Landon School Celebrates 60th Annual Azalea Garden Festival

BETHESDA, Md., April 23, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Landon School will celebrate the 60^th Annual Azalea Garden Festival on Friday through Sunday, May 3-5, 2013.  The weekend's fun-filled schedule of activities offers something to entertain the entire family.  Festival hours run 10:00 am until 5:00 pm daily, with free admission and on-site parking.  Located at 6101 Wilson Lane, Bethesda, Maryland, Landon is minutes from the Capital Beltway and downtown Bethesda.  (Find more online at www.landon.net/azalea.)

What began as an opportunity for the public to tour the newly acquired 2½-acre azalea garden in the mid-1950s has evolved into a three-day, volunteer-run set of old and new traditions that ties Landon to the surrounding community and raises thousands of dollars for student financial assistance and faculty enrichment.

Garden enthusiasts will enjoy Landon's continued homage to the Festival's origins with the ever-popular Plant Sale.  Gardeners often line up before the festival opens for their first choice of azaleas (including many rare specimens and those grown on the Landon campus), annuals, flowering shrubs and roses, wildflowers and perennials.  

Over 600 parent and student volunteers also organize and support the other Festival attractions, including

• Specialty Boutiques: more than 60 vendors offer unique wares to spruce up home and wardrobe in the Barton Athletic Center
• FunLand: a Festival favorite, FunLand offers games, rides, inflatables, and boardwalk-inspired food for children of all ages on Freed Field
• Food and Refreshments: tasty food and drink selections throughout campus
• Entertainment on the Quad: Landon student musicians from all school divisions perform throughout the weekend, including choral, symphonic, percussion, jazz, and string ensembles. Saturday and Sunday features include musical performers from throughout the DC area as well as the Saturday "Azaleas Goes Pops!" concert at noon by the Landon Symphonette—a select group of Landon and other area school/college musicians and seasoned professionals.
• Bearly Used Collection: a wide array of antiques, home accessories and collectibles
• Artists of Landon:  selections from Landon's talented artists include drawings, paintings, ceramics and photography in the Barton Athletic Center Atrium
• Mark's Run: the whole family can enjoy the festivities, Landon campus and neighborhood environs with the annual 5k Race and 1-mile fun run at 8:00 am on Sunday (sign up at www.marksrun.org). The race celebrates the memory of alumnus Mark Ferris '94 who lost his battle with juvenile diabetes. Landon is honored to invite Special Olympics MD Montgomery (SOMO) youth athletes and their families to participate in the race event and, once again, enjoy FunLand to follow with Landon Middle School student volunteers.

Proceeds from the Landon Azalea Garden Festival support student financial assistance and faculty enrichment. One in every five boys at Landon benefits from financial assistance. Landon School is an independent, non-sectarian, college preparatory day school for boys in grades 3-12.

Contact Alexis Polakoff at [email protected] or 301-320-1014

SOURCE Landon School