Extreme Heat Forecast Prompts Portside In Old Town Festival Cancellation

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Alexandria's signature summer festival will no longer be happening due to the forecast being too hot.

Portside in Old Town Summer Festival will be canceled on Saturday, June 22, organizer Visit Alexandria announced. ALX Jazz Fest @ Portside, hosted by the City of Alexandria's Office of the Arts, will still go on from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Visit Alexandria decided to cancel the festival after consulting with meteorologists and emergency services experts. There is no plan to reschedule, but visitors are encouraged to see Visit Alexandria's event calendar and details on the 275th Alexandria and USA Birthday Celebration on Saturday, July 13.

The National Weather Service expects prolonged scorching temperatures and increasing humidity Friday into the weekend. The real-feel heat index could reach 100 to 105 degrees Friday afternoon through Sunday afternoon, forecasters say.

While ALX Jazz Fest @ Portside is still scheduled, organizers will provide an on-site cooling bus, water at food vendors and on-site medical professionals.

The jazz festival lineup is as follows:

6 p.m. to 6:10 p.m. Opening remarks from Katea Stitt, Program Director and Producer at WPFW
6:10 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Zeina Azzam, City of Alexandria’s Poet Laureate
6:15 p.m. to 7 p.m. The Lovejoy Group
7 p.m. to 7:15 p.m. Kenneth Carroll, Poet and Playwright
7:15 p.m. to 8 p.m. Brandon Woody’s UPENDO
8 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Elizabeth Jones, ACPS Elementary Poet Laureate
8:15 p.m. to 9 p.m. Kokayi