Memorial Day Weekend 2024: 17 Things To Do Around Fairfax City

FAIRFAX CITY, VA — The upcoming Memorial Day service in Fairfax City is part of a nearly 160-year tradition that pays tribute to military personnel who lost their lives in service to their country.

Fairfax City's Memorial Day Ceremony hosted by American Legion Fairfax Post 177 and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 8469 is the highlight of the three-day Memorial Day Weekend — May 25-27 this year.

The Memorial Day Ceremony will take place Monday, May 27, from 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at American Legion Post 177, which is located at 3939 Oak St. in Fairfax.

Motorcycle riders will begin lining up at 6:30 a.m. on Sunday, for the 24th Annual Ride of the Patriots at the Harley-Davidson dealership located at 9739 Fairfax Blvd in Fairfax City. The opening ceremony will take place at 8 a.m., followed by "kickstands up" at 9 a.m. Riders will travel together to the Pentagon to take part in the Rolling to Remember event.

Fairfax Memorial Funeral Home is hosting a Memorial Day Mass and Cook-out on Monday, from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., at Fairfax Memorial Park, 9900 Braddock Road in Fairfax.

Below are some other events and parades nearby:

• “Flags In” at Arlington National Cemetery on May 23
• Memorial Day Weekend at the National Museum of the United States Army on Fort Belvoir from May 24 to 27
• National Memorial Day Concert on U.S. Capitol grounds at 8 p.m. on May 26
• Flowers of Remembrance Day at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on May 26
• Rolling to Remember on May 26
• National Memorial Day Parade in DC at 2 p.m. on May 27
• Military Women’s Memorial 27th Annual Memorial Day Program on May 27
• 2024 Memorial Day Ceremony at The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in D.C. from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. on May 27
• Falls Church Memorial Day Festival and Parade on May 27

As the observance has changed over the years, many families also use Memorial Day as an occasion to visit Fairfax City cemeteries and leave flowers at the graves of family members, regardless of whether they served in the military.

Memorial Day Weekend is also the unofficial kickoff to summer in Fairfax City. Below are more ways to spend the weekend:

• Great Waves Waterpark opens at Cameron Run Regional Park in Alexandria.
• Water Mine Family Fishing Hole opens at Lake Fairfax in Reston.
• The Old Town Festival of Speed & Style will be held the prior weekend on May 19 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the City of Alexandria waterfront.
• Mount Vernon Masonic Lodge Spring Flea Market and Arts and Crafts Market on May 25
• Viva! Vienna! Festival on May 25 to 27

The history of Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, dates back to 1868, when Gen. John A. Logan called for a day of remembrance to honor the Northern lives lost amid battle during the Civil War that had ended just a few years earlier, according to History.com. As time passed, more and more people called it Memorial Day, and it became a federal holiday in 1971.

Waterloo, New York, is considered the birthplace of Memorial Day. The town’s observance on May 5, 1866, predated Logan’s call for a day of remembrance. Local businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of fallen soldiers with flowers and flags.

Until World War I, the holiday honored only those soldiers who died while fighting for the Union in the War, as Southern states honored their war dead on a separate day. After the 116,000-plus American deaths in World War I, the tradition changed to remember all who have died while serving in the military.

Every year, a national moment of remembrance is held at 3 p.m. local time on Memorial Day. No matter where they are or what they’re doing, Americans are asked to pause for one minute in silence to remember military personnel who have given their lives in service to their country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, the midday time was chosen because it’s a time when many Americans will be enjoying their freedoms on a national holiday.