🐦 Chester is Saved!

Plus: 🍀 Celtic Festival Returns

September 08, 2025

Happy Monday!  
Here’s the inside scoop.

☕️ Good morning, Arlington! Hope your weekend was a good one. We’ve got another gorgeous week ahead. Anyone else heading to the Celtic Festival Saturday?

In today’s ARL Scoop:
📰 Nepalese Cuisine + ARL #1 for Families
📆 Paw-casso Party + Comedy Shows

📰 News Bites 
Quick local updates

🚒 Firefighters Saved Chester!
Arlington crews pulled off an unusual rescue over Labor Day when Chester, a social media-famous toucan, fell into a toilet and got stuck behind a dishwasher. Firefighters freed him safely, and his owner says Chester is back to spreading joy online.

🍀 Celtic Festival Returns
Samuel Beckett’s Irish Gastro Pub brings its annual Celtic Festival back to Shirlington on Saturday, Sept. 13. From noon to 6 p.m., Campbell Avenue will transform with live music, dancers, pipers, food, and plenty of pints. The family-friendly event is free to attend.

🥟 Authentic Nepalese Cuisine in ARL
Wild Yak is bringing the flavors of the Himalayas to Arlington, from yak momos to goat curry. Keshar Jarga Magar, who grew up cooking in a small village near Kathmandu, opened the family-run restaurant in 2025 to share authentic home-style Nepalese cooking. Diners say the dishes transport them back to Nepal—and adventurous eaters can even spot “Rocky,” the restaurant’s beloved yak mascot.

👨‍👩‍👧 ARL Tops Family-Friendly List
Niche ranked ARL’s Waycroft/Woodlawn neighborhood the #1 place to raise a family in Virginia, citing top schools, parks, and amenities. Arlington dominated the list overall, with Colonial Village, Dominion Hills, Donaldson Run, Cherrydale, Madison Manor, Albemarle Glebe, Maywood, Waverly Hills, Highview Park, and Arlington Forest also making the top 25.

🎓 Top Colleges for Arlington Seniors
New data shows where APS’s Class of 2025 sent the most applications. Trends mirror national shifts—more first-gen and public university applicants, plus a rise in test score submissions. See which 20 schools topped the list.

💻 Amazon Gets First Public Dollars
Seven years after HQ2 was announced, Arlington will send Amazon its first subsidy check for $81,745 from hotel tax revenue. The incentive program pays only once the county sees benefits, though Amazon has not yet broken ground on the largest phase of its project.

🍀 Celtic Festival Road Closures
Shirlington hosts the 2025 Samuel Beckett’s Celtic Festival on Saturday, Sept. 13. Campbell Avenue will be closed from 8 a.m.–8 p.m., with parking restrictions in place. Attendees are encouraged to use Metro, bus, or other transportation options.

🏛️ Upcoming County Board Meetings
The Board will review major projects, including a 14-story mixed-use building at 2500 Wilson Blvd. featuring affordable housing, bike lanes, and public art, plus an 8-story redevelopment of the former Inn of Rosslyn. Meetings are open with in-person and virtual options.

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Have a great day, Arlingtonians!