Virginia
Fae Festival unites magical beings across Central Virginia
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) – Ix Art Park transformed into a world of fantasy and color this weekend.
Costumes, creativity, and community took center stage as the Fae Festival returned to Charlottesville.
From fairy wings, to medieval cloaks, Ix Art Park transformed into a realm of magic and myth to celebrate the Fae festival.
“It’s magic,” Performer Madison Basile said. “It’s making magic.”
Mythical creatures of all sorts took over the park, transforming the space into a fantasy-filled celebration of creativity.
For some, it’s about building community, connecting with others who love to play in this magical realm.
For Skylar Carroll, a hairstylist at Color Factory salon, the reason is simple.
“I’ll take any excuse to dress up,” Carroll said. “I was very excited about that.”
This is the third year the Fae Festival has cast its spell on Charlottesville.
“This is the only thing like this Charlottesville does,” Hairstylist Kali Vosper said. “It’s really exciting to now have this.”
Madison Basile’s job is to dress as a mermaid and learn water acrobatics using her tail. Basile says it’s not just fantasy, but also inspiration.
“Just having fun with it,” Basile said. “I said, I’m going to go with the flow of a kind of mermaid. It’s just magic for everyone.”
Behind all that magic is a lot of work with costumes that range from last-minute finds to months of prep.
Saffron Soleil works with the Fae Federation. She says the best part is the hunt for what’s next.
“If I am making a costume or something,” Soleil said. “It’s a lot of ‘what do I have?’ I like to reuse things. I like to find stuff.”
Soleil says, it’s the reactions from others that make it all worth it.
“I just really love that everybody is so, like, curious,” Soleil said. “I think that’s the best reaction everyone has.”
The festival will run until 9 p.m. on June 28 and from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on June 29. For more information, click here.
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Copyright 2025 WVIR. All rights reserved.
Virginia
Virginia Election Results 2026
Virginia
Polls open Tuesday for special election to fill open seats in Virginia General Assembly – WTOP News
Voters are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election in parts of Northern Virginia to fill two open seats in the state’s General Assembly.
Voters are heading to the polls Tuesday for a special election in parts of Northern Virginia to fill two open seats in the state’s General Assembly.
Polls are open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. for in-person voting Tuesday in Districts 11 and 23, which include parts of Fairfax, Prince William and Stafford counties, as well as Fairfax City.
Tuesday’s special election was triggered when Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger tapped two current members of the Virginia House of Delegates to join her cabinet.
Del. David Bulova, who represents Fairfax City and portions of Fairfax County, has been asked to lead as Virginia’s next secretary of natural and historic resources.
In nearby District 23, Del. Candi Mundon King is resigning to serve as the secretary of the commonwealth. Her constituents live in parts of Prince William and Stafford counties.
Both exiting lawmakers are Democrats.
Tuesday marks one of several special elections happening this month to fill open seats in Virginia’s General Assembly, including a second contest in another part of Fairfax County. Voters will head to the polls in District 17 next week.
How to vote
The Virginia Department of Elections website has a tool to help voters find their polling location.
Voters who are 65 or older, or those with disabilities, have the option of voting curbside.
Ballots that are cast by mail need to be postmarked on or before Jan. 13 and received by Jan. 16.
Outside of mailing those absentee ballots, voters can also bring them to a drop-off location. Check in with your city or county elections office for information about drop boxes and their locations.
District 11
Voters will see two candidates on the ballot in District 11: Democrat Gretchen Bulova and Republican Adam Wise.
Both candidates hold some name recognition in Fairfax County and Fairfax City.
Gretchen Bulova is married to the longtime Del. David Bulova, who is resigning from his position in the house to serve alongside Spanberger.
Wise challenged the incumbent for his seat in 2025 but lost to David Bulova.
The Republican nominee, Wise, is a native of Fairfax who works as a firearms instructor and self-defense teacher. On his website, he promoted a campaign slogan that seems to advocate for restricting the government’s influence on Virginians, writing “the government which governs least, governs best.”
Gretchen Bulova serves as the Director of the Office of Historic Alexandria, overseeing museums as well as other research-centered programs, according to her website. She’s also the chair of the Fairfax County 250th Commission.
Affordability was the top issue of Gretchen Bulova’s campaign, with the Democrat specifically listing priorities of access to affordable housing, child care, electricity and health care on her website.
District 23
Democrat Margaret Franklin is running against Republican Verndell Robinson for the open seat in District 23.
Franklin represents the Woodbridge District on the Prince William Board of County Supervisors. She was first elected to the board in 2019.
With hopes of maintaining the seat for Democrats, Franklin has campaigned on issues such as affordable housing, health care and the economy.
Robinson is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and currently works as a real estate agent, according to a local GOP committee.
Robinson has been a critic of certain data center developments and pressed for more affordable housing.
Virginia
Au pair affair: Virginia man accused of killing wife, man to stand trial
A man accused of carrying out an elaborate fetish sex plot to kill his wife and a man inside his Northern Virginia home is set to stand trial.
Nine men and seven women were selected to the jury Monday in the trial for Brendan Banfield. Four of those 16 jurors are alternates who will step in if other jurors can’t attend for some reason.
Banfield is charged with aggravated murder in the killings of his wife, 37-year-old Christine Banfield, and a stranger, 39-year-old Joseph Ryan, at the Banfields’ Herndon home on the morning of Feb. 24, 2023.
Prosecutors say Brendan Banfield was having an affair with the family’s au pair, Juliana Peres Magalhães, for months before the killings, and that he conspired with his then-4-year-old daughter’s caretaker to get his wife “out of the picture.”
Peres Magalhães told prosecutors Brendan was the mastermind of the alleged plan. She said he created a fake profile on FetLife.com, a kink, BDSM and fantasy dating website, pretending to be Christine. Peres Magalhães said she and Brendan logged onto Christine’s work computer and used the fake FetLife account to solicit a stranger, Ryan, to the house to carry out a rape fantasy involving a knife.
When Ryan showed up to the house and started carrying out the plan, Brendan Banfield and Peres Magalhães burst into the bedroom pretending to save the day, prosecutors said. Banfield allegedly shot Ryan and then stabbed Christine.
Peres Magalhães said in an interview with prosecutors that she also shot Ryan. She pleaded guilty to manslaughter and spoke to prosecutors as part of her plea agreement.
The Fairfax County man accused of murdering his wife and another man in their home will stand trial starting Monday. News4’s Aimee Cho shares what to expect.
Banfield has denied the allegations. Defense attorneys argued in a hearing last summer that investigators have a secret folder of evidence that dismantles the so-called “catfish theory” that Brendan Banfield created the FetLife account.
A Fairfax County detective trained in digital forensics testified that he pulled and analyzed all the digital data on the devices used to access the FetLife profile. It was his professional conclusion that it was Christine on the computer, not Brendan, he said.
He said during a July 10 hearing that police command staff disagreed with his findings because they didn’t support their theory that Brendan Banfield was behind the fetish site profile.
The detective said his supervisors reassigned him off of the case against his will.
Multiple Fairfax County Police Department employees said under oath that the evidence did not support the theory that Brendan Banfield catfished Ryan to the family’s home.
Opening statements are expected to begin Tuesday, and the trial could take about four weeks.
News4 is getting rare, video access inside the courtroom. Watch a daily livestream of the trial and follow updates here and on the NBC4 Washington YouTube.
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