When McLean Project for the Arts opened its new building on Fleetwood Road this spring, community-engagement director Elizabeth Murphy told FFXnow the center brings "a freshness that is adding to the community." This is its first holiday season, and the 2026 McLean Winterfest Parade starts at Fleetwood Road and Old Chain Bridge Road.
For years, December in downtown McLean has centered on one building, the McLean Community Center at 1234 Ingleside Avenue. This year the season has a second arts address. The two busiest weekends on the calendar, Nov. 14 and Dec. 6, are the days when both addresses are part of the same afternoon.
One arts group, two front doors
McLean Project for the Arts already had its main gallery and offices inside the McLean Community Center. On April 30, 2026, it opened the Berlage Arts & Education Center at 6910 Fleetwood Road, on the ground floor of The Signet condominiums. The center has 6,100 square feet and three galleries. By May, FFXnow reported that MPA had raised $5.85 million of the $6.25 million needed to buy and outfit the space, with most of it coming from what Executive Director Lori Carbonneau called "a very local investor base."
Two things in the building matter for the holiday calendar. The first is Café Monet, which MPA owns and Knead Hospitality + Design operates. Its name honors Claude Monet and McLean's Monett family, local arts supporters who helped fund the project. The second is the ceramics studio, which was still being finished in May. MPA's homepage now announces "Now Open: MPA Clay," with classes, professional workshops and studio memberships.
This means the arts activity that used to fit inside the community center is now split across two downtown addresses, and it has a café that stays open into the evening.
November 14: the antiques show opens as the fall exhibitions close
The first overlap comes on Saturday, Nov. 14. The McLean Antiques Show & Sale fills the McLean Community Center on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, Nov. 15, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. This is the show's 50th anniversary. Admission is $11, and children 17 or younger get in free.
Saturday is also the last day for the Berlage center's three fall solo shows, which have been up since Sept. 17:
- Freya Grand: FOREST, in the Yasmine C. Iskander Gallery
- Ian Husting: Afterlight, in Gallery Vivienne
- Sally Veach: Hubris and the Sublime, in the Sally & John Simms Gallery
The Iskander gallery is named for Yasmine Iskander, the abstract painter and MPA member whose work, Life Through the Power of Color, was the center's first exhibition this spring. If you plan to visit the antiques show on Saturday, you can see the current Fleetwood Road shows the same day. After Saturday, that pairing isn't possible.
The rest of November stays close to Ingleside Avenue and one school campus:
- Saturday, Nov. 21, 10 a.m. to noon: Holiday Gingerbread House Decorating at the McLean Community Center. The Old Firehouse provides a pre-built house, frosting, toppings and light refreshments.
- Sunday, Nov. 22, 2 p.m.: Duo Mosaic Piano Duo at The Alden Theatre.
- Saturday, Nov. 28, 9 a.m.: The Langley and McLean Crew Turkey Trot 5K at Langley High School, 6520 Georgetown Pike.
December 6: both addresses on one afternoon
On Dec. 6, both halves of downtown are busy at the same time. Inside the community center, the McLean Holiday Art & Crafts Festival will be in its third and final day. It's a juried indoor show with 80 regional artisans, open Friday, Dec. 4, and Saturday, Dec. 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 6, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5, and children 12 or younger get in free.
Outside, the McLean Revitalization Corporation runs the 2026 McLean Winterfest Parade & Block Party from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m., with more than 54 food vendors, local performers, marching bands and floats. Here is how that Sunday lines up:
| Time | What's happening | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 a.m. | Final day of the Holiday Art & Crafts Festival opens | McLean Community Center, 1234 Ingleside Ave. |
| 12:30 p.m. | Parade check-in begins | Beverly & Elm |
| 12:30 p.m. | Block party and pre-parade entertainment begin | Langley Shopping Center |
| 1:00 p.m. | Parade lineup | Beverly & Old McLean Village Drive |
| 1:30 p.m. | Parade begins | Fleetwood Rd. & Old Chain Bridge Rd. |
| 2:45 p.m. | Parade ends | Parade route |
| 3:00 p.m. | Santa Claus station opens; Café Monet's Sunday dinner service begins | Block party; 6910 Fleetwood Rd. |
| 4:00 p.m. | Crafts festival closes | McLean Community Center |
| 4:30 p.m. | Block party ends | Langley Shopping Center |
The timing works out neatly. The crafts festival opens hours before the parade starts and closes a half hour before the block party ends. The parade wraps up at 2:45, and both Santa's station and Café Monet's Sunday dinner start at 3:00. You can browse artisan booths in the morning, watch the parade from the Fleetwood Road end in the early afternoon, and sit down to eat right after the parade without a gap.
Beverly & Elm, where parade check-in happens, is also close to one of downtown's pending changes. In July 2026, FFXnow reported that Highcrest had proposed replacing the offices at 6816 and 6824 Elm Street with a mixed-use building of up to 115 homes, plus retail, office space and an urban park. At that point, the proposal was under county review.
Café Monet's hours run later than the events
Most of the season's events end by mid-afternoon or early evening. The Fleetwood Road café stays open well past them. Café Monet's posted hours are:
- Breakfast: weekdays, 9 to 11 a.m.
- Weekend brunch: 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.
- Lunch: weekdays, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
- Happy hour: 2 to 5 p.m.
- Dinner: Monday through Thursday 4 to 9 p.m., Friday 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday 3 to 10 p.m., Sunday 3 to 9 p.m.
The menu includes deviled eggs, garlic sourdough, mezze, tuna crudo, gambas al ajillo, burrata, seasonal salads, pasta, salmon and steak frites, plus French toast on weekends. Saturday dinner runs until 10 p.m., so on the crafts festival's Friday and Saturday, when the show closes at 6, there's still time for a meal on Fleetwood Road.
Mid-December moves back to Ingleside Avenue
After Winterfest, the calendar returns to the community center for its family programming:
- Saturday, Dec. 12: Milk & Cookies with Santa at the McLean Community Center, with sessions from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. or 1 to 2 p.m. The same day, The Alden presents its Joyfully Jolly Jamboree at 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
- Saturday, Dec. 19, 7 p.m.: Sounds of the Season: A Lil' Maceo Holiday at The Alden Theatre.
The last event of the season changes its rules this year. MCC's Light Up McLean holiday decorating contest is open to businesses in the MCC tax district for the first time. Only residential entries can win prizes, but the public will vote for a Best Overall business. Registration for homes and businesses closes Friday, Dec. 11, and the contest and voting run from Dec. 21, 2026, through Jan. 3, 2027. Residential categories are Best Overall, Most Creative/Original and Best Holiday Theme. Because businesses can now enter, downtown storefronts can take part alongside decorated homes.
New food beyond downtown
At Chesterbrook Shopping Center, Surfside is open at 6218 Old Dominion Drive. Northern Virginia Magazine reported in October that it's the taco stand's first Virginia location. It's open Monday through Thursday 10:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10:30 a.m. to 2 a.m., and Sunday 10:30 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., so it's the latest-closing option on this list.
The same shopping center has signed a longer-term tenant. According to FFXnow, Glenwood's, a Maryland restaurant serving sushi and American fare, has leased about 7,000 square feet at Chesterbrook. Construction is expected to begin in early 2027, with a target opening of fall 2027, so it won't be part of this season.
If the Winterfest route passes near your street, you may wonder how the new arts center, a café open into the evening and the pending Elm Street proposal fit into your home's story. The AG Group follows these blocks closely. Request a Complimentary Home Valuation, and we'll show you how this year's changes on Fleetwood Road and around Chesterbrook relate to your home.
