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Mayor Emerick previews Freedom Festival, drone show and small vendor market at brown-bag Q&A
Summary
At a brown-bag Q&A, Mayor Chad Emerick outlined the June Freedom Festival lineup at Spencer’s Landing — including a wrestling appearance, concerts and a 300-drone show — and encouraged a garden-focused vendor market requiring a $5 city business license.
Mayor Chad Emerick used an informal brown-bag session in Vienna City Building council chambers to update residents on summer events and small-business opportunities, previewing the city’s Freedom Festival lineup and a garden-focused vendor market.
Emerick said Friends of Vienna’s Freedom Festival will run June 25–27 at Spencer’s Landing and will include vendor booths, family activities and concerts. "The big concert this year is Smash Mouth," he said, and a Journey tribute band will perform Friday night. He said vendor spaces were intended for locally grown or handmade goods rather than mass-produced trinkets and that vendors would need a City of Vienna business license costing $5.
The mayor described a Thursday evening wrestling appearance by "Hacksaw Jim Duggan" and said wrestling will have VIP seating as will some concerts; most festival activities will be free while VIP concert tickets will offer reserved seating. Emerick encouraged residents to mark their calendars for the late-June dates and said Friends of Vienna’s annual sale (Wayside United Methodist Church, 8 a.m.–3 p.m.) also helps underwrite festival programming.
On event safety and animal sensitivity, Emerick highlighted a large drone show as an alternative to fireworks. "Three hundred drones will be in the sky," he said, adding the display is choreographed to music and runs in two shows Saturday night; he noted drone shows are less disruptive to pets and people who are sensitive to fireworks.
Emerick said the city would sponsor — but not operate — a small farmer’s-market-style event at the Pollinator Garden to showcase garden-grown produce and handmade crafts. "If you would like to participate, reach out to me, reach out to my office, and we can coordinate and pull those together," he said.
He closed by asking residents to watch the city and Friends of Vienna postings for event details and ticket information, and to contact his office with vendor or volunteer interest.
The mayor's office did not announce final vendor layouts, vendor limits, or vendor-application deadlines at the session; residents were directed to contact the mayor’s office for details.
