Dark Star Park Day 2026

Date and Time

• Saturday, Aug 1, 2026  9am - 9:45am

Location

Details

Don't miss the Rosslyn favorite tradition that only comes around once a year! Saturday, Aug. 1, at approximately 9:32 a.m., Nancy Holt’s Dark Star Park (1979-84) will perform a special effect. Shadows cast by the spheres and poles of this landmark outdoor sculpture align with their permanent forms on the ground, marking the moment of Rosslyn’s founding. Cross your fingers for a sunny day!

The Rosslyn BID will be providing donut holes on a first-come, first-served basis, and Good Company Doughnuts will be selling refreshments.

Celebrate the end of summer! 

Download the Open Rewards app, upload your receipt from a Rosslyn restaurant, and receive an additional 5% cash back from Dark Star Park Day through Jazz Fest (Aug. 1 - Sept. 13).

ARLINGTON'S FIRST PUBLIC ART PIECE

Arlington's first major commissioned art project, Dark Star Park, features large spheres designed to resemble fallen, extinguished stars. Each year on Aug. 1, the day that William Henry Ross acquired the land that became Rosslyn in 1860, the actual shadows align with the shadow-images at 9:32 am. Learn more from Arlington Public Art.

NANCY HOLT AND LAND ART

Dark Star Park is emblematic of Nancy Holt’s commitment to temporal and site-responsive sculpture. Located within a busy traffic intersection on a once-overlooked pocket of land, it features large, gunite spheres resembling fallen, extinguished stars alongside tunnels and vertical poles. Learn more about Nancy Holt and Dark Star Park with this article from Angela Anderson Adams for the Holt/Smithson Foundation.