Bethesda Fine Arts Festival 2026

The Bethesda Fine Arts Festival has returned to the Woodmont Triangle neighborhood of downtown Bethesda for 2026. Featured are the works of over 120 national artists, in a variety of mediums. There is also live music, and food is available from several vendors on-site. Admission is free. The festival is winding down for today, but there is another whole day tomorrow, Sunday, May 10 from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM.

Bethesda UP painting sidewalk bike racks downtown

Sidewalk bike racks around downtown Bethesda are getting a fresh look. Bethesda Urban Partnership is painting these small racks in a reddish orange. This follows the recent painting of electrical utility boxes with artwork. Watch out for the wet paint signs.

Winter Wonderland today in downtown Bethesda

The annual Winter Wonderland event will be held today, Saturday, December 7, 2024, from 12:00 PM to 4:00 PM, along Norfolk and Cordell Avenues in downtown Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle. Bethesda Urban Partnership's event will include a live ice sculpting demonstration from 12:30 to 2:00, a visit from Santa Claus, a concert by local school students, face painting, arts and crafts activities, and an URBN Market holiday market. 

Entry to the event is free. Attendees are asked to bring a donation of a new toy for distribution by Toys for Tots. Watch out for street parking restrictions.

Taste of Bethesda 2024 Photo Gallery

Bethesda Urban Partnership hosted the biggest annual event in downtown Bethesda yesterday, the Taste of Bethesda 2024. Here's a look at many of the vendors, organizations, and elected officials who participated in this year's even. Attendees appreciated the improved weather over some recent years. Amazon Fresh from the Collection at Chevy Chase in Friendship Heights had a booth, as they celebrate a "grand reopening" of the new and improved grocery store.

Road closures, parking restrictions today & Sunday for Bethesda Fine Arts Festival

Watch for street closures and parking restrictions in the Woodmont Triangle of downtown Bethesda today and tomorrow, May 11 and 12, 2024, related to the annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival. Many parking meters are "bagged" to be out of service, and the small Public Parking Lot 28 at 4854 Cordell Avenue will be closed from now until 9:00 PM Sunday night. The festival is free, and will be located along Norfolk, Auburn and Del Ray Avenues from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM today, and from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM Sunday. It will take place rain or shine on both days.

Norfolk Avenue Bethesda Streetery to return on Fridays for summer concerts

A number of readers have been asking about the promised return of the Norfolk Avenue Bethesda Streetery in the spring of 2024. It appears the Streetery will return in a limited fashion for the late spring and summer seasons. Norfolk Avenue will close at St. Elmo Avenue on Fridays only during the Friday night Summer Concert Series events beginning on May 17, and ending on September 20. It's not clear yet whether the closure will terminate at Cordell Avenue, or at Del Ray Avenue, but the closures reportedly will begin each Friday during the concert season at 1:00 PM, and end at 10:00 PM Friday night.

The Streetery and the Summer Concert Series are both organized by the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Bethesda UP is continuing to pursue an effort to convert part of Norfolk Avenue into a permanent shared street. That concept was recommended in the 2017 Bethesda Downtown master plan. The Streetery was first established during the pandemic in 2020, and features seating areas for outdoor dining from nearby restaurants.

Savor Bethesda Restaurant Week returns February 16-25, 2024

Save the date(s) and make plans to take advantage of Savor Bethesda Restaurant Week 2024, starting Friday, February 16 and running through Sunday, February 25 in downtown Bethesda. More than 30 restaurants are participating this year, with lunch, dinner, and special treat menus priced at $10, $20 or $35 for dine in and take-out customers. See the full menus here. The following restaurants are participating, with more potentially to be added:

Alatri Bros., 4926 Cordell Avenue

Barrel and Crow, 4867 Cordell Avenue

Caddies on Cordell, 4922 Cordell Avenue

Casa Oaxaca, 4905 Fairmont Avenue

CHIKO, 7280 Woodmont Avenue

Cubano's, 4907 Cordell Avenue

Delhi Spice, 4925 Bethesda Avenue

Dog Haus Biergarten, 7904 Woodmont Avenue

Fialova, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue

Guardado’s Restaurant, 4918 Del Ray Avenue

Hanaro Kusshi, 7820 Norfolk Avenue

Jetties, 4829 Fairmont Avenue

La Catrina Lounge, 4935 Cordell Avenue

Levain Bakery, 4844 Bethesda Avenue

Lilit Café, 7921 Old Georgetown Road

Luke's Lobster, 7129 Bethesda Lane

Maman, 7140 Bethesda Lane

Moby Dick House of Kabob, 7023 Wisconsin Ave.

Mon Ami Gabi, 7239 Woodmont Avenue

Nothing Bundt Cakes, 8209 Wisconsin Avenue

Pho Viet USA, 4917 Cordell Avenue

Pizzeria da Marco, 8008 Woodmont Avenue

Planta Bethesda, 4910 Elm Street

Poke Dojo, 7110 Bethesda Lane

Purée Juice Bar, 4903 Elm Street

The Red Bandana Bakery, 8218 Wisconsin Avenue

The Salt Line, 7284 Woodmont Avenue

Seventh State Restaurant and Lounge, 7707 Woodmont Ave

Silver New American Brasserie, 7150 Woodmont Avenue

Smoke BBQ, 4858 Cordell Avenue

Spanish Diner, 7271 Woodmont Avenue

Tacombi, 4749 Bethesda Avenue

Tikka Masala Indian Cuisine, 4929 Elm Street

Tout de Sweet, 7831 Woodmont Avenue

World of Beer, 7200 Wisconsin Avenue

ZAO Stamina Ramen, 7345 Wisconsin Avenue

Spanish Diner

Tout de Sweet Bakery

Smoke BBQ

Tacombi

Photos courtesy Bethesda Urban Partnership

Taste of Bethesda 2023 today, October 7

Taste of Bethesda returns to the Woodmont Triangle today, Saturday, October 7, 2023, from 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM. The event will be held on Norfolk, St. Elmo, Cordell, and Del Ray Avenues. Entrance to Taste of Bethesda is free; taste tickets cost $5 for four tickets, and beer and wine tickets are $8 each. Restaurants joining Taste of Bethesda for the first time this year include CHIKO, Hawkers Asian Street Food, Good Ducking Burger (which just opened this past week), Maman, The Organic Butcher, Planta and Tacombi. Live music performances (also free) will be held on four stages, and there is a children's area offering arts and crafts activities.

Taste of Bethesda is organized by the Bethesda Urban Partnership. Sponsors of this year's event include Suburban Hospital, Amazon Fresh, The St. James fitness club, Renewal by Andersen, and MoCo 360. Watch for street closures (and pedestrians) in the vicinity of the event. Parking is available in public garages around the Woodmont Triangle.

Here is a list of all restaurants participating in today's event:

Benihana

Casa Oaxaca

Ceremony Coffee Roasters

CHIKO Bethesda

Delhi Spice

Dog Haus Biergarten

Eat The Change/Just Ice Tea

Fialova

Georgetown Cupcake at Bethesda Row

Good Ducking Burger

Guapo’s

Hawkers Asian Street Food

Kadhai Boutique Indian Cuisine

Levain Bakery

Luke's Lobster

Maman

Mamma Lucia

Medium Rare

MI Café at Marriott International HQ

Moby Dick/House of Kabob

Mon Ami Gabi

Nothing Bundt Cakes

The Organic Butcher

The Original Pancake House

Planta

Poke Dojo & Kusshi

The Red Bandana Bakery

Rock Bottom Bethesda

Seventh State Restaurant & Lounge

Silver

Smoke BBQ

Smoothie King

Spanish Diner

Tacombi

Tout de Sweet Pastry Shop

World of Beer

Photos courtesy Bethesda UP

Norfolk Avenue Streetery updates in downtown Bethesda

Montgomery County and the Bethesda Urban Partnership continue to advance efforts to make the Norfolk Avenue Streetery outdoor dining area a permanent fixture of the block between St. Elmo and Cordell Avenues. A liquor license for the space has been applied for. The hearing date is scheduled for August 17, 2023 at 1:00 PM.

Bethesda UP is also seeking artists interested in winning the commission to paint a mural for the Streetery. The public art addition will be 2,000-square-feet in size, and be placed in a portion of the "emergency lane" on Norfolk Avenue. August 7, 2023 is the deadline to apply online.

Bethesda Fine Arts Festival returns May 13-14, 2023

The annual Bethesda Fine Arts Festival will return next month, on May 13 and 14, 2023 in downtown Bethesda. Over 100 of the nation's best contemporary artists will display and sell original fine art and crafts along Norfolk, Auburn and Del Ray Avenues in Bethesda's Woodmont Triangle neighborhood from 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM on May 13, and from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM on May 14. Admission is free, and you will also find that parking is free in the Auburn-Del Ray Public Parking Garage 36 at 4910 Auburn Avenue.

Neighborhood restaurants - including Bethesda Curry Kitchen, Dog Haus Biergarten and Red Bandana Bakery - will sell food and drinks, and beer and wine for those 21 and older. Music artists performing live will include Sara Jones, The Walkaways, Carley Harvey, Wes Tucker & The Skillets, Eric Scott, Jay Byrd and Jarreau Williams. The festival will be held rain or shine.

The festival is organized by the Bethesda Urban Partnership, and this year's sponsors are Kitchen Saver and The Phoenix Group of Compass. For more information, please visit www.bethesda.org or call 301-215-6660.

Photos courtesy Bethesda Urban Partnership

New trash cans at Norfolk Avenue Streetery in Bethesda (Photos)

New trash cans recently appeared at the Norfolk Avenue Streetery between St. Elmo And Cordell Avenues in Bethesda. They are a different, more modern-looking model than the standard can found around downtown Bethesda. Slightly smaller in capacity, they also are not yet labeled with Bethesda Urban Partnership graphics. It's not clear if their design will assist in curbing downtown Bethesda's pandemic-era pest issues.

Savor Bethesda Restaurant Week 2023 February 16-26

Maman at Bethesda Row

The annual Savor Bethesda Restaurant Week is fast approaching, scheduled for February 16-26, 2023. This is one of the best times of the year to try more Bethesda restaurants while paying less. Participating downtown Bethesda restaurants will offer lunch, dinner and special treat menus at $10, $20 or $35 for dine in and take-out customers. Savor Bethesda is organized by the Bethesda Urban Partnership.

Cubano's

Here is a list of participating restaurants, with more being added in the coming days:

Alatri Bros., 4926 Cordell Avenue

Barrel and Crow, 4867 Cordell Avenue

Berries and Bowls, 4961 Elm Street

Caddies on Cordell, 4922 Cordell Avenue

Ceremony Coffee Roasters, 7475 Wisconsin Avenue

Chaia Tacos, 7237 Woodmont Avenue

CHIKO, 7280 Woodmont Avenue

Cubano's, 4907 Cordell Avenue

Dog Haus Biergarten, 7904 Woodmont Avenue

Fresh Baguette, 4919 Bethesda Avenue

Guardado’s Restaurant, 4918 Del Ray Avenue

La Panetteria, 4921 Cordell Avenue

Leo & Liv, 8120 Wisconsin Avenue

Lilit Café, 7921 Old Georgetown Road

Luke's Lobster, 7129 Bethesda Lane

Maman, 7140 Bethesda Lane

MOMO Chicken and Grill, 4862 Cordell Avenue

Nothing Bundt Cakes Bethesda, 8209 Wisconsin Avenue

Pho Viet USA, 4917 Cordell Avenue

PLANTA Bethesda, 4910 Elm Street

Quartermaine Coffee Roasters, 4817 Bethesda Avenue

The Red Bandana Bakery, 8218 Wisconsin Avenue

Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, 7900 Norfolk Avenue

Silver, 7150 Woodmont Avenue

Smoke BBQ, 4858 Cordell Avenue

Spanish Diner, 7271 Woodmont Avenue

Tacombi, 4749 Bethesda Avenue

Tout de Sweet, 7831 Woodmont Avenue

Tropical Smoothie Café, 4731A Elm Street

World of Beer, 7200 Wisconsin Avenue

ZAO Stamina Ramen, 7345 Wisconsin Avenue

Planta

Photos courtesy Bethesda Urban Partnership