Vienna's Church Street Holiday Stroll Comes Back to a Street That Changed This Year

"When I opened Bards Alley, my goal was to create a village of kindred spirits," Jennifer Morrow said in a release that Northern Virginia Magazine reported in February. She was explaining why she had bought a building. Her bookshop opened at 110 Church St. NW in 2017. It is now preparing to move to 103 Church St. NE, the 1900 building at the corner of Church and Center that housed John Edwards Hair Design for decades.

So the Church Street Holiday Stroll on Monday, November 30, will cover a street that changed in two ways this year. Three new businesses opened on the northwest block, and the shop that made that block a stop is heading east toward the Freeman Store. The Stroll is organized around the Freeman Store, and that's where the move is headed.

Where the evening is centered

The Town lists the Stroll for 6 to 8 p.m. at the Freeman Store and Museum, 131 Church St. NE. The free event includes visits with Santa, live holiday music from local groups, firepits for warming hands and roasting marshmallows, and a tree lighting led by Mayor Linda Colbert. The event page also lists the historic stops open along the way: the Freeman Store, the Little Library, the Caboose, the Train Station, the Knights of Columbus building that was once First Baptist Church, and Vienna Presbyterian's Old Chapel. It notes that Church Street businesses will be open too.

This year's gingerbread theme comes with a schedule that's worth planning around:

1. Gingerbread ornament decorating stations are set up along Church Street from the 6 p.m. start.
2. Finished ornaments go to the Explore Vienna VA tent, across from the Freeman Store, by 7:10 p.m. to enter the judging.
3. Winners are announced at 7:30 p.m. The prize is a pack of gift cards to local businesses, awarded in several categories for artists of all ages.
4. The gingerbread house arch for photos stands at the end of Church Street near Lawyers Road.

Historic Vienna, Inc. takes questions at 703-938-5187. The two ends of the walk set its shape. The judging tent and tree lighting are at the Freeman Store on the northeast side. The photo arch is at the Lawyers Road end, past the northwest block. Anyone doing both will cover the whole street, including the stretch that changed most this year.

The bookshop between two addresses

Bards Alley is still open at 110 Church St. NW, and its website still describes the shop as "soon to move." The move page gives the move date as "around early 2027, to be updated." If that date holds, this will be the shop's last Stroll at its original address.

The move began in February with the purchase:

The brick campaign shows how the move is being paid for. Each engraved brick will line the walkway to the new store's entrance, so supporters "can always be part of Vienna's and Bards Alley's history." Order forms are available at the shop, and questions go to 571-459-2653.

The Town planning memo for the Board of Architectural Review lists the changes proposed for the corner building:

• Removal of the decorative shutters
• New double-hung windows, with the two picture windows replaced by box bay windows
• New ¾-glass entrance doors on Church Street and Center Street
• A second ¾-glass door on the Center Street side as another way out
• LED lanterns at 3,000 Kelvin over all three entrances

The doors are the change to watch. The building already has entrances on Church Street and Center Street, and the plan replaces both and adds a second Center Street door. Nicole Toulouse, the Town's Director of Economic Development, called it an "iconic new location in the heart of Vienna" in Northern Virginia Magazine's coverage. The shop's calendar still lists events at 110 Church St. NW, including one on Thursday, December 3, at 7 p.m.

The block that filled in behind it

The northwest block of Church Street gained three businesses in 2026, all within a short walk of the bookshop's current front door. "This year is shaping up to be a busy one for Church Street businesses," FFXnow wrote in July.

Kin Espresso Bar is at the rear of the commercial building at 145 Church St. NW. Manager Nicole Badraa told FFXnow that it takes its cue from Japanese kissaten culture and "omotenashi," which she described as "thoughtful hospitality from the heart." It serves ceremonial matcha from Japan, specialty coffee, house-made syrups and desserts. Badraa also said the baristas are encouraged to create new seasonal drinks.

Sheeba is the first franchise of a family-owned Michigan chain to open outside that state. According to FFXnow's August report, it served its first dinner on Friday, August 21, and opened to the public the next day. The same article lists dishes such as lamb haneeth, fahsah served in a hot stone bowl, mandi and tandoor-baked bread, and notes that the restaurant doesn't serve alcohol. Its online ordering page lists Monday hours of 10 a.m. to 10 p.m., which would cover the whole Stroll and the dinner hour after it.

The Bamboo Room runs on a booking calendar, and its November schedule includes lessons, leagues, open play and special events at daytime, evening and weekend times. Membership isn't required. A two-hour open play session costs $22 for non-members, and American Mahjong 101 costs $75. Fall 2026 memberships start at the Club tier, $129 a month, because the $79 Social tier is sold out.

These three add to the northwest block before Bards Alley leaves it. Taken together, a coffee bar, a restaurant open past 8 p.m. and a club that books evening sessions make the block busy across more hours of the day, and they will still be there when the bookshop's doors open at Church and Center.

Getting to Church Street with Maple Avenue under construction

The Stroll falls on a Monday evening, and parking downtown is tighter than in past years. In January, FFXnow reported that the Patrick Henry Library site at 101 Maple Ave. E. was fenced off for demolition and that the Maple Avenue sidewalk there was closed. Construction of the new building was expected to start in late fall 2026, with an early 2028 opening. In October 2025, FFXnow had reported that the old library parking lot would be unavailable during construction. The finished project plans 209 garage spaces, 84 of them public. Our October look at Maple Avenue covered how that lot's closure changed parking for the Halloween parade.

For anyone who wants both ends of the Stroll, one route works well. Start at the Lawyers Road end for a photo at the gingerbread arch, walk the northwest block past Kin, Sheeba and the bookshop, then cross toward 103 Church St. NE and the Freeman Store in time to drop off an ornament by 7:10 p.m.

The rest of the season around Church Street

The Stroll is the first of several December events within a few blocks. These dates come from the Town, its November Vienna Voice newsletter and the Vienna Business Association's holiday guide:

• November 27 to December 20: Optimist Club of Greater Vienna Christmas tree sale outside PNC, 353 Maple Ave. E.
• Wednesdays through Sundays, noon to 4 p.m.: Holiday shopping at the Freeman Store
• December 5, 9 to 11:20 a.m.: Donuts with Santa at Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, $5, with a donut bar, puppet show, music and crafts
• December 10, 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.: VBA Holiday Lunch, "Festive Food and Friends," at Vienna Presbyterian Church, 124 Park St. NE, $30 and open to everyone
• December 11, 4 to 6 p.m.: Free Mayor and Council Holiday Reception at Town Hall, 127 Center St. S.
• December 12, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: American Legion Post 180 and Auxiliary Unit 180 Children's Christmas Party, 330 Center St. N.
• December 13, noon to 2 p.m.: Photos with Santa at the Freeman Store, 131 Church St. NE

The December 13 Santa photos bring the season back to the Freeman Store, at the same end of Church Street where Bards Alley's new building is being renovated for its estimated early 2027 opening.

For homeowners near Church Street, how the street is changing affects how a home there is valued and how it gets presented to buyers. At Riggs & Co, Herbert Riggs and the team follow these changes closely. If you're thinking about what the next year looks like for your Vienna home, Request a Strategy Consultation.