Article Text

More than 15,000 people gathered along Alexandria’s waterfront July 12 for a 276th birthday celebration capped by booming cannons and fireworks over the Potomac River.

The daylong festivities at Oronoco Bay Park began with Town Crier Ben Fiore-Walker welcoming attendees. Alexandria Poet Laureate Maria Cristina Donoso gave a reading, while Mayor Alyia Gaskins, city officials and City Council members distributed birthday cupcakes.

Recreation, Parks and Cultural Activities Director Hashim Taylor said residents and visitors brought an “electric” energy to the celebration. He also thanked the businesses, vendors and community partners that helped organize the event.

Guest conductor John Devlin led the Alexandria Symphony Orchestra through a program of patriotic music. The performance culminated in Tchaikovsky’s “1812 Overture,” accompanied by cannons from the U.S. Army Presidential Salute Battery before fireworks illuminated the sky.

For Jennifer Walker and her friends Katelyn Ken and Molly Theobald, the gathering continued a yearly ritual.

“This is an annual tradition for us,” Walker said. “The three of us try to come every year. We’re so happy to be here.”

William Douglass, visiting family from Orange County, California, said his relatives insisted that he attend because they considered it the city’s best event.

Alexandria traces its founding to July 13, 1749, when an auction began selling the town’s first lots to the public. Earlier that year, a young George Washington helped survey a plan of 84 lots arranged along 10 streets surrounding a central market square.

Washington later recruited his first soldiers at Market Square for his initial campaign in the French and Indian War. He was selected as an Alexandria town trustee in 1763.

City organizers are already preparing for the next celebration, set for Saturday, July 11, 2026. The event will commemorate Alexandria’s 277th birthday alongside the 250th anniversary of the United States.