Chevy Chase's Holiday Market Weekend Is Split Between Two Avenues

All fall, the sidewalk in front of the Pepco Harrison Substation at 5210 Wisconsin Avenue NW has filled every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with prepared food, baked goods, produce, flowers and live music. On Sunday, November 15, it won't. The Friendship Heights Alliance's Sunday Commons schedule lists the season as August 30 through November 22, "except for Nov. 15," because of the holiday Makers Market the Alliance is holding the day before.

The group that runs the weekly market canceled one of its own Sundays so the season's biggest street event would have the weekend to itself. That leaves Wisconsin Avenue's holiday shopping on Saturday and Connecticut Avenue's on Sunday, where the Woman's Club of Chevy Chase holds its own craft market that afternoon. The weekend also arrives while the Wisconsin Avenue corridor is in the middle of a restaurant turnover at The Collection.

Saturday Belongs to Wisconsin Avenue

The Holiday Edition Makers Market & Street Festival runs along the west side of Wisconsin Avenue from Booeymonger's to Rodman's. The Alliance promises dozens of local artisans and small businesses selling handmade goods and prepared food, plus giveaways, crafts and live music. Trishtan Foods is curating the vendors, Red Panda Art Studio is running the art and craft station, and Pipkin Creative is producing the event. The featured-vendor list was still marked "coming soon" on the event page.

The Alliance can schedule like this because of its reach. The nonprofit was formed in 2021, and its fall press release describes a territory along Wisconsin Avenue from Oliver Street in Montgomery County down to Fessenden Street NW in the District. It coordinates property owners on both sides of the state line. With one group running the Sunday market, the Saturday festival and the rest of the season's events, one calendar covers the whole strip. Canceling November 15 avoided two Alliance events in two days on the same few blocks.

Saturday shopping can also start earlier and somewhere else. The Chevy Chase Farmers Market runs year-round on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 5701 Broad Branch Road NW. It has also announced that Qualia Coffee will become a regular vendor starting in January 2027.

The Two Storefronts at Either End of the Route

The route between Booeymonger's and Rodman's is short, and the Rodman's end has just been honored by the District. On September 25, District officials, the Friendship Heights Alliance and the Rodman family gathered at 5100 Wisconsin Ave. NW. Mayor Muriel Bowser's administration presented a proclamation recognizing the family-owned business, according to Ward 3 Councilmember Matt Frumin's October 1 newsletter. The Alliance's event listing marked it as Rodman's 71st anniversary and says the Wisconsin Avenue store has served Friendship Heights since 1964.

So one end of the market route is a store that has been on Wisconsin Avenue since 1964. A few blocks north, The Collection has turned over two of its restaurant spaces since late August.

What Changed at The Collection Since August

Most of the turnover happened within about two weeks at the end of summer. Junction Bistro, Bar & Bakery served its last meal at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue on Friday, August 28, The MoCo Show reported, and said the closing applied only to that location. The MoCo Show also reported that The Hunter's Hound would close permanently on Thursday, September 3, nearly five years after it opened in December 2021.

New tenants were announced within weeks. Metropolitan Hospitality Group is a locally owned company that has run restaurants in the District and Northern Virginia for more than two decades. It has leased both spaces, and its October 1 announcement calls them the group's Maryland debut. Open Road, its American restaurant and gathering place, is going in at 5471 Wisconsin Avenue. Cove is an all-day café and wine bar that doesn't exist anywhere else yet. MHG's Matthew Carlin said Friendship Heights "immediately stood out."

Bethesda Today reported that this Open Road will have a nautical twist. It also noted that the announcement gave no menu or hours for Cove. Both restaurants are expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, and neither had a firm opening date at last word. Anyone heading to the market should plan as if the restaurants aren't open yet.

The rest of the summer-to-fall changes:

• Le Creuset opened at 5481 Wisconsin Ave. on August 28, PoPville reported, with a grand-opening celebration starting September 10.
• Just Salad opened August 20 at 5300 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite E, in the Residences at Mazza, according to the company's announcement.
• Toastique is expected this fall at The Shops at Wisconsin Place, Bethesda Today reported, with no exact date yet.
• Kneads Bakeshop signage went up at 5330G Western Ave., outside the Friendship Heights Metro, according to PoPville in late September. An earlier announcement had targeted the second quarter of 2026.

On the weekend of the market, then, the restaurant space at the north end of the strip is between tenants, with the new places still to come. The street festival fills the sidewalk at the south end, running up to Rodman's.

Sunday Moves to Connecticut Avenue

With Sunday Commons off on November 15, Sunday's holiday shopping moves east to Connecticut Avenue. The Woman's Club of Chevy Chase Craft and Gift Market runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the clubhouse, 7931 Connecticut Avenue. The listing promises handmade crafts, jewelry and more from over 45 local artists at a range of prices. Admission is free, and so is parking in the lot behind the clubhouse off Dunlop Street. Raffle proceeds go to the Bare Necessities Foundation and The Betty Ann Krahnke Center.

The two markets are different kinds of events. Saturday's is an outdoor street festival on a commercial strip. Sunday's is an indoor sale at a clubhouse with its own parking lot, and it's open an hour longer. Neither one overlaps the other.

Getting between the two avenues by trail takes some planning this season. The Purple Line project's updates page lists the Georgetown Branch Interim Trail under an active pedestrian closure through December 2026. Purple Line and Capital Crescent Trail construction continues along the old Georgetown Branch between Elm Street Park and Rock Creek Park. Overall Purple Line construction is projected to run through 2027.

Building the Weekend Around the Gap

Here is how the November weekends line up, using the published schedules:

1. Sunday, November 8. Sunday Commons is on, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., outside 5210 Wisconsin Avenue NW. It's also the last day of Bob Bartlett's site-specific horror play The Living Dead, which the Alliance lists as running October 8 through November 8.
2. Saturday, November 14, morning. The Chevy Chase Farmers Market on Broad Branch Road opens at 9 a.m., an hour before the Makers Market.
3. Saturday, November 14, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The Holiday Makers Market runs between Booeymonger's and Rodman's. RSVP on the event page.
4. Sunday, November 15, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The Woman's Club market on Connecticut Avenue, with parking off Dunlop Street.
5. Sunday, November 22. The last Sunday Commons of the fall season, same location, same hours.

The Alliance's calendar ran only through November 22 at last check, and no December holiday events had been announced for the corridor. Vendor lists and details for both markets may still change, so check the event pages the week before.

Openings, closings and new tenants are part of how we follow a market, and the changes at The Collection are part of the picture on Wisconsin Avenue right now. If you live near Friendship Heights or Connecticut Avenue and want to know how this fall's turnover affects your own plans, The Alliance Group would be glad to talk it through. Book a Private Consultation.