The first two days of Memorial Day weekend were a cold, dreary slog, but glorious weather returned May 31 and gave the ViVa! Vienna! festival a much-needed boost.
“We knew turnout would be fantastic today,” said event chairman A.J. Oskuie of the Rotary Club of Vienna.
The club traditionally has held the event, with assistance from the town of Vienna, each Memorial Day weekend, but like so many other events had to cancel the festival last year because of the pandemic.
This year’s event featured amusement rides in the usual location north of the Freeman Store and museum, but organizers controlled attendance levels and cordoned off access to the area.
A separately fenced off area on the Town Green hosted concerts, other performances and a Memorial Day ceremony. A third zone on Caffi Field held tents with vendors hawking their wares.
Organizers detoured bicyclists on the Washington & Old Dominion Regional Trail around the amusement and concert areas, allowing throngs of visitors to mill around in relative safety.
About the only thing missing in this year’s festival was the usual wide selection of food vendors, which in most years fill the air with smells of fried dough and grilled peppers, onions and meats.
