If you walked past Market Square this month, you noticed it before you saw it. The jackhammers started earlier than usual, and the fencing around the old City Hall garage has crept a few more feet into the sidewalk. Nothing about that is a surprise if you have been tracking the project. What is new is the timing. The city confirmed on September 1 that abatement work inside the 1960s addition to City Hall is finished and that crews are moving into deconstruction of that section this month. That milestone lands in the same three or four weeks as the densest run of outdoor festivals Old Town hosts all year.
That overlap is the story. Not that construction is happening. Not that the market moved. Those are old news to anyone who has lived here since January. The thing worth knowing this week is that the loudest, dustiest phase of the City Hall project is starting at the exact moment four separate flagship events are pulling residents through the same rerouted sidewalks, trolley stops and garages construction has already changed. If your Saturday routine still assumes the map from a year ago, you are going to lose time you did not expect to lose.
What Actually Changed On September 1
The City of Alexandria's own construction update is specific about the sequence. Crews spent the summer installing a temporary support-of-excavation pile system around the underground Market Square garage, work the city describes as necessary before the garage can come down. Alongside that, contractors handled asbestos and other hazardous materials inside the 1960s infill portion of City Hall, the addition built onto the original 1871 building. That abatement is now complete, and the next visible milestone, according to the city, is deconstruction of that 1960s section starting in September.
None of this touches the historic 1871 building itself yet. But deconstruction is a noisier, dustier phase than the quiet structural prep that has defined the site since spring. If your block has felt relatively calm through the summer, September is when that changes.
The Market's First Full Fall At Tavern Square
The Old Town Farmers' Market has not sold produce at Market Square since January. The relocation to the 100 block of North Royal Street and the courtyard at Tavern Square took effect January 10, ahead of the garage's demolition. The market kept its Saturday hours, 7 a.m. to noon, rain or shine, and its roster of more than 70 vendors selling produce, baked goods, flowers, meats, cheeses and specialty goods. What changed was the address and the parking.
This fall is the market's first full season in that spot. Spring and summer gave regulars time to relearn the layout. Fall is when the routine either sticks or gets tested by everything else happening around it, because September and October also happen to be the market's own peak, with the widest vendor turnout of the year arriving right as the construction fence tightens a block away.
Here is what the routine actually looks like now, compared to a year ago:
| Old routine (pre-2026) | Current routine | |
|---|---|---|
| Market location | Market Square, 301 King St. | 100 block N. Royal St. and Tavern Square courtyard |
| Free market parking | Market Square Garage | Courthouse Square Garage (111 S. Pitt St.) and Tavern Square Garage (418 Cameron St.), free during market hours |
| Trolley/DASH shared stop | Fairfax St. and King St. | Relocated near 302 King St., across from the old City Hall block, subject to further moves as construction phases shift |
| Motorcoach loading | Adjacent to City Hall | Moved one block to 401 King St. |
The garages at Courthouse Square and Tavern Square are close, but they are not the same walk. If your habit was to park underground at Market Square and grab a coffee on your way to the vendor stalls, you are now parking a block or two further out and approaching from a different direction. Small adjustment, but it is the kind of thing that trips up a routine you have run on autopilot for years.
Four Weekends, One Overlapping Season
Here is where the overlap actually bites. Old Town's fall calendar was already dense before construction ramped up. This year, four of its biggest fixtures land inside a roughly three-week window, and every one of them draws on the same handful of trolley stops, DASH routes and garages the City Hall project has already rearranged:
- September 13, the Mount Vernon 10-Miler and 5K runs from 7 to 11 a.m., with race-day logistics that touch streets feeding into the King Street corridor.
- September 19, Alexandria Oktoberfest takes over John Carlyle Square with a beer garden, live music and vendor booths, a short drive or trolley ride south of the historic core.
- September 26 and 27, the Annual Alexandria Art Festival fills the same John Carlyle Square with juried artists working across every medium.
- That same weekend, the Historic Alexandria Homes Tour sends ticket holders walking block to block through the historic district, right through the intersections closest to the construction fencing.
None of these events were rescheduled because of the City Hall project. They run on their own calendars, set months in advance. What nobody planned around is that the deconstruction phase would begin in the same window. If you are heading to the Homes Tour on the 26th or catching the trolley down to Oktoberfest, you are relying on stops and garages that have already moved once this year, in the same three-week span that used to run on autopilot.
Why This Is The Thing To Actually Plan Around
The individual facts here are not secret. The market move made local news back in January. The construction update went out to the city's email list on September 1. The festival dates have been on calendars for months. But nobody has put those three threads next to each other and asked what it means for the person who just wants to grab tomatoes, walk to a festival and get home without losing twenty minutes to a rerouted sidewalk.
That is the actual news this month. Not that Old Town is under construction, which every resident already knows. The news is that the timing lines up in a way that makes September and October busier and more disrupted than any other stretch since the project began, and that the workaround is straightforward if you know it ahead of time rather than discovering it mid-walk.
How To Route Around It This Fall
A few adjustments make the season easier without giving anything up.
Park at Courthouse Square or Tavern Square, not out of habit but on purpose. Both are free during market hours and both sit within the historic core, close enough to walk to a Homes Tour stop afterward without moving your car.
Check the DASH and King Street Trolley stop before you rely on muscle memory. The shared stop has already moved once, to near 302 King Street, and the city has said further moves are possible as construction phases shift. A quick check before you leave the house beats standing at an empty curb.
Build a small buffer into festival plans that fall on the same weekend as market day. If you are doing the farmers market Saturday morning and the Art Festival or Homes Tour that afternoon, give yourself extra time for the walk between them. The distance has not changed, but the sidewalks and crossing patterns around the active site have, and September is when that construction activity is loudest.
None of this changes what makes a Saturday here worth having. The market still runs the same hours with the same vendors. Oktoberfest still fills John Carlyle Square with the same beer garden and craft booths it has for years. The Homes Tour still opens doors that are closed the other 364 days of the year. The map just requires a second look this particular fall, and knowing that ahead of time is the difference between a normal Saturday and one that eats an extra hour you did not plan for.
If you are watching how this stretch of the city continues to change, block by block, that is exactly the kind of on-the-ground read Ally Gillette tracks for Old Town buyers, sellers and neighbors alike. Let's Connect if you want a local read on what else is shifting around here.
