Photo courtesy of City of Alexandria
2026 Friendship Firehouse Festival Aug. 1.
One of Alexandria's most enduring summer traditions takes over the 100 block of South Alfred Street on Saturday — and admission, as always, is free.
Old Town's oldest block party comes back this weekend. The Friendship Firehouse Festival runs Saturday, Aug. 1, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the 100 block of S. Alfred St., where the street closes to traffic and fills instead with fire apparatus, craft tents, live music and a few hundred kids in fire hats.
The festival is presented by the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association in partnership with Historic Alexandria, and it lands every year on the first Saturday in August. Admission is free, and so is entry to the Friendship Firehouse Museum at 107 S. Alfred St. during festival hours.
What's happening on the street
Alexandria fire trucks, ambulances and other emergency vehicles park along the block with their doors open, and members of the city's public-safety teams are on hand to answer questions — the sort of access that's hard to come by any other Saturday of the year.
For younger visitors, the association hands out free Friendship fire hats while supplies last. There's water play and a fire-hose activity, a coloring station, giveaways, and a hands-on table where children can handle reproduction historic artifacts rather than admiring them behind glass.
Beyond the trucks, the block fills with local artisans, small businesses, nonprofits and community groups, plus food, beverages, coffee and cold treats. Live music plays through the morning.
A fire company older than the country
The Friendship Fire Company's rolls date back to 1774 — two years before the Declaration of Independence. The building at the heart of the festival came much later: the Friendship Firehouse was built in 1855 and now operates as a city museum, telling the story of Alexandria's volunteer firefighting era.
Today the Friendship Veterans Fire Engine Association is a philanthropic organization focused on firefighting history and fire safety. It supports the preservation of the firehouse and its collection, including the company's ornate 19th-century apparatus. Among the pieces in its care: an 1851 hand-operated suction engine painted with Friendship's clasped-hands insignia, and an 1858 hose-reel carriage built by local craftsman Robert F. Prettyman — midnight blue with white piping, gilded shields, red wheels and a brass lantern and bells.
This year's festival also arrives while communities across the country mark the 250th anniversary of the United States, which gives the block's mix of history and public service a little extra resonance.
If you go
- What: The Annual Friendship Firehouse Festival
- When: Saturday, Aug. 1, 2026, 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- Where: 100 block of South Alfred Street, Old Town Alexandria
- Cost: Free, including museum admission during festival hours
Parking in the immediate blocks is limited on festival day; the free King Street Trolley runs the length of King Street from the Metro to the waterfront.
