Manassas railway festival to bring return of in-person events

The Manassas Railway Heritage Festival is coming down the tracks this year.

This year’s event will mark the 26th time the festival has been held in the city, which celebrates the history of the railroads. The festival will include model train displays, memorabilia, specialty vendors, as well as live performances.

As the coronavirus pandemic continues to be an issue of concern, how the festival operates has been made. One significant change is the train rides that are a hallmark of the festival that runs between Manassas and Clifton won’t be in operation this year to uphold social distancing rules.

The festival will set up an alternative to this with a static train display provided by the Virginia Railway Express.

VRE has provided an engine and a railcar that will be parked on the third set of tracks that are adjacent to the Historic Candy Factory, which is located at 9419 Battle Street.

Members of the VRE will be present to answer questions about cars, rail travel, and safety.

The festival will also have trackless train rides for children, which will cost $5 per person. Cash or card will be accepted for these rides.

This will be the first time Manassas has been able to hold this festival since 2019. The festival was canceled last year due to the pandemic. Manassas has continued to keep smaller, scaled-down celebrations with their First Friday events, but this will be the first major event they’ve held since the pandemic began.

This is just the start, however, according to city spokeswoman Patty Prince, who announced a series of concert dates at the Harris Pavilion beginning May 11.

The events will see acoustic performances on Tuesdays from Shane Gamble, Jason Masi, Patty Reese, and others.

The festival will be held on June 5 in Historic Downtown Manassas and will last from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.