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Fairfax County will begin two years of semiquincentennial events on May 4 by reenacting the moment George Washington left Mount Vernon for the Second Continental Congress 250 years ago.

The ceremony will take place during Revolutionary War Weekend at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Remarks are scheduled for 1:30 p.m. from a Washington interpreter, a Fairfax County representative and Mount Vernon President and CEO Doug Bradburn. U.S. Army Secretary Daniel Driscoll and Fairfax County Chairman Jeff McKay have also been invited.

Washington departed his estate on May 4, 1775, for Philadelphia, where he was later appointed commander in chief of the newly formed Continental Army. During the Revolutionary War, he returned to Mount Vernon only briefly, spending about a day there in September 1781 before the Yorktown campaign and eventual American victory.

Following the remarks, officials will hold a ribbon-cutting for Patriots Path, a new military encampment installation that Mount Vernon guests can visit throughout the year. The Washington interpreter, accompanied by musicians and reenactors, will then march along the path and through the estate’s front gates in a symbolic departure for Philadelphia.

The event will serve as the ceremonial launch of the Fairfax 250 celebration, which is expected to include hundreds of events across the county over the following two years.

Fairfax County began organizing for the anniversary in 2020, when the Board of Supervisors unanimously supported establishing the Fairfax 250 Commission to plan commemorations. The broader program will examine the nation’s founding, its pursuit of greater justice and equality, and the continuing effort to extend the Declaration of Independence’s promises to all Americans.