Get Out Loudoun for August 2023

Photo by Jordan Merrigan

GET OUT LOUDOUN

Get Out Loudoun is distributed monthly to entertainment, tourism, and hospitality venues throughout Loudoun County. For the latest news on the music scene and other community events, go to getoutloudoun.com.

CONTRIBUTORS

Dana Armstrong Douglas Graham

Renss Greene

Norman K. Styer

ON THE COVER

TO ADVERTISE

Susan Styer at 703-770-9723 or sales@loudounnow.com

Inside: 6

TUNES

From Loudoun to Broadway to Nashville and back, Emma Rowley’s artistry continues to evolve.

TRENDS

The pandemic is over and the dance floor is open for some old fashion, country stepping out.

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BREWS

Water’s End’s latest community brewery is the new anchor for a popular Leesburg gathering space. Welcome to The Dell.

DESTINATIONS

TASTE Leesburg returns Aug. 12 to showcase the area’s food and craft beverage vendors throughout the downtown historic district.

BEST BETS

Get Out Loudoun’s top picks for August.

Photo by Douglas Graham Ben Walters plays fiddle during a barn dance at Georges Mill Farm.

Celebrating Craft Beer Month

BY DOUGLAS RODGERS

On a recent trip to Charleston, SC, to watch my 13-year-old son play for his travel baseball team, I spent a lot of time with other Loudoun dads. Apart from being into baseball, I learned they were also into beer.

They all had their favorite Loudoun brewery. One said he regularly biked to breweries on the Washington & Old Dominion Trail and two told me they even made their own beer. I assumed they meant in their basement, but I was wrong. One made an IPA at Kettle & Grains in Leesburg, a facility that provides everything from grain, hops, yeast, and equipment to amateur brewers, while the other frequents The Craft of Brewing in Ashburn where he rents a 20-liter “brew station” and experiments with dry hopping, bottling, and kegging with experts on hand to offer advice.

Who knew?

August is Virginia Craft Beer Month and as we celebrate with a cold one it’s worth raising a glass to the dynamic, varied and innovative craft beer scene in Loudoun—easily one of the most exciting in the U.S.

Beer and bikes, you say? There are several breweries on or near the W&OD Trail as it dissects the county, but did you know you can do an organized tour via electric bike? Leesburg-based Pedego Electric Bikes Co. offers a self-guided Electric Bike Ale Trail Brewery Tour for groups of up to 20 that includes stops at Crooked Run Fermentation, the Craft of Brewing and Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn.

Speaking of Old Ox, Washington Commanders football legend, biking enthusiast and 106.7 FM sports radio host Brian Mitchell recently led a charity bike ride, “Bike to the Breweries,” from Georgetown to Old Ox and back, all to raise money to fight autism. His favorite beer from the trip? Old Ox’s “Bye Dan,” a bitter IPA made to mockingly celebrate the recent sale of the Commanders by long-time owner Dan Snyder. What about new breweries on the scene? While it won’t be open in time for Craft Beer Month, the veteran-owned Honor Brewing Co, which already has outposts in Fairfax and Chantilly, is set to open in Sterling in September, across

from Solace. An enormous 30,000-squarefoot facility, it will have 16 beers on tap, a full restaurant and a contract facility brewing for smaller brewers.

As for styles and tastes, Loudoun brewers are always innovating.

“The latest trend is a move towards crisp, European-style lagers,” said Jasper Akerboom, of Loudoun-based Jasper Yeast which provides yeast strains to local brewers. “Every Loudoun brewery is doing them—Pilsners and Helles-style lagers—and they are doing them really well.”

He also says to look out for the first Oktoberfest beers that are due out in August.

Looking for the best way to explore the craft beer scene? Grab a LoCo Ale Trail Passport at the Visit Loudoun Visitor Center in Market Station to collect stamps at breweries and win prizes.

Happy Craft Beer Month!

A beer being expertly poured in the tasting room at Old Ox Brewery in Ashburn.

Emma Rowley Releases Debut Album ‘Orange’

BY DANA ARMSTRONG

Loudoun-raised artist Emma Rowley enters her “Orange” era with the release of her debut altpop/rock album.

When Get Out Loudoun last interviewed Rowley in 2018, she was a recent graduate from Belmont University in Nashville. There, she earned her degree in commercial music with an emphasis in songwriting.

Rowley got interested in music through watching musicals at an early age. Soon she entered musical theater, and, despite her parents’ initial hesitancy, she started auditioning for New York. She was cast in two Broadway productions: Patti LuPone’s 2008 revival of “Gypsy” and “Bye Bye Birdie” (with John Stamos) in 2009.

“I look back on that now and it was more insane than I realized at the time—like, the people I got to work with and meet and everything that I learned,” Rowley said.

“When you’re in it, it’s just your life. But when you get out of it, you’re like, ‘whoa, that actually happened to me.’ That may be the coolest thing I ever do, but I feel like this album is right up there.”

For two years after college, Rowley moved back to Loudoun, released multiple singles, and performed at many of Northern Virginia’s wineries. Around that same time, she met Hamilton-based songwriter and producer Todd Wright, who would become her friend and mentor.

“I moved to Nashville for college wanting to be the next Taylor Swift, and then I graduated from Belmont wanting to be the next Emma Rowley. You have to find your voice and what you have to say, and Todd seriously helped me find that,” Rowley said.

In 2017, her sound was focused on electronic pop. Singles like “Night Drive” and “Evaporate” leaned into love-tinged lyrics and her whispery soft voice. But as Rowley matured, she found herself wanting to move out of the purely pop lane and incorporate elements of her other most listened-to genre: rock.

“I don’t have a rock voice in the traditional sense of a rock voice. But my favorite band is Third Eye Blind and one of my favorite vocalists is Hayley Williams. So how do I take these vocalists and bands that inspire me so much but make

Photo by Jordan Merrigan

them me?”

Rowley answered that question with the help of her album’s producers—Wright and Rowley’s husband Kip Allen—who would also double as musicians during the recording process. By using live instrumentation including drums and guitar on every track, she was able to finally find her ideal blend of rock and pop.

Nowhere is that more evident than the album’s opening and title track: “Orange.” The song begins with an almost harp-like instrumentation paired with Rowley’s gentle, expressive voice before shifting into a heavier-hitting rock sound in the chorus.

The song, which she calls her own personal anthem, was one of the last co-writes she did in Nashville before the pandemic and helped kick off her album-wide messaging of self-discovery and reflection.

“There are two really significant things about this album: the first being the title track and the other thing being there are seven songs on the album,” said Rowley.

The number seven honors the memory of a cherished family member. When Rowley was young, her little brother was born with a brain tumor and passed away when he was seven months old.

“I have noticed through my life that the number seven shows up a lot for me and in these little ways that sometimes I’ve wondered if it’s an angel nod. And it’s the same thing with the color

orange,” she said. “Ever since he died, these patterns and little signs have been this recurring thing in my life and my family’s life.”

“I felt like with the place that I had come to at the time of writing all these songs—mourning my childhood, really embracing my adulthood, getting married, entering this whole new phase of life—that symbolism of the color orange and the number seven, it just felt extra special to me.”

Living in Tennessee full-time now and writing and recording for the album during the pandemic, the distance allowed Rowley lots of space and time to reflect on the past and her roots. The ballad “Welcome Home” features a piano part she originally composed while feeling homesick during her freshman year of college. The lyrics reflect on the familiarity of being back in her childhood home with references to the Friday night lights of her alma mater, Loudoun County High School.

Meanwhile, songs like “The Wolf” and “Safe” explore Rowley living and learning through her twenties alongside a variety of people, whether they be deceitful and manipulative or safe and trustworthy.

The album’s final song is “Golden Memory” with lyrics harkening back to the marquees, stage wings, and line memorization sessions of her theater days.

“I really hope people can find their own meaning in [the album] and their own recognition with “Orange” and what it means to them. Like I know what it means to me, but I think that through this album, I have discovered “Orange” means so much more than I ever even realized on this deeper scale.”

“I hope that people can hear that song and then take it into their own lives and feel freedom, a sense of belonging, and a knowing of one’s self.”

Emma Rowley’s album, Orange, is out now on all major streaming platforms. Follow her on Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok @emmarowleymusic or Facebook to stay up to date on her upcoming projects and shows.

TRENDS

Shuffle and Slide

LOUDOUN GETS OUT AND GETS DOWN WITH DANCING

BY RENSS GREENE

From the barn to the brewery to the bar, and the two-step to the Electric Slide, beginner-friendly dances are the new old way Loudouners get out, get together and make new friends—or something more.

“When I grew up, we would square dance like in elementary school gym class, but I never liked it back then. It was terrible,” said Georges Mill Farm owner Sam Kroiz, an eighth-generation farmer who started hosting barn dances at his family’s farm in 2015. “And then I was living out in Seattle and there was actually a bar that had a weekly square dance, and it was always packed.”

From there, he learned to love it. And since rediscovering square dancing on the west coast, he’s come home and started playing the fiddle. “The whole point of square dancing is every-

body mixes together a lot. You start off with a dance partner, but you end up kind of moving around and dancing with everybody, so it’s a really great way to meet people,” he said.

Kroiz and his family farm land at the foot of the Blue Ridge mountains first settled by their ancestor John George in 1750, where today they raise goats, pigs and chickens, and make goat cheese on their 50 acre farm. Baby goat season is a hit, with families coming out to meet and cuddle the friendly, rambunctious newborns. And in the farm’s historic stone barn, the monthly barn dance could be a scene from 150 years ago—a place out of time, and an escape from the day-to-day where people gather for a potluck, dancing, a good time and a sense of community.

Kroiz said they’ve had as few as 10 people at a dance and as many as 200, but no matter what

Photo by Douglas Graham Georges Mill Farm hosts an old-fashioned barn dance with local music and a potluck dinner once a month in the farm’s historic bank barn.

always manage to get a few dances in. Some of the dances are square dances, others are reels or circle dances, and Kroiz said the last couple dances have started with a limbo.

“There’s some regulars, there’s a lot of people locally, but there’s also some regulars that come from kind of far away, like in the Fairfax area,” he said. “And then it seems like every time, there’s always at least a few people that show up for the first time.”

The monthly Sunday gatherings start with a potluck dinner at 4:30 p.m. before the dancing starts at around 6. The barn dance is usually the third Sunday of the month but is taking a month off this month because of the unusually hot weather.

The dances are generally kid- and beginner-friendly, sometimes evolving into more difficult dances by the end of the night.

“Some of the best dancers are kids,” Kroiz said. “Sometimes the kids drop out in the middle of the dance, and that’s not the best because that really screws things up.”

And, of course, you can’t have a dance without music—Kroiz used to play fiddle at the dances with his band at the time, the Short Hill Mountain Boys, but has moved on to calling the dances.

Other musicians have stepped in, often Kroiz’s friends and acquaintances, mostly for love of the dance. Nobody’s getting rich—there’s a $5 suggested donation to attend. A recent dance featured music from four-time Grammy award winner Dirk Powell. Many dances feature Kirk Evans, who’s been playing the fiddle for 48 years, and playing at the Georges Mill barn dance since about 2018.

“I just fell in love when I got out there,” Evans said. He met Kroiz through their musical connections, and in 2018 even recorded an album of old-time string music in the barn with a band he called the Potluck String Band. That CD is still available for sale at the Georges Mill Farm store.

Evans said what keeps him coming back is the sense of community. The dances aren’t advertised—the Kroiz family posts about them on the farm’s Facebook page, and otherwise the word spreads by word of mouth.

“There’s a lot of community going on, and people that lives in the area that are meeting each other for the first time and end up dancing together and becoming friends, and that’s the thing I like about it,” Evans said.

Evans plays regularly at the barn dances with his band Hopping Molly. But often, the barn dance bands tend to be composed of whichever musicians turned up to play.

“A lot of young folks are picking it up, because it’s so earthy,” he said. “It’s kind of natural and gets you away from all the other stuff you’re doing during the day.”

Line Dancing Out of COVID

Young folks are exactly who Danielle Schill sees coming out in droves as her free line dancing classes resumed after a COVID-19 pandemic break.

She has been line dancing since the ‘90s, when steps like the Electric Slide and Boot Scootin’ Boogie were enjoying their heyday. In 2005, she said, she was single and looking for something to do, and wound up at a bar that was teaching line dancing.

Photo by Douglas Graham Every Thursday night LineDance4You holds line dancing lessons at Bluemont Station Brewery & Winery in Bluemont Virginia. Lessons are geared toward first timers and beginners, but regulars and intermediates will get plenty of time on the dance floor as well.

SHUFFLE AND SLIDE FROM PAGE 9

“It was so fun at the time,” she said. “I went there by myself and met so many nice people that after that I never every brought anybody. I just came out and made friends there.”

Within a few months she had also started teaching the dances at the bar, and when the bartender who started the lessons moved away, she continued teaching until she became pregnant with her first child in 2013.

She had built up such a large following that she hired an instructor to take over while she was out and kept the instructor on when she came back from maternity leave. And it grew from there, with four instructors teaching five classes a week—until the COVID-19 pandemic.

After the pandemic ended social gatherings, and with two children and a full-time job, she had decided to stop the classes permanently. But after 14 months of no classes, and with restaurants fighting to stay afloat during the pandemic, she started a class at The Loudoun Kitchen & Bar, hoping to help bring in business. She said she offered to do it for free as restaurants fought to stay afloat during the pandemic, but Loudoun Kitchen owner Dave Park insisted on paying.

The line dances were a hit once again—but this time she saw a new crowd coming out.

“We came back with one night a week, and it just blew up,” she said. “And the nice thing was, coming back from COVID, it was an interesting change in our demographic. The first people to come out from COVID tended to be some of the younger people, and it was kind of perfect for social distancing. So, the age group of our demographic dropped quite a bit since COVID— now the average dancer is like 25, where before COVID it was probably 45.”

But they still get all ages mingling at the dance.

“People that are in their 70s dance with people that are in their 20s, and they’re just buddies,” she said. “They’re all hanging out. You see parents and their grown children out there dancing. Or even, in my case, parents and their young children.”

Now once again she’s been drawn back in, and the lessons are back in full swing and even growing. Her business LineDance4You teaches

classes four nights a week: Mondays, Tuesdays and Saturdays at Loudoun Kitchen & Bar, and Thursdays at Bluemont Station Brewery & Winery.

The classes are free and offer something for everyone from first-timers to experienced dancers. They’re high energy and a great way to get moving and burn some calories. And once the dancing has started and the endorphins are flowing, she said, they’re a great way to make friends—or even something more.

“We’ve had at least like two dozen marriages born out of it,” she said. Learn more about LineDance4You at linedance4you.com or by following LineDance4You on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Find the next barn dance at Georges Mill Farm and more information about the farm and farm store at facebook. com/GeorgesMillFarmArtisanCheese or georgesmillcheese.com.

Ford’s

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Local

Doukénie,

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31 October One Vineyard 7 Loudoun St., SW, Leesburg Octoberonevineyard.com

32 Old Farm Winery 23583 Fleetwood Road, Aldie oldfarmwineryhartland.com

33 Otium Cellars 18050 Tranquility Rd., Purcellville otiumcellars.com

34 Stone Tower Winery 19925 Hogback Mountain Rd., L’burg stonetowerwinery.com

35 Stonehouse Meadery 36580 Shoemaker School Rd., Purcellville stonehousemeadery.com

36 Sunset Hills Vineyard 38295 Fremont Overlook Ln, Purcellville sunsethillsvineyard.com

37 Terra Nebulo 39892 Old Wheatland Rd., Waterford terranebulo.com

38 Three Creeks Winery 18548 Harmony Church Road, Hamilton 3creekswinery.com

39 Two Twisted Posts Winery 12944 Harpers Ferry Rd., Hillsboro twotwistedposts.com

40 Village Winery 40405 Browns Lane, Waterford villagewineryandvineyards.com

41 Willowcroft Farm Vineyards 38906 Mount Gilead Rd., Leesburg willowcroftwine.com

42 The Wine Reserve at Waterford 38516 Charles Town Pike, Waterford waterfordwinereserve.com

BREWERIES

1 Adroit Theory Brewing 404 Browning Ct., Purcellville adroit-theory.com

2 B Chord Brewing Company 34266 Williams Gap Rd., Round Hill bchordbrewing.com

3 Barnhouse Brewery 43271 Spinks Ferry Rd., Leesburg barnhousebrewery.com

4 Bear Chase Brewing 33665 Bear Chase Ln., Bluemont bearchasebrew.com

5 Belly Love Brewing Company 725 E. Main St., Purcellville bellylovebrewing.com

6 Black Hoof Brewing Company 11 South King St., Leesburg blackhoofbrewing.com

7 Black Walnut Brewery 210 S. King St., Leesburg blackwalnutbrewery.com

8 Crooked Run Fermentations Central 22455 Davis Dr., Sterling crookedrunbrewing.com

9 Crooked Run Fermentations Market Station, Leesburg crookedrunbrewing.com

10 Dirt Farm Brewing 18701 Foggy Bottom Rd., Bluemont dirtfarmbrewing.com

11 Dynasty Brewing Company 21140 Ashburn Crossing Drive, Ashburn 101 Loudoun St, SE, Leesburg dynastybrewing.com

12 Flying Ace Farm 40950 Flying Ace Ln, Lovettsville flyingacefarm.com

13 Harper’s Ferry Brewing 37412 Adventure Ctr. Lane, Hillsboro harpersferrybrewing.com

14 Harvest Gap Brewery 15485 Purcellville Road, Hillsboro facebook.com/HarvestGap

15 House 6 Brewing 4427 Atwater Dr., Ashburn house6brewing.com

43 Walsh Family Wine 16031 Hillsboro Rd., Purcellville northgatevineyard.com

44 Williams Gap Vineyards 35785 Sexton Farm Lane, Round Hill williamsgavineyard.com

45 Zephaniah Farm Vineyard 19381 Dunlop Mill Rd., Leesburg zephwine.com

BREWERIES & WINERIES

1 Bluemont Station Brewery and Winery 18301 Whitehall Estate Lane, Bluemont bluemontstation.com

2 Hillsborough Brewery & Vineyards 36716 Charles Town Pike, Hillsboro hillsboroughwine.com

3 Notaviva Brewery and Winery 13274 Sagle Rd., Hillsboro notavivavineyards.com

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22 Old Ox Brewery Middleburg 14 S Madison St, Middleburg, VA

23 Solace Brewing Company 42615 Trade West Dr., Sterling solacebrewing.com

24 Sweetwater Tavern 45980 Waterview Plaza, Sterling greatamericanrestaurants.com

25 The Craft of Brewing 21140 Ashburn Crossing Dr., Ashburn thecraftob.com

26 Vanish Farmwoods Brewery 42245 Black Hops Ln., Lucketts vanishbeer.com

27 Water’s End Brewing 1602 Village Market Blvd SE #120, Leesburg watersendbrewery.com

28 Wheatland Spring Farm + Brewery 38506 John Wolford Rd., Waterford wheatlandspring.com

4 Quattro Goomba’s Brewery & Winery 22860 James Monroe Hwy., Aldie goombawine.com

In The Dell

VILLAGE AT LEESBURG WELCOMES BREWERY, FOOD HALL MAKEOVER

BY NORMAN K. STYER

The former Chefscape and Smokehouse Live space at the Village at Leesburg is marking its latest evolution, welcoming Water’s End Brewery to The Dell Food & Brew Hall.

Fairfax; and Water’s End co-founder Zach Mote.

Water’s End joins food vendors Paulie’s Italian Kitchen, Lucky Dog, Nacho Macho and Colombian’s Place in The Dell.

In addition to his decades of restaurateur expertise, Simcox brought “The Dell” concept to the partnership, describing it as a place where food and drink unite in a gathering place safe for all to live and play.

Fonvielle said he always thought the space was suited for a brewery. “Zach was our first call.”

“Artie and Zach and I have worked on it for two years and it came together. It’s one of those beautiful stories where you have a dream and you just keep tinkering with it and it comes together,” Fonvielle said.

“People just love breweries and to have the quality that Zach puts together with his beers just makes it truly unique,” he said.

Last month’s brewery opening is the latest piece of a two-year effort to remake the food hall space. The concept is the brainchild of Henry Fonvielle, president of Rappaport, which manages the Village at Leesburg; Artie Simcox, a founder of the Great American Restaurant Group and namesake of Artie’s Restaurant in

It’s the fourth location for Water’s End, the craft brewery founded in 2016 by longtime friends Mote, Josh Fournelle, and Ryan Sharkey. It also has locations in Fredericksburg, Lake Ridge and Potomac Mills.

Photo by Norman K. Styer

Water’s End Brewery co-founder Zach Mote stands in the new tank room at The Dell Food & Brew Hall in the Village at Leesburg.

Loudoun’s Attractions

LOUDOUN HERITAGE FARM MUSEUM

Travel through time to meet the 10 generations of Loudoun County residents who built this county and left their mark on the land. Exhibits include a schoolhouse, general store, Native American artifact display and the American Workhorse Museum Collection.

21668 Heritage Farm Lane, Sterling, VA 20164 (571) 258-3800 • heritagefarmmuseum.org

LOUDOUN MUSEUM

With a collection of more than 8,000 artifacts, the Museum tells Loudoun’s story from pre-1600 up until today, with a selection of special exhibits featuring the history of Virginia Wine, the Early Republic era, and the County’s role in the US Civil War, along with a timeline of Loudoun County history. Follow us on Facebook or Instagram for upcoming events and public programs!

16 Loudoun Street SW Leesburg, Virginia 20175 (703) 777-7427 • loudounmuseum.org

MORVEN PARK

Morven Park is a 1,000-acre historic estate on the edge of Leesburg that was home to Virginia governor and agricultural pioneer Westmoreland Davis. Tours of the Greek Revival mansion include 16th century Belgian tapestries, Spanish cassones, hundreds of silver pieces, Hudson River Valley paintings, and Asian treasures. The estate also features the Winmill Carriage Museum, the Museum of Hounds and Hunting of North America, formal boxwood gardens, miles of hiking and riding trails, and athletic elds.

17195 Southern Planter Lane Leesburg, VA 20176 703-777-2414 • morvenpark.org

OATLANDS HISTORIC HOUSE & GARDENS

The 415-acre Oatlands estate, owned by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, offers tours of the historic mansion, extensive gardens and outbuildings that include the oldest standing greenhouse in the South. Exhibits focus on the lives of the Carter and Eustis families who building the estate, as well as the lives of enslaved people who lived and worked there.

20850 Oatlands Plantation Lane, Leesburg, VA 20175 703.777.3174 • oatlands.org

TAKING UP ARMS FROM PAGE 14

Mote and his team already are working on special recipes for the Leesburg brewer—including Village Vice, a hefeweizen that pays homage to the new location.

“There are some brews that we want to do just for Leesburg. What we found works really well is to engage the neighborhoods and the community and a lot of that is with beer names,” Mote said.

Mote was working as a Fairfax County Police officer and doing homebrewing when he discovered BadWolf Brewing Company nearby the homebrewing supply store he used in Manassas. That nanobrewery was the first to open in Prince William County in 2013. With new Virginia laws making it easier for breweries to sell directly to customers, Mote started building a business model. He left the police force, and they opened their first brewery in 2016. As they’ve expanded, they also have brought in top brewers, including head brewer Jeremy Hunt, formerly of Beltway Brewing and Dogfish Head Brewing.

Mote is excited about the new Village at Leesburg location.

“To me, this is the sweet spot of what a brewery can be for customers,” he said.

Having four vendors onsite in the food court is a special benefit. “This is essentially like having four food trucks right here,” he said, noting that food pairing events will be part of the program. In addition to the restaurant offerings, the space has been a popular cocktail bar. And while cocktails will continue to be served, Mote looks forward to welcoming more visitors to the world of craft beer.

“Bringing somebody new to craft beer, to see their evolution, that’s my favorite customer. And we’re getting quite a bit of that here,” Mote said.

Chefscape, a commercial kitchen used by 30 member entrepreneurs, continues to operate in a space next door.

The Dell, located at 1602 Village Market Blvd SE #120, is open from noon to 9 p.m. Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays and noon to 11 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Now Showing

Happenings

SECRETARIAT STATUE COMES TO MIDDLEBURG

Fifty years after Secretariat’s Triple Crown win, a 3,800-pound bronze sculpture honoring the Virginia-born equine athlete will be on display in Middleburg on Aug. 8. The stop is part of a fundraising tour—which included displays at this year’s Triple Crown races—in the effort to establish Jocelyn Russell’s “Racing into History” sculpture in Ashland.

As part of the event, Loudoun Therapeutic Riding is hosting a free movie night at the Middleburg Community Center from 6 to 8 pm. that evening. LTR also will be selling autographed copies of “Secretariat’s Meadow” and selling raffle tickets for a Secretariat Breyer Horse. The sculpture will be parked at the National Sporting Library and Museum on Aug. 9, with special programming with the artist and Secretariat team planned at that location.

For more information, go to SecretariatForVirginia.com.

RURITANS PUT SPOTLIGHT ON ALDIE HISTORY

The Aldie Ruritan Club will present a “Civil War History Talk Where it Happened” on Saturday, Aug. 12 starting at 1 p.m. at Mercer Antiques, 39359 John Mosby Highway.

Historian Don Hakenson will tell the story of Col. John Singleton Mosby’s capture of Union soldiers who had hidden in the flour at Aldie Mill in June 1863. Carl Sell, author of several books about Civil War activity and historic houses in western Loudoun, will describe the Battle of

Aldie and Union Captain George Custer’s fall into the Little River.

Books by both historians be available for purchase, with some of the proceeds benefiting the Aldie Ruritan Club.

Bring a chair for this free, outdoor event.

HEALING HEROES POKER RIDE

The 10th Annual Boulder Crest Foundation Healing Heroes Ride—the East Coast’s largest motorcycle ride to support veterans—happens Aug. 19 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Participants will start in Bluemont or Fairfax and end at Boulder Crest Retreat, making several stops along the way to add another card to their poker hand. Best poker hand of the day takes home the grand prize.

The $30 registration includes breakfast, lunch, and the post ride party with live music. For tickets, sponsorship opportunities and other details, go to support.bouldercrest. org/2023healingheroesrideeast.

Explore the Flavors of Leesburg

The TASTE Leesburg festival returns to downtown Leesburg on Saturday, Aug. 12.

Food vendors, breweries, wineries, businesses, artisans, and entertainment will fill five blocks of the historic downtown. With more than 65 booths, area restaurants, food trucks, and vendors will offer a variety of menu options for purchase or stop into one of the downtown restaurants for a bite to eat.

The event is free, with food available for purchase directly from the food vendors.

Eleven vendors will also be on-site offering samples of beer, wine, cider and mead. A discounted early bird drink ticket is available online and costs $45. Ticket prices will increase to $55 on Aug. 12. All ticket purchases include a souvenir sampling glass and unlimited drink tastings.

Check-in tents will be located on the Town Green on West Market and North King streets to verify your ID and have your ticket scanned. A limited number of beverage tickets may be available the day of the event through online purchase only.

Live music will begin at 5 p.m. on the Center Stage, located on the corner of Market and King streets, with Bryan Fox & Friends, Yoko Says No, and Something’s Brewing. The Sip & Savor Stage, on King Street between Cornwall and

North streets, will feature DJ C Squared. Aerial Acrobatics by Candescent will be performed on the courthouse lawn.

Parking will be available downtown at the Town Hall Parking Garage, the Pennington Parking Garage, the Church Street Parking Lot, and the Loudoun County Parking Garage.

Street closures will begin at 10 a.m. and are expected to re-open at approximately 1 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 13.

For more information about the event, go to tasteleesburg.com or call Ida Lee Park Recreation Center at 703-777-1368.

GETOUT

08.05.23

Smallwood & Fath

Saturday, Aug. 5, 7 p.m.

Leesburg Town Green idalee.org

Guitar masters Gary Smallwood and Michael André Fath bring their special acoustic duo presentation to Leesburg’s free Summer Jams concert on the Town Hall stage.

08.11.23

Rick Reaves Jazz Band

Friday, Aug. 11, 7 p.m.

Hillsboro Old Stone School

oldstoneschool.org

Bandleader Rick Reeves brings his full band to the Gap Stage in Hillsboro for an evening of classics from the Big Band era.

08.17.23

Socks in the Frying Pan

Thursday, Aug. 17, 8 p.m.

Tally Ho Theater

tallyhotheater.com

Named New Band of the Year by the Irish Music Association, Socks in the Frying Pan are

trio bringing dynamic vocal harmonies, virtuosic musical ability to the Tally Ho stage from their home in County Clare on Ireland’s west coast.

08.19.23

Sela Campbell

Saturday, Aug. 19, 7 p.m.

Leesburg Town Green idalee.org

Sela Campbell was crowned Best Soloist at the 2022 Loudoun Battle of the Bands and has not slowed down since. This 16-year-old star-inthe-making has been wowing audiences across the region with her beautiful voice, upbeat guitar, country influences, and perfect song selection.

Best Bets

08.27.23

Danny Kensy

Sunday, Aug. 27, 1-4 p.m.

Vanish Farmwoods Brewery

vanishbeer.com

The nationally touring country music artist and songwriter has charted multiple #1 songs in the European market before breaking into the U.S. charts with singles “Neon Glow,” and Radio Back.”

Gonzo’s Nose

Saturday, Aug. 19, 6 p.m.

Tarara Winery

tararaconcerts.com

One of the region’s best party band regroups from retirement for one of its most popular annual performances on the outdoor stage at Tarara Winery.

08.26.23

The Amish Outlaws

Saturday, Aug. 26, 6 p.m.

Tarara Winery

tararaconcerts.com

The band from the heart of Amish country in Lancaster, PA, bring a blend of pop, rock, country and hip-hop to Tarara Winery’s Saturday night party.

Smells Like Nirvana

Saturday, Aug. 26, 8 p.m.

Tally Ho Theater

tallyhotheater.com

Composed of die-hard Nirvana fans, the band performs a hunting grunge tribute filled with angst and pure rock prowess.

09.01.23

Mostly Fab

Friday, Sept. 1, 7 p.m.

Hillsboro Old Stone School

oldstoneschool.org

It’s a night of classic Beatles harmonies and hits performed by a special collaboration by musicians Cal Everett, Todd Wright, Tom Lofgren and Chris Martin.