The Torpedo Factory Art Center celebrates Alexandria’s biggest holiday weekend with a return of the annual Holiday Festival on Saturday, December 3. Festivities run 2 – 6 pm, but the doors stay open until 9 pm to welcome visitors in from the waterfront.

The Torpedo Factory will be the afternoon destination for visitors after the 46^th Annual Scottish Christmas Walk Parade and before the 17th Annual Alexandria Holiday Boat Parade of Lights, which floats past the Torpedo Factory’s riverfront entrance.

The Torpedo Factory Artists invite shoppers into their studios to find original gifts of art. Handmade jewelry and ornaments, original ceramics, couture finds, objet d’art, and other fine works will be available to browse and buy. Special holiday promotions and discounts will be available from dozens of artists and galleries.

The afternoon will also feature a children’s scavenger hunt, live music with the Alexandria Choral Society and Braddock Brass, and a visit from Santa.

Admission to the Holiday Festival is free. More information can be found at torpedofactory.org/holidayfestival.

Schedule of events:

• 2 – 6 pm: Children’s scavenger hunt across three floors of artists’ studios.
• 2:30 pm: Alexandria Choral Society performs
• 3 pm: Santa Claus arrives on the City Marina pier via Alexandria’s fire boat, the Vigilant.
• 3:15 – 6 pm: Santa is available for visits and photos with visitors of all ages on the 3rd floor landing.
• 3:15 pm: Braddock Brass performs
• 4 pm: Alexandria Choral Society performs
• 5 pm: Braddock Brass performs
• 9 pm: Doors close

Shop Small, Shop Local, Support Working Artists

In 2014, Alexandria was estimated to be home to nearly five time the national average for creative business (Americans for the Arts), thanks in large part to the Torpedo Factory Art Center, which is home to the nation’s largest community of publicly accessible working artists’ studios under one roof.

All of the artists in the Torpedo Factory Art Center are also independent small-business owners. They help to shape the distinctive creative personality of Old Town Alexandria.

About the Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association
The Torpedo Factory Artists’ Association is a professional artist community with over 275 members, all selected through an independent jury process. Membership includes visual artists working in a variety of media, comprised of the lease-holding artists working onsite in open studios at the Torpedo Factory Art Center, and over 150 associate members working across the Washington, D.C., region and beyond.

About the Torpedo Factory Art Center
Founded in 1974 in an old munitions plant, the Torpedo Factory Art Center is home to the nation’s largest number of publicly accessible working artist studios under one roof. In an effort to sustain the arts in Alexandria, the Torpedo Factory is now part of the City of Alexandria’s Office of the Arts. Just south of Washington, D.C., the Torpedo Factory Art Center overlooks the Potomac River in the Old Town section of Alexandria, Va. Each year, more than a half million national and international visitors meet and interact with more than 160 resident artists in 82 studios and seven galleries. The Torpedo Factory Art Center is also home to The Art League Gallery and School, the Alexandria Archaeology Museum, and the Alexandria EatsPlace Café and Market. For more information, visit torpedofactory.org or follow the Torpedo Factory on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest via @torpedofactory.