Weekly · every Thursday
Issue 4Thursday, October 29, 20264 minute read
By Ahmed Makkiyah, REALTOR® · Douglas Realty of Virginia
Good news only
Great FallsHalloween on the Great Falls green on Saturday.
Artist's renderings of real places.
Get official county alerts: Fairfax Alerts Fairfax City Alert Falls Church Alerts Arlington Alert Alexandria eNews alerts Alert Loudoun PWC Alert Alert Manassas Manassas Park alerts
Your town's weather and what to wear
Forecast: National Weather Service, Sterling office.
Good morning, NoVA. Halloween lands on a Saturday this year: a dog parade and trick-or-treat on the Great Falls green, Fall-O-Ween on the Manassas Museum lawn and free indoor trick-or-treat at Potomac Mills. Clocks go back an hour early Sunday, Election Day is Tuesday, and Manassas holds its veterans parade next Saturday. Here is the week, town by town, with the weather and what to wear.
In short
This weekend
FairfaxGreat Falls
The Great Falls Halloween Spooktacular fills the Village Centre Green: a dog parade and costume contest from 3 to 4 pm (sign in at the gazebo at 3), then trick-or-treating from 5 to 7 pm, with no pets, and a haunted house built by Scout Troop 55. Free, rain or shine.
FairfaxMcLean
Live music, games, contests, food and candy at The Old Firehouse, 1440 Chain Bridge Road, 5 to 8 pm. Free; come in costume. Children under 10 need an adult with them.
City of Manassas
A kids' costume parade and contest, a pet costume parade, and a fall market with treats and crafts on the Manassas Museum lawn, 9101 Prince William Street, 10 am to 3 pm. Free, pet friendly, rain or shine.
Prince WilliamWoodbridge
Store-to-store trick-or-treating at shops with a pumpkin sticker in the window, and Halloween characters for photos in Grand Court, 1 to 3 pm, at Potomac Mills, 2700 Potomac Mills Circle. Free.
ArlingtonArlington
Washington-Liberty (6-2) hosts Yorktown (5-4) at 1 pm in Arlington's high school football rivalry. The winner is the outright county champion and stays in the race for the Liberty District title. Yorktown won last year's meeting in overtime.
LoudounLeesburg
Loudoun County's nutrition educators host the first Leesburg Pumpkin Smash at Tuscarora Creek Park, 425 Solitude Court SE, 11 am to 2 pm. Make pumpkin seed trail mix and take home tips for cooking edible gourds.
Mark your calendar
Statewide
Virginia's general election is Tuesday, November 3. Vote at your assigned polling place, which you can look up on the Virginia Department of Elections Citizen Portal. Saturday, October 31 is the last day to vote early in person.
City of Manassas
The 18th annual parade honors service members past, present and future along Center Street in historic downtown Manassas, past the reviewing stand at Harris Pavilion, 11 am to 12:30 pm. Flags for Heroes fills the Manassas Museum lawn from November 6 to 14.
FairfaxCentreville
The season at Cox Farms, 15621 Braddock Road, ends Sunday, November 8. November hours are 10 am to 5 pm; buy tickets online before you go.
LoudounLeesburg
The 22nd annual Veterans Day Celebration on the grounds of Dodona Manor, 312 East Market Street, 10 am to 1 pm, hosted by the George C. Marshall International Center with the Town of Leesburg and Loudoun County. Vintage military vehicles to explore, and free tours of the house.
Good news
LoudounCountywide
The Virginia Library Association named Loudoun County Public Library its 2026 Virginia Library of the Year. This year the library also won two National Association of Counties awards, for its History of Video Games and Cold Case Files programs.
FairfaxFairfax
Fairfax Crest held its grand opening at 12020 and 12040 Government Center Parkway, built on a former government center parking lot by Lincoln Avenue Communities with the Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority. The affordable apartments have one to three bedrooms, rooftop solar, a childcare center, a playground and a dog park. They count toward the county's goal of 10,000 new affordable homes by 2034.
ArlingtonLeeway Overlee
For its centennial, the Leeway Overlee Civic Association set 11 brass stumbling stones into neighborhood sidewalks, each naming a person enslaved on farms in the area, seven of them members of the Branson family. More than 100 such stones have been placed around Arlington by the Arlington Historical Society and the Black Heritage Museum of Arlington.
City of Manassas
Nate Ament, who grew up in Manassas and graduated from Highland School in 2025, made his NBA debut for the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday, then scored 7 points in his second game, a win over the Indiana Pacers.
On the move
The builder EYA wants to turn part of the Lake Fairfax Business Center, between Sunset Hills Road and Lake Fairfax Park, into a new neighborhood; the county's plan looks at townhouses and apartments with some shops on about 49 acres. The Planning Commission recommended approval on October 14.
Fall color
Virginia State Parks' October 29 report for its northern region says color is spreading fast, with many parks nearing peak. Sky Meadows, near Delaplane, is at about 50 to 60 percent color change, and the Shenandoah River park is close to peak. Closer to home, Leesylvania State Park in Prince William reported yellow, orange and red brightening the forest edges along Bushey Point Trail on October 20.
Source: Virginia State Parks.
Market minute
From the NoVA Index, Ahmed's monthly report: the median Northern Virginia house or townhouse that closed from September 1 to 30, 2026 sold for $785,000, the same as in September 2025, and 29 percent of homes sold for more than their asking price, down from 33 percent a year earlier. Condos are not included.
Closed sales from September 1 to 30, 2026, against September 1 to 30, 2025, houses and townhouses, condos not included, Bright MLS, pulled by Ahmed Makkiyah on October 6, 2026. The NoVA Index for September 2026 (October's numbers come in early November).
A festival, a new park, a school win, a trail opening. Send it and it may be in next Thursday's issue.
النسخة العربية الكاملة من «ما الجديد في شمال فرجينيا؟»: كل الفعاليات والأخبار الجيدة وطقس مدينتك، بالعربية الفصحى. وباختصار:
This is the edition of Thursday, October 29, 2026. Read the newest What's Up, NoVA?
Every item links to its source. Headlines and summaries are written here; no article text or photos are copied. Events are listed as a service to readers and never as paid placements. Weather: National Weather Service forecast for each town, read in your browser.
Ahmed Makkiyah
REALTOR®, Douglas Realty of Virginia
English and Arabic
You reach me, not a call center.
Thinking of selling, buying, or just curious what your home would sell for? Pick a time and I'll call you myself with a straight answer from the sales I check by hand. You decide what happens next.
