball league above, all close Sep 2, so a Wednesday that's already spoken for can become a Sunday or a Thursday at the same price. Be straight about the drive: Fairfax County turf, and 8 to 10 p.m. means a late trip home.
Closes Wed 9/2; seasons start Sep 13, 16 and 17, 8–10 p.m. · $45 solo, $525 a team · Fairfax County turf · Adults
Save the Date
Fall ticketing has opened, and on one of these the day you pick changes the price by half.
The day you pick sets the price: Cox Farms opens Sept 19 with hayrides, giant slides, the Cornundrum maze and a pumpkin to carry home. Tickets are online only, never at the gate, and the farm says dates sell out. Discount dates are $15 against $30 at peak.
Sept 19 to Nov 8, 10–6 through October · $15 to $30 by date, free under 24 months · ~35 min, 15621 Braddock Road, Centreville · All ages
Fifty seasons, opens Saturday, and you cannot buy at the gate: the
Maryland Renaissance Festival runs 19 days through Oct 25 on a 25-acre village site. Tickets are online only and tied to the date you pick, and days do sell out, so this is a buy-first outing rather than a decide-in-the-car one. Parking is free.
Opens Sat 8/29, runs to Sun 10/25, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. · $31 adult 16–61, $27 age 62 and up, $17 ages 7–15, free for 6 and under but they still need a ticket, plus tax and a ticket fee · Annapolis, MD · All ages
Free in, and the parking answer is a shuttle: Vienna Oktoberfest brings three music stages, a food court and a free kids' zone to Church Street on Oct 3. There are no festival lots. The free shuttle runs 10:30 to 7:30 from the Metro, James Madison High School, Ayr Hill and Dominion.
Sat 10/3, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. · Free admission; drink tickets $8, or four for $30 · ~30 min, 131 Church St NE, Vienna · All ages
🎒 Extra Credit
Overflow worth knowing about.
Margaritas, cheeseburgers and a toast at five: Solace in Sterling gives Sunday over to a Jimmy Buffett tribute band. No admission, you buy what you drink. The band plays 3 to 6, and Sunday is all-day happy hour there, 20 percent off canned beer.
Sun 8/30, noon–8 p.m.; band 3–6 · No admission, pay for what you drink · ~15 min, Sterling · All ages
The maze after dark, no kids in it: Henway Hard Cider runs eight adults-only maze nights in October with fire pits, live music and a pour included. Bring a flashlight, because it's genuinely dark.
Oct 2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 and 24, 6–9 p.m. · $45, a pour included · ~35 min, 18780 Foggy Bottom Road, Bluemont · 21+
Sellers list what they're putting out, so you can plan a route: the
Broadlands yard sale publishes a map, so you can drive to the four houses with kids' bikes instead of the whole neighborhood. Sellers must live in Broadlands, and listings take two working days to appear.
Sat 9/26, rain or shine; no start time posted · Free · In Ashburn, throughout Broadlands · All ages
Forty food vendors, both days: Asia In a Bite returns to One Loudoun on Sept 19 and 20, 11 to 7 each day, with a DJ and a row of makers alongside the food. Admission is free but an RSVP is asked for. Meet at 44578 Atwater Drive.
Sat 9/19 and Sun 9/20, 11 a.m.–7 p.m. · Free, RSVP requested; food is paid · In Ashburn, 44578 Atwater Drive · All ages
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