Between 175 and 200 craft and food vendors are expected at this year’s Clifton Day community festival. Photo courtesy of Barbara Hutto
When Mike Belote of Manassas first brought his Ryder truck full of Pappy’s Wooden Dreams to Clifton Day more than 10 years ago, he almost didn’t make it out.
The truck got stuck in mud behind the house where Belote had set up his vendor tent. That’s when he said residents came to his rescue. “Everybody there helped me get out,” said Belote, “even the mayor.”
“That’s the kind of help they’ve always given,” Belote added. “They were there to help the people visiting.”
A retired Army veteran and government subcontractor, Belote has been making toys and furniture out of local yellow pine for 22 years. And he’s come back to Clifton Day each year since his first time.
Belote will be one of somewhere between 175 and 200 vendors at the 47th annual Clifton Day community festival on Sunday, Oct. 12 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
CLIFTON DAY CHAIRMAN, and 14-year Clifton resident, Barbara Hutto said the final vendor list is still getting sorted, but that “there’s always a different mix.” Visitors should expect plenty of jewelry, pottery, toys and more.
For those who haven’t attended in a few years, Hutto said with new Clifton businesses represented, “people wouldn’t recognize it anymore.” Two of the most recent additions to the real estate are Italian restaurant Trattoria Villagio and self-explanatory Cupcaked Bakery.
Each of the two Clifton culinary destinations opened within the past year.
Annual favorite activities such as horseback rides, a Civil War reenactment and a main music stage with everything from Irish dancers to rock bands will all be back, as well as craft demonstrations and educational vendors in the town square.
Visitors will be able to spin wool, make pottery and even stomp grapes while learning about the winemaking process from Paradise Springs Winery. “It was new last year and we got rave reviews, so they’ll be back,” said Hutto.
Peggy Stevens is executive director of the Northern Virginia Conservation Trust, which will share one of the educational vendor booths with the Audubon Society of Northern Virginia. If the weather cooperates, she plans to offer walking tours of protected land in the center of Clifton.
“We’ll identify plants, native and invasive, and talk about the importance of repairing, buffers along rivers,” said Stevens.
Last year was the first time the Trust participated in Clifton Day. It was also a first for Stevens, who just moved to West Springfield the previous August.
“I found the crowd to be pretty open, which I liked,” Stevens said. “It was easy to meet people. It really shows a tremendous amount of community focus, support and energy.”
Despite continuing to grow in size, that warm community feeling is something Hutto said will never go away.
“It’s such a small, little hamlet here,” she said, “It doesn’t feel like a big sprawling event. It still feels very community-oriented: a really big block party in this old historic area.”
Though with thousands of people expected to attend from around the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, Hutto said parking will be at a premium. The main street will be closed and all Clifton entrances will have parking lots ($5 per car in outer lots, $10 closer to the city center).
ALTERNATIVELY, organizers are encouraging people to take the VRE train, which will run constantly from Manassas to Clifton to Rolling Road during the Clifton Day hours. Approaching Clifton is free and the return trip is $5. For the full list of train stops and times, visit www.cliftonday.com/content/getting-clifton.
The Clifton Betterment Association hosts the free event, with help from sponsors including: The Peterson Family Foundation, Ourisman Fairfax Toyota, Republic Services, Concise, LLC, the VRE and Norfolk Southern.
All proceeds will go to Girl and Boy Scouts, the Clifton Lions Club, the Clifton Betterment Association, Acacia Lodge and Clifton Presbyterian Church.