What's New: Your Guide to 2026 in Fairfax County

From immersive play to creative hands-on experiences, Fairfax County is welcoming a wave of new attractions designed for all ages.

• Opening Soon: Hershey Super Sweet Adventure makes its East Coast debut at Tysons Corner Center in early 2026. This interactive, family-friendly experience drops guests into a whimsical candy-filled world of games, challenges, and active play—plus exclusive merchandise celebrating iconic treats from Hershey.
   
• Brand New: Metro Park at Capital One Center is now open year-round, offering seasonal activities like a synthetic ice rink in winter (open through February), pickleball in spring and fall, and a large outdoor playground—all steps from the McLean Metrorail Station and Capital One Center’s incredible dining & entertainment.
   
• Now Open: Level99, a 40,000-square-foot adventure playground for grown-ups, has opened at Tysons Corner Center. Guests can enjoy more than 50 mental and physical challenge rooms, competitive arena duels, immersive art installations, and an adjacent Victory Brewing Co. outpost serving Detroit-style pizza and craft beer.
   
• Returning this Spring: Masterpiece Mini Golf at the Workhouse Arts Center blends art, education, and family fun across 18 imaginative holes inspired by legendary artists and movements. Designed entirely by Workhouse artists-in-residence, it’s believed to be the only artist-designed course of its kind in the country.
   
• Now Open: CAMP at Tysons has welcomed its second installation with its new Peppa Pig x CAMP experience, where families enter through a hidden “magic door” to help Peppa plan an interactive party for her new baby sister, complete with rides, slides, and play zones.
   
• Now Open: River Sea Chocolates, a beloved bean-to-bar chocolate maker, has opened a second location in Reston, expanding production while offering retail sales and behind-the-scenes glimpses into the chocolate-making process.
   
• Escape room fans have plenty to be excited about:
  • Bond’s Escape Room celebrates 10 years in Fairfax with a new Virtual Reality Arena and a competitive Live Game Show experience.
     
  • The Escape Game opens in Tysons in 2026 with cinematic, story-driven missions.
     
  • Break From Reality Escape Room is a new space featuring five original escape experiences found nowhere else.
     
• Hands-on creativity continues to expand at the Mosaic District with the recently opened District Candle Lab x Fawne, where guests pour custom candles and design jewelry, and Strawberry Park Playground, a vibrant new outdoor play space for families.

Fairfax County’s historic sites and museums are unveiling new ways to absorb the stories that shaped the nation.

• George Washington’s Mount Vernon now offers reimagined mansion tours following a multi-year preservation project, including the newly restored Washingtons’ Bedchamber and enhanced interpretive experiences throughout the home.
   
• In spring 2026, Mount Vernon will also debut a new permanent exhibition, “George Washington: A Revolutionary Life,” inside the reopened Education Center, featuring interactive media, original artifacts, a recreation of the President’s House in Philadelphia, and the return of guest-favorite experiences like the Revolutionary War Theater: 4D Experience and Be Washington.
   
• The National Museum of the United States Army has launched CALL TO Arms: The Soldier and the Revolutionary War, a major new exhibition created for the Army’s—and America’s—250th anniversaries, featuring hundreds of artifacts and immersive storytelling. More artifacts will join the collection throughout 2026, along with several special events.
   
• Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House will debut a new exhibit in summer 2026 exploring the Quaker and Free Black community that reshaped the estate in the 19th century. The site will also continue its new monthly Slavery and Freedom Tour, offering deeper insight into the lives of enslaved families who shaped Woodlawn’s history.
   
• The Winery at Bull Run's Civil War Museum, which you can visit during the Witness to History Tour at the vineyard, will be expanding and adding new artifacts in mid-2026. Plus, for America's 250th, see if you can spot a few pre-Revolutionary War artifacts also on display!

As the nation marks its 250th anniversary in 2026, Fairfax County will be at the heart of the celebration, with events, exhibits, and commemorative experiences rolling out throughout the year.

Highlights to look forward to include:

• The launch of America’s 250th: Fairfax County History Trail passport, which invites users to check in at various historic and cultural attractions throughout Fairfax County to be entered into monthly prize drawings.
   
• The launch of Virginia’s 250 Passport, offering discounts, prizes, and stamp-collecting at historic sites including Mount Vernon, Gunston Hall, Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House, and the National Museum of the U.S. Army.
   
• Signature exhibitions and immersive programming at George Washington’s Mount Vernon and the National Museum of the United States Army.
   
• Special anniversary events at Gunston Hall, Workhouse Arts Center, park sites, and local performing arts venues.
   
• Limited-edition 250th wines, beers, chocolates, and specialty menu items from Fairfax County’s breweries, wineries, local makers, restaurants, and hotels.
   
• Be sure to order your free copy of the 2026 Fairfax County Visitors Guide, which features 250 reasons to visit Fairfax County right now!
   

👉 Take a deeper dive into these highlights and even more events, activities, and new experiences coming to Fairfax County during America’s 250th Anniversary celebrations throughout 2026.

In addition to all of the 250th celebrations, Fairfax County’s 2026 calendar is jam-packed with major sporting events, cultural experiences, and community festivals worth planning a trip around.

• Professional sports take center stage in 2026:
   
  • Old Glory DC, the DC area’s Major League Rugby team, will call George Mason University home for its 2026 season, with all matches played at George Mason Stadium beginning in April. Fans can expect expanded food and drink offerings, a lively beer garden, and local vendors on site. Tickets are on sale now.
     
  • The Premier Lacrosse League Championship Series heads to The St. James from February 27–March 8, featuring the league’s top four teams in an Olympic-style format, alongside the return of the Women’s Lacrosse League. Tickets are on sale now.
     
  • And while Fairfax County or Washington, DC may not be hosting any FIFA World Cup matches – the closest matches are a short trip up to Philadelphia or New York/New Jersey – many area businesses are creating friendly competitions to celebrate the Cup’s arrival into the U.S., like World Cuppa Tea at Elden Street Tea Shop and Coffee Conversations: World Cup Edition at Fairfax Coffee, where guests sip, compare, and debate international favorites. More to come!
     
  • Plus, be on the lookout for Fairfax County and Northern Virginia athletes taking the spotlight at the Winter Olympics taking place in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy! Coming soon!
     
• The arts, community, and culture scene continues to thrive:
   
  • NextStop Theatre, following its recent Helen Hayes Award nominations, launches NextDraft, a series of pop-up readings showcasing new plays in intimate, one-night-only performances throughout the year.
     
  • ComicWorx, the Workhouse Arts Center’s first-ever Comic Con-style event, debuts March 7 with celebrity guests, workshops, and fandom-inspired fun.
     
  • Tephra ICA Fine Arts Festival returns to Reston Town Center May 16–17, celebrating 35 years of art in Reston with a special America’s 250th category.
     
  • Polar Heat on Lynn Street will debut as a new signature event from the Town of Herndon, taking place May 16.
     
• Seasonal favorite festivals return throughout the year, including Ice-Travaganza at Reston Town Center (Jan. 24), Celebrate Reston (Apr. 4), ViVa! Vienna! (May 24-26), the Bull Run Wine Festival (May 30-31), the Reston Multicultural Festival (Sept. 19), and the Northern Virginia Tea Festival (Nov.).

Fairfax County’s dining and craft beverage scene continues to grow with high-profile expansions, chef-driven concepts, first-to-market openings, and other international recognition. In fact, there’s nearly too much to list here, so we created a new hub for restaurant openings and food news so that you don’t miss a thing.

👉 Here are 26 restaurants we’re excited about for 2026 in Fairfax County.
 

In other brief food news:

• Stellina Pizzeria, in Tysons, was recently named one of the Top Artisan Pizza Chains in the World by the International guide 50 Top Pizza, and also won the La Gioiosa Award for the pizzeria with the best wine list.
   
• Elden Street Tea Shop, in Reston, recently announced it is expanding into nationwide wholesale manufacturing of its 130 loose-leaf tea offerings. The shop also hosts Afternoon Tea programs and hosts an annual regional Tea Festival among other special events and tea-education programs.
   
• Lake Anne Brew House, also in Reston, has announced it will be expanding its taproom, doubling its capacity in seating and production. 

Image courtesy JW Marriott Reston Station

Fairfax County continues to debut elevated accommodations for both leisure and business travelers.

• JW Marriott Reston Station, Virginia’s first-ever JW property, is now open at Reston Station and brings luxury accommodations, chef-driven dining, public art, and first-to-market Mindful Guest Rooms to Reston.
   
• The AC Marriott Reston & Residence Inn Reston dual property also recently opened near Reston Town Center and the Silver Line and features a European-inspired restaurant and rooftop cocktail bar.
   
• More major renovations are underway or planned at Hampton Inn Dulles Airport South, Hilton Washington Dulles, Hyatt Regency Tysons Corner Center, Hyatt Regency Reston, and Comfort Suites Dulles Airport/Chantilly.

New wellness-focused spaces invite visitors and locals alike to slow down—or break a sweat.

• Workhouse Arts Center is launching Sunday Wellness Resets, a way to reset, reconnect, and recharge through yoga, sound baths, tarot readings, herb gardening, Chinese brush painting, and more.
   
• The Mount Vernon Rec Center recently reopened after a massive two-plus-year renovation and now features NHL-sized ice rinks, a two-story rock climbing wall, pool with beach entry, indoor track, and a two-story fitness center.
   
• iCryo expands with a new Reston location offering cryotherapy, IV therapy, and recovery treatments. There is an existing location at Fairfax Corner.
   
• beem Light Sauna and Sweathouz bring infrared, red-light, and contrast therapy to Reston. Sweathouz also has a location at Mosaic District.
   
• OneLife Fitness is opening a massive new location at Mosaic District featuring pools, courts, studios, and family-friendly amenities.
   
• Movement Fairfax is expected to open near Fair Oaks Mall with expansive climbing, yoga, and fitness spaces.