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ViVa Vienna attendees can support the community by donating blood during the Memorial Day weekend festival.
Inova and Bards Alley Bookshop will host a blood drive Sunday and Monday, May 24-25. A bloodmobile will be parked outside the bookstore’s future home at 103 Church Street NE.
Donations will be accepted from 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Sunday and from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday. Appointments were still available online as of press time.
Donors must bring photo identification and should allow about an hour for the process. Each participant will receive a free T-shirt from Heroes Supporting Heroes, a Pennsylvania nonprofit that assists military service members and veterans.
Inova is also offering incentives, including e-gift cards, to people who schedule donations from May 22-25 at its donor centers in Centreville, Sterling and Annandale.
ViVa Vienna begins Saturday at 10 a.m., bringing carnival rides, food vendors and live entertainment to the Vienna Town Green and historic Church Street. The Vienna Singing Princesses will perform for two hours on opening day, and the entertainment lineup will expand to a second stage on Lawyers Road on Sunday.
A Memorial Day tribute ceremony is scheduled for 1 p.m. Monday on the Town Green stage.
The festival’s Brewfest on Mill Street will feature beer from Caboose Brewing Company, Heritage and Beer Chase Brewery, along with hard cider and wine from Vienna Vinter. The beer garden will operate from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 2 to 6 p.m. Monday.
Drink tickets cost $8 online. Carnival passes and raffle tickets are also available, with a Cherry Lane Gifts basket going to the raffle winner after Monday’s 5 p.m. drawing.
Launched in 1984 and organized by the Rotary Club of Vienna since 1997, the festival is now in its 42nd year. Proceeds from vendor spaces, sponsorships and other activities are donated to charitable, educational and community organizations.
Official parking will be available at the Vienna Metro station and James Madison High School. Free shuttles will run every 20 minutes from 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 p.m. Saturday and Sunday and from 9:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday.