September might be the best-kept secret in Old Town Alexandria. The summer crowds thin out, the evenings turn crisp, and the neighborhood fills up with festivals, markets, and races almost every weekend.

If you’ve been waiting for a sign to book a fall trip, this is it, and with this many events on the calendar, you’ll want to lock in your dates sooner rather than later.

Here’s everything happening this month, and why staying in one of our Old Town homes puts you a short walk from all of it.

Mid-Month Madness: Two Oktoberfests, Chalk Art, and Colonial History

• September 17: Taste of Old Town North, 4 to 8 pm at Montgomery Park. Sample from some of the neighborhood’s best restaurants in one evening.
  
• September 19: Alexandria Oktoberfest at John Carlyle Square Park.
  
• September 19: 3rd Annual Chalk-A-Block, 11 am to 2 pm at 1055 N Fairfax St. Easy to hop between this and Oktoberfest the same day.
  
• September 19 and 20: Colonial Market & Fair (Mount Vernon). A step back into 18th-century Alexandria with vendors, demonstrations, and history brought to life.
  
• September 22: First Day of Fall. There’s no better place to greet the new season than a walkable historic waterfront town with a drink in hand and a market or festival around every corner.

Why Stay With Us for It

With this much going on, the last thing you want is to be commuting in from outside the city or fighting for parking near every event. Our Old Town homes put you within walking distance of King Street, the waterfront, and most of what’s on this list, so you can move from a morning market to an afternoon festival to dinner without ever getting back in the car.

And because these events tend to fill up hotels and rentals fast once word gets out, especially the Oktoberfests and the Homes Tour, booking now instead of waiting means you’ll actually get your pick of dates and homes instead of scrambling for whatever’s left.