Downtown Herndon's Holiday Calendar Reads Like Its Main Street Application

"It's been a long time coming," Collin Okoniewski, Herndon's economic development manager, told the Town Council at an October 6 work session, as FFXnow reported. He was talking about a plan to bring downtown businesses and residents together "around a shared vision." On October 27 the council voted to let staff apply for Virginia Main Street, a state program run by the Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development. If the state accepts, Herndon becomes the first locality in Fairfax County to join it.

Main Street would pay to start a community-led nonprofit to run downtown events, marketing, business support and placemaking. Over the next five weeks, downtown Herndon puts on almost exactly that kind of programming. The chamber, the town and volunteer groups run it, while the 5-acre parcel at 770 Elden Street is still in court.

Five Weeks on the Calendar

Here is the season in order, for anyone filling in the family calendar this week.

1. Wednesday, November 11, 11 a.m. American Legion Post 184 holds its Veterans Day ceremony on the Herndon Town Green.
2. Friday, November 20, 5 to 7 p.m. Packet pickup for the Turkey Trot 5K is at Aslin Beer Company, 771 Elden Street. The race starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 21.
3. Saturday, December 5, 5 to 6:30 p.m. The Holiday Tree Lighting & Sing-Along takes place at Town Hall Square.
4. Sunday, December 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Holiday Arts & Crafts Show fills the Herndon Community Center with more than 70 vendors. Admission and parking are free.
5. Saturday, December 12, noon to 6 p.m. The Herndon WinterMarkt brings a European-style Christmas market downtown.

The town's general Hometown Holidays overview page still lists older dates, December 6, 7 and 13. The individual event pages linked above have the 2026 schedule.

If you're planning around a weekend, the Herndon Depot Museum at 717 Lynn Street is open Sundays from noon to 3 p.m. through mid-December, so the crafts show weekend is one of the last chances this year to stop in without an appointment. The Herndon Historical Society runs it with volunteers, and its only requirements for new volunteers are "an interest in local history and a willingness to help out."

The Chamber Already Does the Nonprofit's Job

The WinterMarkt shows most clearly what a downtown organization would take on. The Dulles Regional Chamber of Commerce sponsors it, the Herndon Chapter hosts it, and volunteers pour the glühwein and beer, greet visitors and keep the grounds tidy. According to the market's website, more than 7,000 people came to the first one, and the 2022 market was the largest vendor event in its history. The site also says the German Embassy has called it one of the best German-style markets in the United States.

The vendor list is the closest thing to a directory of who turns out for downtown. Several of the names are local:

• The Closet Thrift Shop, a historic-downtown nonprofit run by The Closet of the Greater Herndon Area since 1974. It hands out its profits every quarter to local charities and high school scholarships.
• Jimmy's Old Town Tavern, whose motto is "Where Everyone is Treated Like a Regular."
• Great Harvest Bread Company, which mills its own flour on site.
• Weird Brothers Coffee, a disabled-veteran-owned roaster that calls itself the first coffee roaster in Herndon.
• Chiboo Bakery, which makes French macarons in Herndon.
• Glorious Goblets, which sells original art of Old Town Herndon sites on tea towels, coasters and prints.

The vendors from farther away show how far the market reaches. Little Austria hand-stretches its strudel dough until "one can read a newspaper through it." Wholehearted Chocolate makes its bars in Sperryville. Mud Tree Designs throws its pottery in Vienna.

The chamber has done this in summer too. It called Friday Night Live's 500th scheduled show on September 4 a way to bring foot traffic to downtown merchants. That season, Jimmy's Old Town Tavern, Toriz Tacos, Wiseguy Pizza and Dairy Queen worked the concerts as food and drink vendors, FFXnow reported.

What Main Street Would Add

So downtown has its events. The gap is a single organization whose whole job is downtown. Finance Director Marjorie Sloan said so plainly, according to FFXnow: "There has to be some seed money to get them going if we want this to happen, because there is no existing group right now that will do this."

Staff looked at the models more familiar in Northern Virginia, including a business improvement district and a partnership like the Southeast Fairfax Development Corporation on Richmond Highway. They chose Main Street because it gives the town state technical help, grants and training, and because it's built for compact, walkable commercial areas. Herndon has no literal main street, but Okoniewski said the downtown core is compact enough to qualify. He pointed to its small, locally owned businesses as a strength, telling the council the area isn't "scattered with chains."

Here is the expected sequence, as FFXnow laid it out:

• Joining the program costs the town nothing upfront.
• Once accepted, Herndon gets access to grant money to help start the nonprofit.
• The town's initial funding could go into the fiscal year 2028 budget, which will be proposed early next year and take effect July 1.
• Town funding phases out over time as the nonprofit lives on fundraising, sponsorships and grants.

Councilmember Cesar del Aguila asked that every downtown business be part of it, noting that "some of the businesses feel they're never considered." Okoniewski answered that the town would be "very intentional" about who sits on the board, "because it is all of our downtown." Before the council vote, residents and business owners on the Downtown Early Action Plan Committee had already backed the idea.

The Five Acres Still in Court

In 2017 the town signed a contract with Comstock Herndon Venture, LC to redevelop town property downtown. The deal said the land would go back to the town if it wasn't developed. In December 2024 Comstock told the town it would not build the project, and the town moved to take the property back in January 2025.

According to the town's project page, the town sued in July 2025 to recover the 5-acre parcel at 770 Elden Street. In late September 2026, a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge granted Comstock's motion to dismiss, so Comstock keeps control of the property for now. On October 7 the town filed a notice of appeal with the Court of Appeals of Virginia.

The appeal is pending, and the Main Street application went forward alongside it. FFXnow summed it up this way: Herndon officials "aren't waiting on the private developer to bring new life to their historic downtown."

Change Arriving One Building at a Time

Meanwhile, downtown keeps changing one building at a time. The building at 757 Elden Street dates to 1900 and was Herndon's first movie theater, advertised as "Elden Hall" or the "Herndon Theatre." The family that owns Designs and Interiors by The Upholstery Shop there has asked the town for a special exception to open Herndon Hall, a private events space of about 3,000 square feet on the ground floor. It would host weddings, receptions, meetings and celebrations, and the design showroom would move upstairs, FFXnow reported. Both businesses would work by appointment or rental only.

Town staff recommended continuing the Planning Commission's review to its regular meeting on November 16. That meeting won't be at the Municipal Center. The building at 777 Lynn Street and the Council Chambers at 765 Lynn Street are closed for HVAC and entrance upgrades through January 2, 2027. Walk-up town services have moved to 397 Herndon Parkway, Suite 100, and public meetings to Suite 300.

If you want to follow the Main Street application or the Herndon Hall review in person this season, that's the Herndon Parkway address you need.

I follow how downtown Herndon is changing, from the WinterMarkt to the next review at the Planning Commission. If you're wondering how this year's downtown changes might affect what your Herndon home is worth, Eve M Thompson will gladly put together a free home valuation for you.