Very cool event coming to National Harbor this week: a professional wakeboarding competition sponsored by Red Bull. Professional Wakeboarders Brian Grubb, Parks Bonifay, JD Webb, and Adam Errington will fly, soar and wow the crowd with wild airs and double overhead sprays of the Potomac River.

These tremendous water athletes will be flying off of custom made features built especially for National Harbor. Towed by Red Bull Waverunners, Grub, Bonifay, Webb and Errington, along with some local wakeboarders, will put on quite a show for National Harbor visitors.

When: Saturday, July 31, 2010 @ 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
Where: National Harbor, Maryland

By road, access will be limited (you will have to shuttle to Tim’s from a parking area). By water, just pull on up! All of the fun’s on the water, so bring your beach towels, sunscreen, water and snacks! If you need to launch your boat, see this information. Here is the official event registration page.

One thing that isn’t changing this year is a country music headlining act. Matt Stillwell will take the stage at the peak of the party. Stillwell’s recent single “Drunk Enough” just reached #25 on the iTunes Country Album Chart. The rest of the musical line-up has yet to be announced.

Have fun, be safe, see you at Aquapalooza 2010!

The Occoquan River Festival will be reborn this Saturday in the Historic Town of Occoquan. This year the Occoquan Merchants Association will be hosting the event, which will include a petting zoo, pony rides, craft demonstrations, costumed reenactors, live music, sidewalk sales, boat tours, a Taste of Occoquan. The OMA website has complete details!

Time for a little experiment! OccoquanWaterfront.com is now completely tied into Facebook. Local news meets local people. Now you can login and post comments that will also post to your Facebook wall. You can also see who else in town belongs to various Facebook groups. Meet your neighbors! Click the Like button to join each group.

Click here to see the people who belong to the most popular Occoquan groups on Facebook. Click the Like button to join yourself!

The 2010 Occoquan Spring Craft Fair will take place in Historic Occoquan, this weekend, June 5th & 6th. Per the semi-annual tradition, it will feature lots of greasy food and crafts from a wide array of local artists and vendors. The official craft show website has complete vendor details.

You can park in nearby commuter lots and take a shuttle to Occoquan for $4/person (kids free). If you don’t mind a little traffic, there is parking to be found in the neighborhoods surrounding the fair. The weather looks like its going to be great, stop by and check it out!

Last night, the Prince William County Board of Supervisors approved a major development plan to revitalize the “challenged” area between the Town of Occoquan and Belmont Bay. This is a huge development.

The Occoquan waterfront is going to change dramatically. Lots of new residential space and street level retail. New roads (Marina Drive extension) and traffic improvements (an overpass at the intersection of routes 1 & 123). Horner Road is going to become a walkable main street and the ghastly strip malls from the 1970s can say bye-bye.

You can download the complete Urban Mixed Use Area Master Plan here.

Goals for the North Woodbridge Urban Mixed Use Area Master Plan:

• Office: 500,000 to 750,000 gross square feet
• Residential: 2,500 to 3,500 multifamily units
• Retail: 250,000 to 500,000 gross square feet
• Hotel: 260 rooms

The Washington Examiner has published an article with more details.

Two very interesting articles about the future development of the Occoquan waterfront region were published last week. The first article, from the Washington Business Journal contains details about the construction of Belmont Bay and the Rivergate. Teaser:

In the past decade Belmont Bay has constructed nearly 1,000 condos and townhouses — all overlook the bay. Just 23 remain unsold. Belmont Bay can build out an additional 873 condos and townhouses, something that Miller predicts will take 10 more years — at least — to complete.

The second article, published in the Washington Post, details a dense development plan to revitalize the north Woodbridge area situated between historic Occoquan and Belmont Bay. It also has some interesting road construction details. Teaser:

The vision for north Woodbridge, an area county officials said extends from the Occoquan River to Occoquan Road and from Route 1 to Horner Road, is to develop up — not out — and to have office and commercial space on one level with residential units above.

The plan calls for 2,500 to 3,500 multifamily units, up to 750,000 square feet of office space, up to 500,000 square feet of retail development and a hotel. The development would be phased in, so residential development does not outpace commercial, county officials said.

Finally, the Town of Occoquan Merchant Association is hosting the Second Annual “Art on The Occoquan” Art Walk this Saturday, May 08, 2010 (4:00 PM-8:00 PM). Enjoy an eclectic showcase of creative, fine arts in various mediums from local artisans. More details

Summertime, time to sit back and unwind (after you clean up your boat, of course). To get things crackin’ this year, the Potomac River Party Boaters Association is organizing the 2nd Annual Spring Dust-Off during the afternoon of Saturday, April 24th.

Last year it was a great time (Mother Nature cooperated). The plan is to tie up at Tim’s Rivershore and then cruise over to Mattawoman creek for the evening or until Sunday. All boats are welcome.

Join the best Facebook group for Potomac River boaters! Who knows, you might identify and connect with some fun local boaters. The mission of the Potomac River Party Boaters Association is to promote the tradition and sport of enjoying the Potomac River each and every summer.