This fall King Street Park will have its much anticipated opening. In celebration the City is kicking-off a new festival — The Portside in Old Town Festival. Beginning Friday, October 12th until Sunday the 14th the festival promises a little something for every interest. There will be history, art, and fitness activities scheduled over the three days. Festival-goers will also enjoy live music as well as a waterfront beer garden from Port City Brewing and a pop-up pizza joint from Pizzeria Paradiso.

In addition to activities in the park there will also be a tall ship docked, Godspeed, from Jamestown. Godspeed is actually featured on the Virginia quarter. It was one of the ships that brought the first permanent English colonists to Virginia — this visiting ship is a reproduction of Godspeed that made that voyage in 1607. Tours are free but first come first served and not ticketed.

The Portside in Old Town Festival will ultimately become part of a Portside in Old Town programming series that promises fun along the Potomac for everyone.

Portside in Old Town Festival 

Friday, October 12th to Sunday the 14th, 2018

Old Town Alexandria Waterfront / 1 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314 (former location of the Old Dominion Boat Club)

Free admission; $ for food and drink / Family Friendly

PortsideInOldTown.com

Park Renderings from AlexandriaVA.Gov. Godspeed Photo from VisitAlexandriaVA.com.

Here’s a photogallery King Street Park being worked on ->

For more information on particulars of Portside in Old Town Festival weekend, check out what Visit Alexandria had to say as part of their Fall 2018 Festival Season Press Release:

Portside in Old Town Festival
October 12 to 14, 2018
Old Town Alexandria Waterfront
1 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
Free admission; $ for food and drink
PortsideInOldTown.com

In celebration of Old Town Alexandria’s new waterfront experience with the opening of a greatly expanded new park area at the foot of King Street and launch of the Portside in Old Town waterfront programming series, the Portside in Old Town Festival kicks off the fun with activities along the Potomac River October 12 to 14, 2018. Festival-goers will enjoy free tours of the tall ship Godspeed, a waterfront beer garden from Port City Brewing Company, a pop-up Pizzeria Paradiso, plus live music and history, art and fitness activities.

The festival lineup includes LED light performance artists presented by The Athenaeum, a pop-up exotic car exhibit to preview next year’s Alexandria Festival of Speed and Style, a free kids’ pizza-making demo by Pizzeria Paradiso, a free kids decorative craft project from AR Workshop, a free outdoor group fitness class from Sand & Steel Fitness and more. The tall ship Godspeed will be accompanied by special exhibits highlighting Jamestown’s history as well as Virginia’s 1619 American Evolution commemoration. The festival also includes a preview of ongoing Portside in Old Town programming including Portside History from the Office of Historic Alexandria, Portside Arts from the Torpedo Factory Art Center and the Mobile Art Lab, Portside Fitness from local fitness studios, and Portside Kids activities for families. The weekend also includes two special events happening inside the Torpedo Factory Art Center: The Late Shift on Friday night and the annual kids’ Art Safari on Saturday afternoon.

Godspeed Tall Ship Tours and History Exhibits
Saturday and Sunday, October 13 & 14, 2018
Free admission
Alexandria City Marina, 0 Cameron Street, Alexandria, VA 22314
PortsideInOldTown.com

Part of the Portside in Old Town Festival, take a free tour of the tall ship Godspeed, a re-creation of one of the three ships that brought America’s first permanent English colonists to Virginia in 1607. The Godspeed is visiting Alexandria from the Jamestown Settlement living-history museum in Virginia’s Jamestown-Williamsburg-Yorktown “Historic Triangle.” Enjoy dockside exhibits highlighting Jamestown’s history and Virginia’s 1619 American Evolution commemoration as well as an exhibit about Alexandria’s history presented by the Office of Historic Alexandria. Tours are first-come-first-served and not ticketed.