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Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts returns for its 40th year with 45 performances across six days, bringing theater, music, dance, opera, fashion, visual art and storytelling to venues throughout the City of Fairfax.
The festival runs over two weekends, April 25-27 and May 2-4. Its opening reception is scheduled for Friday, April 25, from 7 to 10 p.m. at the Sherwood Center, 3740 Blenheim Blvd.
Built around a Stage Door Canteen theme, the reception will evoke the gathering places where American troops could eat, drink coffee and dance with USO hostesses during World War II. The event will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the war’s end and recognize the USO’s work supporting service members.
Former Fairfax City Councilmember Jennifer Passey, now the USO’s senior director of communications, is this year’s honorary Spotlight chairperson.
“I am truly grateful for the opportunity to serve as this year’s honorary chair of the Fairfax Spotlight on the Arts Festival, an event that celebrates the incredible talent and creativity of our greater Fairfax community in cooperation with George Mason University,” Passey said. She described the arts as vital to shaping culture, encouraging conversation and bringing people together.
Passey also called the festival a reminder of creativity’s power and invited the community to celebrate, connect and inspire one another.
The opening reception will include the Spotlight Art Contest, with attendees voting for their favorite work. Four artists will receive prizes ranging from the $500 Fairfax Art League Student Award to the $1,500 New York Life Grand Prize Award. Every displayed artwork will be available for purchase.
Artistry Catering will serve cocktails, light fare, coffee and dessert. A musicale will showcase local theater, dance and music performers, including the City of Fairfax Theatre Co., Next Reflex Dance Collective and George Mason University recipients of the Ruth Haycock Piano Scholarship.
Reception tickets cost $50.
Performances Across Fairfax
The wider festival schedule includes performances at locations throughout Fairfax. Among the featured attractions are the DC Starlight Orchestra playing World War II-era big-band favorites at Old Town Square, an outdoor evening with the City of Fairfax Theatre Co. at Veterans Amphitheater and Fairfax High School’s production of “Hadestown: Teen Edition.”
Mason Spring Opera 2025 will present “27,” an opera by American composer Ricky Ian Gordon, who is expected to attend. Performances are scheduled for 8 p.m. April 25; 2 and 8 p.m. April 26; and 3 p.m. April 27 at Harris Theater, 4471 Aquia Creek Lane. Tickets are $20 for the general public, $15 for seniors and $5 for students.
The Fairfax Saxophone Quartet will perform pop selections associated with artists including Michael Bublé, Guns N’ Roses, Billy Joel, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Reba McEntire, the Righteous Brothers and Stevie Wonder. The free concert begins at 7:30 p.m. May 2 at the Historic Blenheim Interpretive Center, 3610 Blenheim Blvd.
The City of Fairfax Band will offer a musical trip around the world with “Postcards,” featuring works by Valerie Coleman, Percy Grainger, Frank Ticheli and Leonard Bernstein. The concert runs from 7:30 to 9 p.m. April 26 at Katherine Johnson Middle School, 3801 Jermantown Road. Admission is $15 for adults and $10 for seniors, while youth enter free.
George Mason University’s Tuba Euphonium Ensemble and Percussion Ensemble will perform at 8 p.m. April 26 at the Sherwood Center. The free program will explore music from the World War II era, including Hollywood numbers, operatic instrumental works, ragtime, swing and patriotic songs.
Beyond presenting cultural events, Spotlight on the Arts works with George Mason University and the City of Fairfax to support arts opportunities in the region. Part of that mission includes scholarships for students in George Mason’s College of Visual and Performing Arts.