Your Guide To Saturday’s Del Ray Music Festival! 3-8pm, Live Local Bands, BEER GARDENS!
A cold beer (or margarita or wine!), food from some of the area’s top restaurants, and a free outdoor concert featuring some of the region’s best local music — including jazz, alt-rock, blues rock, alt-folk, and “funky stuff.” We can’t think of a more perfect summer night.
Local musicians will perform on two stages at the 9th Annual Del Ray Music Festival on Saturday, July 23 from 3pm to 8pm at the Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, located at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Oxford Avenue in the heart of Del Ray.
New this year, Mount Vernon Avenue will be closed to traffic for the three blocks adjacent to the stage, and seven of Del Ray’s top restaurants will host pop-up beer gardens — a first for an outdoor street festival in the City of Alexandria.
Don’t miss our incredible main stage lineup:
3pm: Jack Kilby & The Front Line — several horn players perform arrangements by Jack Kilby, a T.C. Williams alum, plus other tunes “reminiscent of the Art Blakey & the Jazz Messengers repertoire.”
3:45pm: Noise In The Basement — one of the region’s top Alt-Rock cover bands, this Alexandria-based band was formed by the Druids at StoneHenge!
4:15pm: Elroy Jenkins — Born in the Del Ray neighborhood, Elroy Jenkins’ original music — Americana and “funky stuff” — will rock your face off! Their debut CD is “Elroy Jenkins.”
5pm: Geno & The Spirit of Jazz — Geno’s “polished fusion of contemporary smooth jazz, funk, classic rock and gospel” has helped the soprano saxophonist become one of the East Coast’s most popular contemporary jazz performers. Sonlight Jazz calls his CD “a collection of smooth and funky tunes from a man who knows how to play.”
5:30pm: Wanted Man — DC Music Download describes this blues-rock band as “no-B.S. rock ‘n’ roll with an extra edge … the marriage of the blues to noisy shreds.”
6:15pm: Near Northeast — former members of a rock band, orchestra, and indie-pop band came together to form this alt-folk trio; DCist writes their music “will cradle you in a freshly washed blanket and keep you warm from the spontaneous summer rains.”
6:45pm: Anthony Pirog — this award-winning guitarist is a recipient of the Washington Area Music Association’s Best Modern Rock Instrumentalist award. In an interview with Guitar Moderne, Andy Summers, the guitarist of The Police, recently said Pirog is “one of my favorites at the moment.” The Washington Post has praised Pirog for his “fusion of talent and creativity,” while Guitar Player Magazine named him one of the “Rising Artists You Must Hear.”
Pop-up Beer Gardens will be outside of Pork Barrel BBQ (featuring Port City Brewing Company), Stomping Ground (featuring Schlafly Beer), Caboose, Cheesetique, Del Ray Pizzeria, Taqueria el Poblano, and St. Elmo’s.
Held each summer, the Del Ray Music Festival celebrates the diverse, local talent in the Washington, DC area music scene. The event is free and open to all, with the main stage sponsored by the Del Ray Business Association; Jen Walker, McEnearney Associates; Bobi Bomar’s Homes of Alexandria, Weichert Realtors; and Jack Taylor’s Alexandria Toyota. For more information, visit www.delraymusicfestival.com.
