Provided by City of Manassas Economic Development Department
Old Town Manassas Oktoberfest!
Prost to Manassas! Dig out those lederhosen and dirndls!
Come for a day of German gemütlichkeit at the Old Town Manassas Oktoberfest, Sept. 20, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on the Manassas Museum Lawn.
Live German music (polka dancing for all & classic Oktoberfest tunes)
Beer Garden (variety of beers & traditional German food)
Arts & Craft Vendors (jewelry, art, seasonal crafts)
Beer Stein Holding Contest (how long can you hold a filled stein?!)
Mr. & Mrs. Oktoberfest (dress Oktoberfest style to compete for Mr. & Mrs. Oktoberfest!)
Join the celebration and raise a glass to good times!
Click HERE for Oktoberfest Info
Mark Your Calendars!
- Sept. 5 First Friday: Sept. (Flashback Friday)
- Sept. 7 NVA Thai Street Food & Culture Festival
- Sept. 13 Old Town Manassas Art Show & Craft Fall Fair
- Sept. 20 Edgar Rohr Memorial Car Meet
- Sept. 20 Old Town Manassas Oktoberfest
- Sept. 20 Manassas International Food Festival
- Sept. 27 Manassas Latino Festival
- Sept. 28 International Food & Culture Festival
- Oct. 3 First Friday: Oct. (Pumpkin Palooza)
- Oct. 4 Manassas Fall Jubilee
- Oct. 12 NVA Thai Street Food & Culture Festival
- April 10-Oct. 30 Farmers Market 2025 (Thursdays)
- April 12-Nov. 22 Farmers Market 2025 (Saturdays)
Manassas Museum Exhibit – Give Me Liberty: Virginia & The Forging of a Nation
Manssas Museum has been chosen as the host institution in Northern Virginia for a special traveling exhibit: Give Me Liberty: Virginia & The Forging of a Nation. This exhibit, Sept. 5 through Oct. 15, is hosted in partnership with Prince William County Office of Historic Preservation in commemoration of the 250th anniversary (1776-2026) of the Declaration of Independence. Produced in partnership by the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation and the Virginia Museum of History & Culture, it is presented by Virginia’s 250th Commission.
This Give Me Liberty exhibit highlight’s Virginia’s leading role in the American Revolution and explores the continental and global forces – from both iconic and ordinary people – who brought about a model of democratic government that changed the world. This photo above is of an 1851 painting by Peter F. Rothermel of Patrick Henry (1736-1799) before the Virginia House of Burgesses depicting his, “If this be treason, make the most of it!” speech against the Stamp Act of 1765.
Perfect time to check out the Manassas Museum to see this temporary exhibit! Click HERE for Give Me Liberty Traveling Exhibit
Hints of History
School days are back in full swing. Some look forward to it while others dread it. But education offers opportunities, opening up new horizons.
“Education means emancipation. It means light and liberty.” Those are the words of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), keynote speaker at the Sept. 3, 1894, dedication ceremony of the newly chartered Manassas Industrial School for Colored Youth (MIS). Douglass’s name brought instant credibility to the school; his full dedication speech is digitized at the Library of Congress.
Manassas Industrial School’s founder, Jennie Dean (ca. 1848-1913), was formerly enslaved in neighboring Prince William County. After hearing Dean speak at a suffragist convention in D.C., Emily Howland (1827-1929) of New York committed $1,000 to finish paying for the land that would become MIS. Pictured above is Howland Hall, named in her honor, the first building to be completed on the 100-acre campus.
MIS was designed as a private, residential institution providing academic and vocational training within a Christian setting for African Americans until the 1930s. In 1937, several public-school systems formed a joint board of control and purchased MIS to establish Manassas Regional School for African American students. In the 1960s, MIS buildings were gradually torn down.
Today, the former school property is the Manassas Industrial School Jennie Dean Memorial, a four-acre site managed by the Manassas Museum. It includes footprints of the buildings, pathways, and signage. Below is a photo of a bronze statue of Dean, standing as a testament of her drive to provide a brighter future for African Americans.
As Douglass said in his speech that Monday in 1894, “This spot once the scene of fratricidal war, and the witness of its innumerable and indescribable horrors, is, we hope, hereafter to be the scene of brotherly kindness, charity and peace. We are to witness here, a display of the best elements of advanced civilization and good citizenship. It is to be a place where the children of a once enslaved people may realize the blessings of liberty and education, and learn how to make for themselves and for all others, the best of both worlds. No spot on the soil of Virginia could have been more fitly chosen for planting this school, than on this historic battlefield.”
Manassas Industrial School Jennie Dean Memorial
