'Music and Dance on The Avenue' for August's First Thursday Event This Week

The Del Ray neighborhood is gearing up for another First Thursday event this week.

The theme for August is "Music and Dance on the Avenue." The street festival will take place from 6 p.m. to dusk along Mount Vernon Avenue. The event is free and open to all.

The Alexandria Singers will perform selections from their 40th-anniversary show at the Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, located at the intersection of Mount Vernon Avenue and Oxford Avenue.

Mount Vernon Avenue will also be lined with a wide variety of music and dance acts highlighting the diversity of arts in the region. Scheduled to perform throughout the night are:

• Stephanie Mathias, pop singer-songwriter; at Greenstreet Gardens, 1503 Mt. Vernon Avenue
  
• Highland Dance, traditional Scottish highland dance; at Hyundai, 1707 Mt. Vernon Avenue
  
• Discovery Preschool, at Bellies and Babies, 1913 Mt. Vernon Avenue
  
• Cathy B and the Broadcasters, a female-fronted pop/country/Americana/rock-and-roll cover band; at Re/MAX, 2104 Mt. Vernon Avenue
• Alexandria Singers, the Washington D.C. metro area's premier pops chorus; at The Pat Miller Neighborhood Square, 2311 Mt. Vernon Avenue
• Bill Mansfield, banjo; breezeway between Greener Cleaners and Neighborhood Pharmacy of Del Ray, 2204-6, Mt. Vernon Avenue
• Batala Washington, Afro-Brazilian all female percussion band playing Samba-Reggae rhythm; Mt Vernon Rec Center/Mt. Vernon Community School Basketball Court
• Rowan Cech, acoustic guitar, at Nature's Nibbles, 2601 Mt. Vernon Avenue

A free trolley will run up and down the Avenue throughout the event, from Hume to Nelson Avenues. The trolley is sponsored by Jen Walker, The Realtor for Del Ray and beyond!, of McEnearney Associates.

Participants are encouraged to bring donations for the Alexandria Battered Women's Shelter. The Friends of the Alexandria Commission for Women has compiled a list of needed items, available online. The shelter provides emergency housing and food at a confidential location for Alexandria women and their children who have been abused or who are threatened with abuse. Donations will be collected at the Pat Miller Neighborhood Square.

Held the first Thursday of the month from April to September along Mount Vernon Avenue in the Del Ray neighborhood of Alexandria, First Thursday is a series of free outdoor street festivals that bring the community together around a fun theme, benefiting a local nonprofit. This month’s event is sponsored by the Del Ray Business Association and Rock of Ages Music, a small music center dedicated to providing the community with music instruction for all ages and levels of experience.

Find more information about First Thursday events on the Del Ray Business Association's website.

Images: Patch.com