From left, Brian Hernandez, 14, Sarah Sinnas, 14, Hanna Andrews, 14 and Apiding Osika, 13, ride the Full Tilt at McLean Day. This year’s festival will take place May 19. Photo by Alex McVeigh.
McLean — This Spring, McLean will host one of its signature events, as well as a new location for its annual Spring Garage Sale. The sale, which will take place Saturday, April 14 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. will feature dozens of residents peddling their wares.
"My favorite thing at the garage sale is to look for CDs and records," said George Marcus of McLean. "In this modern world, everything seems to be downloads, you can’t find any form of solid media, even at places like Best Buy it seems. Call me crazy, but I don’t want to lose all my music if something crashes."
There’s no limit to what vendors can bring, items such as clothes, furniture, books, art, kitchenware and other artifacts often fill the space.
"There’s usually an amazing amount of international culture available at these sales, with an international population and people who travel often for the government, it’s sort of like a glimpse into a lot of corners of the world," said Karen Davidson of McLean.
The new location for the Spring Garage Sale is 1420 Beverly Road. Admission is free to the public, the cost is $40 per parking space for vendors. More information is available at www.mcleancenter.org/special-events/springgaragesale.asp.
While the garage sale is headed to a new spot, the annual McLean Day festival isn’t going anywhere. Held at Lewinsville Park and hosted by the McLean Community Center, the event features rides, vendors and live performances on the McLean Day Stage.
"It’s like summer festival, except it’s in May, so it’s not 100 degrees, which is probably my favorite part about it," said Taylor Paul of McLean. "We like to take the kids, and they get fired up about the rides and the food, and it’s sort of like the Forth of July except, wait, we’ve still got the entire summer in front of us."
Local nonprofits will set up booths to educate the public on their mission, many with interactive displays.
"Last year, I could barely get my son to the rides, he was so caught up with some of the art activities, and trying out the instruments at the McLean Orchestra booth," said Lars Buchanan of McLean. "I used to be worried about him getting bored, now we barely have enough time to make a single lap around the festival."
McLean Day will be held from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, May 19.