Reston's Holiday Season Runs on Two Calendars. Here's How Town Center and Winterfest Split It.

On the Friday after Thanksgiving, Reston Town Center will hold a parade, a tree lighting and an evening of drinks carried into the street. Admission is free and so is garage parking. Six days later, Reston Association opens Winterfest at Brown's Chapel Park and charges a nonmember adult $20 to get in. Its own members get in free.

Reston's two holiday hosts charge in opposite ways. Town Center gives away its biggest day and sells time on the ice. Reston Association charges visitors to the festival it built and lets dues-paying households in at no cost. For an RA member, the outdoor season's only fixed ticket price is the skating rink. Everything else depends on picking the right nights.

Town Center sells the ice and gives away the parade

The rink is the ticketed part of Town Center's season, and it runs the longest of anything on the calendar. The RTC Ice Rink was scheduled to open Nov. 6, but rain in the forecast pushed the opening to Tuesday, Nov. 10, as FFXnow reported. It is set to run daily through March 2027, weather allowing. Hours are 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, with skating until 11 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Tickets start at $12 for adults and $10 for youth, seniors and military service members. Groups of 10 or more pay $15 per person. The pavilion has more than 500 pairs of rental skates, plus penguin and snowman skate aids for new skaters.

This year the pavilion has a new place for people who aren't skating. Town Center added Gondola Lounges overlooking the ice, where spectators can "gather, sip hot chocolate from nearby restaurants and take in the sights and sounds of the season." Until now the rink mostly served skaters. The lounges give parents, grandparents and friends who'd rather stay off the ice their own seats beside it.

The parade comes next. The 34th Reston Holiday Parade starts at 11 a.m. on Friday, Nov. 27, with floats, marching bands, giant balloons and community performers. The Reston Town Center Association's event page lays out the rest of the day:

1. 11 a.m. Parade, watched from the sidewalks along the route
2. Afternoon Train and carriage rides, Santa and Mrs. Claus, ice skating and shopping
3. 4:30 p.m. Sip & Stroll begins
4. 6 p.m. Tree lighting
5. 8 p.m. Last call for Sip & Stroll

During Sip & Stroll, you buy a drink at a participating Town Center restaurant and carry it into a barricaded, car-free area in the cup the restaurant provides. Bringing your own alcohol isn't allowed, and security may check coolers. Garage parking on site is free for the event. RTCA posts weather cancellations on its site and at 703-435-6600, extension 2.

Free parking and free admission on the biggest day of Town Center's season make sense once you look at the rest of the calendar. The parade brings people downtown, and the rink is right there all afternoon.

Winterfest flips the arrangement

Reston Association charges in the opposite direction. Winterfest returns to Brown's Chapel Park, 1525 Brown's Chapel Road, for its fourth year on Thursday through Saturday, Dec. 3 to 5, from 5 to 9 p.m. each night. Admission is free for RA members and Recreation Passholders. Nonmember adults pay $20, children ages 3 to 17 pay $10, and children 2 and under get in free.

Members still need a ticket. RA requires one for every attendee, and its ticketing page tells members to "Reserve in advance to skip onsite registration." Member tickets cover your household, and adding people means contacting RA Member Services. RA also says proof of residency may be required to verify member status. Tickets are sold for a specific night, Dec. 3, 4 or 5, and each covers the whole 5 to 9 p.m. window rather than a timed entry slot.

The crowd makes booking ahead worthwhile. According to FFXnow, last year's festival drew more than 10,000 people over three days, and RA expects more this year.

The returning pieces are familiar. The half-mile Light Up the Park walk winds through thousands of lights. The Enchanted Forest is made up of trees decorated and sponsored by local businesses, residents and community groups, with support from Friends of Reston, and every tree is donated to a Reston family in need after the festival ends. Santa poses for free photos, Grinch's Village returns, and fire pits are set up for roasting marshmallows.

The new piece is the Polar Play Park, with ice carvings and interactive ice games, weather permitting. RA spokesperson Cara O'Donnell told FFXnow why it was added:

"The play park will be introduced this year as a result from community feedback expressing [a desire for] additional activities for children. We also will have a DJ and snowmaking at different times of the evening in the polar play park (provided Mother Nature doesn't give us her own snow)."

RA has confirmed these food trucks for the park:

• Big Cheese
• Caffeine Machine
• Himalayan Soul Foods
• Kay's Mini Doughnuts
• Lupita's Taqueria
• Maryland Brat & Butcher Co
• Travelin' Tom's Coffee
• Two Smooth Dudes

Town Center charges for the ice and gives the parade away. Reston Association charges visitors and treats Winterfest as a benefit for the members whose dues support it. A member household could go all three nights and pay nothing.

The first weekend of December is where the calendars overlap

Most of the season keeps the two hosts apart. Town Center gets late November and Brown's Chapel gets early December. The overlap is Dec. 3 to 6, when three events land within four days:

1. Thursday to Saturday, Dec. 3 to 5, 5 to 9 p.m. Winterfest at Brown's Chapel Park
2. Saturday, Dec. 5, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Gifts from the HeART, a free holiday market of work by local artists at RCC Lake Anne
3. Sunday, Dec. 6, 8 to 10 a.m. The Run with Santa 5K at Reston Town Center

The times barely touch. Saturday can start with gift shopping at Lake Anne, end with Winterfest's final night of the Light Up the Park walk, and still leave an early night before Sunday's 8 a.m. start. Also at Lake Anne Plaza, Kinship Wine + Wares, a wine and housewares shop at 1635B Washington Plaza North, held its grand-opening celebration in September. The 5K offers both an in-person race and a virtual version. Registration runs through RunSignup.

Reston Community Center covers the indoor dates

Reston Community Center fills the gaps between the two outdoor calendars. Its holiday programs move between Hunters Woods and Lake Anne, according to RCC's fall program guide:

• Saturday, Nov. 21, 3 and 7 p.m. The Reduced Shakespeare Company's "The Ultimate Christmas Show (abridged)"
• Wednesday, Dec. 2, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. RCC's Holiday Luncheon at RCC Hunters Woods
• Friday to Sunday, Dec. 11 to 13 "The Nutcracker" at the Leila Gordon Theatre at Hunters Woods. Shows are Friday at 7 p.m., Saturday at 2 and 7 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.
• Saturday, Dec. 12, 10 to 10:45 a.m. Jingle & Mingle, a holiday sing-along

The Reduced Shakespeare show comes the weekend before Thanksgiving, ahead of both outdoor anchors. The Nutcracker comes the weekend after Winterfest. On Dec. 12, a family could go to the morning sing-along and still make the 2 p.m. Nutcracker.

There's also a new name on the dining side this season. Ebbitt House, from Clyde's Restaurant Group, is the Reston Station restaurant at 1860 Reston Row Plaza, and its official site calls Old Ebbitt Grill its foundation while giving the Reston location its own menu and identity.

Many of the season's best nights in Reston cost nothing, and if you're weighing a home here, knowing which ones may matter more than you'd expect. If you'd like to talk through what Reston Association membership looks like from a given address, Jo & Co is happy to walk through it with you. Let's Connect.