In March, the Alexandria Film Festival announced that MetroStage's new theater in Old Town North would become its permanent home. In January, The Alexandria Brief reported that the festival planned to hold its 20th-anniversary edition in that space this November. The festival opens Sunday, November 8. None of its five venues is in Old Town North.
That gap shows how the neighborhood's Arts & Cultural District works this season. The stages that were supposed to anchor it are still in permitting or under construction. The parts that are open are classrooms, studios and walls lent by a yoga studio and a bakery, and the largest of them stands on the lot MetroStage left.
Twenty years of films, spread across the city
The Alexandria Film Festival starts with one screening on Sunday, November 8, then runs its full program Friday through Sunday, November 13 to 15. The festival calls this year its largest: 80 screenings and more than 50 in-person filmmaker Q&As. Nearly 70 percent of the films are premieres, including 22 DMV premieres and 17 Virginia premieres.
| Venue | Area | Worth knowing |
|---|---|---|
| Patagonia Old Town | Old Town | Kickoff screening of "Catching Pinecones," Sunday, Nov. 8, 6:30 p.m. |
| Alexandria History Museum at The Lyceum | Old Town | "Hail to the Breadsticks!" Friday, Nov. 13, 7:30 p.m., a DMV premiere with Q&A; free "Salute to Service Members" block, Saturday, Nov. 14, 12:30 p.m., first come, first served |
| Virginia Tech | Potomac Yard | Regular festival programming |
| The Riviera Alexandria | Potomac Yard | New festival venue this year |
| Charles E. Beatley Library | West End | Regular festival programming |
"Catching Pinecones" tells the story of Jan and Herb Conn, rock climbers who started in the 1940s and made more first ascents than anyone. On Sunday, November 15, at noon, The Lyceum screens "My Underground Mother," followed by a Q&A with director Marisa Fox and former Alexandria mayor Allison Silberberg.
Showcase tickets cost $15, and an all-festival pass is $80. Both are sold through the festival's Eventive page. The service members' block is the only free program.
From Montgomery Park, the nearest festival seats are a short drive north in Potomac Yard or a walk south to The Lyceum on South Washington Street. That's the same Lyceum where the neighborhood's own theater company has been performing while it waits for its new building.
The theater still in permit review
MetroStage spent 19 years on North Royal Street. That building was demolished for condominiums. Since then the company has been staging shows at The Lyceum, 201 S. Washington St. Its most recent listed performance was David Cole and the Main Street Blues on October 26.
The new home is at 915 N. Fairfax St., across from Montgomery Park, inside the Venue condominium building. The Alexandria Brief described it as a 120-seat room with film projection. It was designed to be the arts anchor for the whole district. The design has to work around the building's existing support columns and steel beams while keeping sight lines clear.
In January the target was the end of 2026. MetroStage's homepage now says the plans are in City permit review and the theater is expected to open in fall 2027. The capital campaign has raised more than $2 million. The current estimate to build out the interior is $3 million. Winstanley Architects finished the final design, and Quattro Construction is lined up to build it.
So the film festival's anniversary and the district's planned anchor stage ended up a year apart.
What stands on MetroStage's old lot
The old theater's address, 1201 N. Royal St., is open this season. It now holds Muse Studios. ALXnow's coverage of the redevelopment described a condo tower with a separate arts building for The Art League.
The Art League closed its Madison Annex after nearly 30 years and moved its school into two permanent spaces, which it calls its Creative Campus:
- Muse Studios, 1201 N. Royal St.: printmaking, painting, drawing, photography, stained glass and mixed media, in what was a new condominium shell space.
- Slaters Lane Classroom Annex, 800 Slaters Lane: a former print shop warehouse converted into studios for ceramics, sculpture, woodworking and metal arts.
City Council approved construction loan financing with the Alexandria Economic Development Partnership and the Industrial Development Authority. In early 2024 the Council named The Art League the district's first cultural anchor tenant. The gallery, store and offices are still at the Torpedo Factory Art Center. Most of the actual making now happens in Old Town North.
The best chance to see both buildings is the Holiday Market on Friday, December 11, from 5 to 8 p.m. The Art League bills it as a "Campus Crawl Edition," held at Muse and Slaters Annex at once with a free shuttle between them. The market includes fine art, art books, jewelry, stained glass, prints and pottery. The Student Ceramics Sale opens at Slaters Annex the same evening and continues Saturday, December 12, from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Sunday, December 13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free, with light refreshments.
Art hung in rooms built for something else
With no gallery anchor yet, some of the district's exhibitions are going up in neighborhood businesses.
At 532 Yoga, Arts & Culture, 500 Montgomery St., the exhibit "Drawn" runs through January 2027. The studio held its grand opening on April 11. The show pairs portrait and figure work by Keeley Rae, mostly in oil and charcoal, with Paul Glenshaw's drawings of animal skeletons at the Smithsonian's Museum of Natural History. It's open to the public only on Thursdays from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Private tours can be arranged through the studio.
On November 18, The Art League opens "Cozy" at Buzz Bakeshop, 901 Slaters Lane. Every piece is no larger than 11 by 8 inches, and the show runs through January 31, 2027. Buzz is a few doors from the Slaters Annex, so a ceramics sale weekend can easily include a coffee stop.
Montgomery Park's farmers market also keeps a regular schedule. It runs Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Thursdays from 3 to 7 p.m., hosted by the Old Town North Community Partnership. Dream Chaser's Coffee, which recently finished AEDP's Food & Beverage Business Readiness Program, sets up there on Sundays. The Thursday market and the Thursday viewing hour at 532 Yoga are two blocks apart.
The season, in order
- Sunday, Nov. 8: Film festival kickoff, "Catching Pinecones," Patagonia Old Town, 6:30 p.m.
- Friday to Sunday, Nov. 13 to 15: Film festival main program at five venues.
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: "Cozy" opens at Buzz Bakeshop.
- Every Thursday through January: "Drawn" at 532 Yoga, 1 to 1:30 p.m.
- Friday, Dec. 11: Art League Holiday Market at Muse Studios and Slaters Annex, 5 to 8 p.m.
- Friday to Sunday, Dec. 11 to 13: Student Ceramics Sale at Slaters Annex.
- Saturday, Jan. 31: "Cozy" closes.
The stages still to come
Two more performance spaces are planned within a few blocks of Montgomery Park. Neither is open this winter.
Margot, the 237-unit building at 425 Montgomery St., expects its first residents in mid-December. Developer Carr Properties said in 2024 that CityDance had committed to lease the building's entire 6,445-square-foot ground-floor performing arts venue. The building's retail page still lists City Dance as "coming soon," with no opening date. Until the site work wraps up, the October neighborhood notice still applies. Resurfacing on North Pitt, North Royal and Montgomery streets can close those streets, and the North Pitt pedestrian walkway closes during construction hours.
One block away is the Montgomery Center at 300 Montgomery St., where The Art League's Madison Annex used to be. ALXnow reported on October 27 that Carr Properties has bought the site and plans 373 apartments, with construction targeted for spring 2028 to spring 2030. The earlier plan included a 13,300-square-foot performance venue. ALXnow said it had asked Carr whether that venue is still part of the project, and no answer was included in the report.
That leaves three planned stages within a few blocks of each other: MetroStage's, with a fall 2027 target, CityDance's, with a lease commitment but no opening date, and a third at 300 Montgomery St. that may or may not still be in the plan. This winter, the district runs out of The Art League's two studio buildings, a yoga studio's Thursday hour and a bakery wall.
At Kristen Jones Real Estate, we keep track of how Old Town North's arts buildings move from approved plans to finished rooms, because those changes shape daily life on these blocks. If you own nearby and want to know how a fall 2027 theater opening or a new ground-floor dance studio might affect your home's story, request your complimentary home valuation and we'll go over it with you.
