At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 28, the Vienna Halloween Parade will step off on Maple Avenue and run from Branch Road to Center Street. The Town says it has hosted the parade since 1946. The Town's participant FAQ calls this one the 80th annual parade. It puts the route at about half a mile and the run time at about an hour and a half. This year's theme is "Haunted History: 250 Years of America."
The street behind the fencing has changed a lot since last October. Between June and September, Maple Avenue and the blocks around it gained a custard shop, a bakery, a donut shop, a coffee shop and two restaurants. It also lost the first Crumbl Cookies in Virginia and a bubble tea cafe. Parade night will be the biggest crowd to see the new lineup, so it helps to know what is there now before you go.
Sixteen weeks on and around Maple Avenue
Here is the order things happened, based on FFXnow's reporting through the summer:
- May 31. The Fresh Market at 150 Branch Road SE closed after nearly 15 years, and the company said it "has chosen not to renew the lease."
- June 5. Whistler's Ice Cream Extraordinaire began serving French custard at 521 Maple Ave. W., in the former Molly's Yogurt space.
- June 20. Bakeshop opened at 421 Maple Ave. E., in the renovated space that was once Skorpios Maggio's Greek Family Restaurant.
- June 22. Shipley Donuts opened at 256 Maple Ave. E., next to Smoothie King, selling hexagonal donuts and kolaches.
- Aug. 10. Weird Brothers Coffee opened its first franchise at 106 Lawyers Road, serving coffee, breakfast and lunch.
- Aug. 19. Mashahweez Shawarma and Grill held a soft launch for its Iraqi menu at 128 Maple Ave. W.
- Aug. 21. Sheeba began serving Yemeni and Mediterranean food at 111 Church St. NW.
- Aug. 30. ViVi Bubble Tea closed its shop at 233 Maple Ave. E.
- Mid-September. Crumbl Cookies told its loyalty members that the Vienna bakery at 203 Maple Ave. E. had closed after six years.
Three of the new arrivals sell dessert, and they are built around things made in their own kitchens. Bakeshop, an Arlington-founded shop, sells cupcakes, cakes and macarons along with breakfast sandwiches. Vienna is its third Virginia location and its largest so far. Founder Justin Stegall told FFXnow that the extra space allows "some seating" and gives the kitchen enough room "so that they can really work comfortably." He also said the shop had wanted a Vienna location for a long time, and that when Skorpios closed, "that was the perfect location and we jumped on it." At Whistler's, owner David Galinsky described his French custard to FFXnow in three words: "You will savor it."
Where the two departing dessert shops came from
Crumbl came to Vienna Marketplace in early September 2020, and FFXnow notes it was the cookie chain's first location in Virginia. The chain still has Fairfax County shops at Kingstowne Towne Center, Plaza America in Reston, Chantilly and Fair Lakes. Crumbl pointed Vienna customers to its Birch & Broad shop in Falls Church.
ViVi Bubble Tea opened in Glyndon Plaza in May 2024 and stayed a little over two years. It was one of two franchise locations owned by Yaya Zhang. Speaking to FFXnow, Zhang said business in Vienna "never quite took off" and that "we tried our best and made many efforts to improve the situation." Her Fairfax City cafe at 9974 Main Street is still open and accepts rewards points and gift cards from Vienna customers.
So the sweets on Maple this fall come from a bakery, a custard counter and a donut shop. The two places that left were both outposts of larger chains, a cookie brand and a Taiwanese bubble tea franchise. Both empty storefronts were still waiting for tenants in mid-September. As of its Sept. 16 report, the Vienna Ledger said no replacement had been announced for either space. Our research did not find any announced replacement for the former Fresh Market on Branch Road either.
Parade day starts at 1 p.m.
On Oct. 28, getting to any of these shops depends on the Town's road plan, which begins six hours before the parade steps off.
| Time on Oct. 28 | What changes |
|---|---|
| 1 p.m. | Mill Street closes |
| 2 p.m. | Maple Avenue curbside lanes close; the two center lanes stay open |
| 4:45 p.m. | First group of full street closures |
| 5 p.m. | Second group of full closures |
| 6 p.m. | Third group of full closures |
| 6:30 p.m. | Maple Avenue center lanes close, along with the final closure group |
| 7 p.m. | Parade steps off at Branch Road |
| 8:30 to 9 p.m. | The 4:45 and 6 p.m. groups reopen as the parade ends, except Center Street |
| About 11 p.m. | Center Street and the 6:30 p.m. group reopen |
The Town is putting temporary metal fencing along both sides of Maple Avenue from Branch Road to Center Street. Spectators may not sit or stand in the roadway. With fencing on both sides, crossing Maple during the parade may be hard. Choose your side, and the shop you want to stop at, before 7 p.m. The Town's parade page lists the street-by-street closure groups and does not name general public parking areas. It does reserve accessible parking for vehicles with accessible tags or plates on Church Street between Dominion Road and Park Street, in front of the Freeman Store and Museum and Vienna Presbyterian Church.
One block over, Church Street got some of the summer's biggest changes
Church Street is where that accessible parking is, and it is also where several of the year's most interesting openings landed.
Sheeba, at 111 Church St. NW, serves Yemeni and Mediterranean food. Owner Nadir Naimi told FFXnow, "The utmost priority is the customer experience." If you want a sit-down dinner before the parade without crossing Maple, it is the newest choice on the street.
The Bamboo Room, a mahjong social club upstairs from Sushi Yoshi at 101 Church St. NW, Unit D, was announced in June with an August target. The club's own site now says it is open and lists an October 2026 calendar of lessons, leagues and open play.
Bards Alley is still at 110 Church St. NW. Owner Jennifer Morrow bought 103 Church St. NE on Feb. 5, 2026, and the bookstore's move page estimates the relocation for around early 2027. That date is labeled as one that will be updated as approvals move forward. Earlier, Morrow told FFXnow she wants the new building to have room for events and book clubs. That means this year's Holiday Stroll will still visit the bookstore at its current address.
The calendar around the parade
Three more events fall on either side of the parade, all close to the same blocks:
- Halloween on the Green, Saturday, Oct. 17, 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., at Vienna Town Green, 144 Maple Ave. E. It's free.
- Vienna Theatre Company's An Old-Fashioned Family Murder opens Oct. 16 at the Vienna Community Center, 120 Cherry St. SE, and the Town's listing shows seven more performances after opening night.
- Church Street Holiday Stroll, Monday, Nov. 30, 6 to 8 p.m., with holiday music, Santa, a tree lighting, firepits, gingerbread activities and Church Street businesses open for the evening.
Oktoberfest has already happened. It took over 131 Church St. NE on Oct. 3, and organizers called it their "biggest yet," according to the Vienna Ledger. That leaves the 80th Halloween Parade as the next big night on Maple Avenue, starting at 7 p.m. on Oct. 28 at Branch Road.
The team at Shepherd Homes Group keeps up with the openings, closings and Town calendar in Vienna because small details like these shape daily life in town. If you have questions about how the town is changing, or you're planning a fall move and want to land in time for the parade, Contact Us and we'll help you plan it.
