Parents and children enjoying the petting zoo at last year’s HisTree Day. This year’s day is Saturday, April 27.
People attending Fairfax City’s annual HisTree Day celebration will be able to learn about the past while investing in the future and having a good time. It’s set for Saturday, April 27, from 10 a.m.-4 p.m., at Historic Blenheim, 3610 Blenheim Blvd.
An Earth Day event, it’ll feature music, living-history presenters, plus a full slate of educational and exploratory activities honoring both Fairfax history and nature. Several City departments are participating, and admission is free.
Children can have some old-fashioned fun climbing on bales of straw, petting some farm animals and going on hayrides with their families. They may also blow sustainable bubbles and decorate cookies in Earth Day themes. And that’s just for starters.
Children bringing their old bike helmets may exchange them for brand new ones that will be fitted to them. In addition, three bicycles – two children’s bikes and one mountain bike – will be raffled off, so attendees are encouraged to enter their names in the drawing.
Always popular are artisans demonstrating early crafts. On tap this year are a brickmaker, a carpenter, a blacksmith, a weaver and a photographer. People will also be able to meet 19th- century schoolmarms and a roving reporter. Civil War soldiers and civilians will show how they made coffee and cornbread, and a tavern keeper will be happy to greet and chat with visitors.
During the day, attendees may learn about everything from monarch butterflies to crocheting to slave life to the suffragettes. There’ll be a native-plants giveaway, or people may mosey on over to the display table of an early 19th-century scientist and view his preserved specimens.
Learn how today’s stormwater-management technology helps the planet. Make and take a quilt square featuring a tree or other natural object. Guided, outdoor tours of the Historic Blenheim site will be offered at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Tours of the historic house will be given between 11 a.m.-3:30 p.m. And for those wanting to learn about the history of their home or neighborhood, library and archival experts will be there to help them start their searches.
Making a return appearance this year will be an Enviroscape. Sure to be a big hit with children and adults alike, it’s an interactive model demonstrating the impact that community development and pollution have on the waterways. This hands-on activity will teach people that protecting the environment is a responsibility shared by everyone. Since Fairfax City is at the headwaters of Accotink Creek, a tributary of the Potomac River, it’s important to know how to keep this critical waterway healthy.
And once people work up an appetite from all that walking around, they’ll be able to purchase four varieties of loaded tater tots, plus salads and wraps from Two Smooth Dudes, as well as three flavors of popcorn from Colonial Kettle Corn. Free parking will be available at Fairfax High School, 3501 Lion Run, and Daniels Run Elementary, 3705 Blenheim Blvd. Free CUE bus shuttles will take people to and from Fairfax High.
Entertainment Schedule
10 a.m. - GMU’s 8th Green Machine Regiment Band
11 a.m. – Roustabout String Band
11:30 a.m. – Youth Boot Camp with Brass Band
12:30 p.m. – 49th Virginia Signal Corps demonstration
12:30 p.m. - GMU’s 8th Green Machine Regiment Band
1:30 p.m. - Roustabout String Band
2 p.m. - Youth Boot Camp with Brass Band
2:45 p.m. - 49th Virginia Signal Corps demonstration
3 p.m. - Roustabout String Band
3:30 p.m. - Youth Boot Camp with Brass Band
For specific performance locations, plus more information about HisTree Day, go to www.fairfaxva.gov/government/parks-recreation/special-events/fairfax-histree-day.
