Canal Trust Hosts Park After Dark

This weekend the C&O Canal National Historical Park will offer the chance to see the park in a state few regular visitors have seen before.

On Saturday, the C&O Canal Trust will host , an evening benefit that will allow those who purchase a ticket to enjoy the canal at twilight while supporting the C&O Park and the Canal Trust. Traditionally, the C&O Park closes at dusk.

The event will take place from 6-9 p.m. at Great Falls Tavern in Potomac.

Tickets to the event must be purchased in advance at $150 each; $115 of the ticket cost is tax deductible, according to the Canal Trust. The ticket price includes entertainment and activities, such as music by the 19th Street Band, desserts from the Firehook Bakery, a photo booth with a park service ranger in period clothing, campfires and seven experience-package auctions.

Because the benefit will take place outdoors, the Canal Trust recommends keeping attire “towpath chic.”

Saturday’s event will be the largest benefit ever hosted by the Canal Trust, according to Jenna Warrenfeltz, the trust's development and communications manager, and it is something the organization hopes to continue in future years.

"This was something that we've been cooking up for a while," said Matthew Logan, Canal Trust president. "It's something we thought would be kind of neat, to give people an inside view—a perspective they can't get elsewhere."

According to Logan, the C&O Park has discovered through programs like Canal Quarters, which allow visitors to spend an evening in the park, that experiencing the canal at night is something few visitors forget and that many want to repeat.

"We live an urban/suburban lifestyle, and people are disconnected with that," Logan said.

Because this is the first event of its kind, Logan and the Canal Trust set a goal of signing up 200 event-goers. As of Monday, that goal had already been reached.

"We set a goal for 200 tickets, and we're there now. So we've set a new goal of 250," Logan said.

The funds raised from the event will go to support many of the programs in the park, such as Canal Quarters, Canal Discoveries and volunteer programs.

"I think people are going to have a really wonderful time," Warrenfeltz said. "It's the fact that you're in the park after dark that's unique."

To order a ticket visit www.parkafterdark.org or call 301-714-2233.