Rally the corgi has sniffed out the best Christmas events for kids in Ashburn for 2026, and here is what he found: 2 family events. They are Merry Gnome Painting Class (November 15) and Brambleton Gingerbread Competition (from December 1). We check every date on the host’s own website, and each listing links straight there. For the rest of the state, see our Virginia Christmas events for kids guide.
What Rally found in Ashburn
- 2 Christmas events for kids in Ashburn
- Season: November 15 (Merry Gnome Painting Class) to December 16 (Brambleton Gingerbread Competition)
- Every date checked on the host’s own site on Nov 10
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All 2 events
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Ticketed and paid Christmas events for kids in Ashburn
Admission, tickets or a fee apply. Where a host has not posted a price yet, the listing says so.
Holiday crafts
Merry Gnome Painting Class
- When: Sunday, November 15, 2026, 3 to 5 pm
- Where: Muse Paintbar One Loudoun, 20626 Easthampton Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20147 (opens in maps)
- Cost: $47 per painter
- Ages: All ages welcome, 5 and up recommended
Expand to see the parent tip
Artist instructors lead the room one step at a time through a Merry Gnome canvas, and no art experience is needed. Each painter gets an 11 by 14 inch gallery-wrapped canvas, a tabletop easel, five brushes, an apron and a palette matched to the design, with freedom to change the colors and details.
The class is Sunday, November 15, 2026, from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, and a seat costs $47. Reservations are required and paid at booking, and every guest needs a paid seat, including children and any adult who only comes along to sit with a child. Anyone under 13 must have an adult with them.
Parent tip: Aim to arrive between 2:30 and 2:45 pm, because a very late start can leave a child with an unfinished painting. The studio suggests ages 5 and up and has a bar open during the session, and acrylic paint is permanent once dry, so dress everyone in clothes that can take a stain.
- Host
- Muse Paintbar (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Muse Paintbar One Loudoun, 20626 Easthampton Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20147 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Ashburn events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Ashburn daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Ashburn.
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Rally’s Christmas research
Rally the corgi has 1 more Ashburn event researched for you.
- New events every week We research new events daily and send you one email a week with the new ones we find in Ashburn.
- Exclusive access to free events Find the free Christmas events in Ashburn before they fill up.
- Unlock the filters Find Santa visits, free events and weekend plans in one tap.
- Rally’s Christmas Eve Express and a free advent calendar Get early access to Rally the corgi’s Christmas Eve tracker, plus a free digital advent calendar to count down to Christmas.
- One-tap add to calendar Save any event to your Google, Apple or Outlook calendar so you never miss it.
Coming up on this page
- 2 Crafts
- 1 Breakfast and treats
Enter your email to get new Christmas events in Ashburn every week.
Holiday event
Brambleton Gingerbread Competition
- When: Tuesday, December 1, 2026 to Wednesday, December 16, 2026 (Entries accepted December 1 to 8, voting December 9 to 15, winners announced December 16, during library hours)
- Where: Brambleton Library, 22850 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20148 (opens in maps)
- Cost: No price listed on the organizer's page
- Ages: All ages, in four categories: 7 and younger, 8 to 12, 13 to 17, and adults
Expand to see the parent tip
Brambleton Library is holding its first gingerbread competition, and the building happens at home. Families make a gingerbread dwelling in their own kitchen and bring it to the library, where visitors then vote for the ones they like best.
Entries are accepted December 1 to 8, 2026, voting runs December 9 to 15, and winners are announced on December 16. There are four categories: kids ages 7 and younger, youth ages 8 to 12, teens ages 13 to 17, and adults 18 and over. The listing gives no fee, and the guidelines are available from Brambleton Library staff.
Parent tip: Pick up the guidelines from library staff before you bake, since the listing does not spell out size or ingredient rules. Even if your family does not enter, a stop at the library between December 9 and 15 lets kids cast a vote.
- Host
- Loudoun County Public Library (opens in a new tab)
- Address
- Brambleton Library, 22850 Brambleton Plaza, Ashburn, VA 20148 (opens in maps)
- Confirmed
- On the host’s page, checked
New Ashburn events every week
Rally researches Christmas events in Ashburn daily and updates this page with new events. Enter your email to get a weekly update with new events in Ashburn.
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We check every event above on the host’s own page for the date, time and cost, plus the things parents ask about, like sign-ups and ages. Looking for a Santa train instead? Those are on our Virginia Christmas train rides page.
See every event on a December calendar
Plan your December
When each Ashburn Christmas event for kids happens
The first is Merry Gnome Painting Class in Ashburn on November 15; the last runs to December 16. Each bar spans an event’s dates, not every hour in them, so check the host’s page for times.
- Merry Gnome Painting ClassAshburn · Nov 15
- Brambleton Gingerbread CompetitionAshburn · Dec 1 to Dec 16
Looking further afield? Our Virginia Christmas events for kids guide lists every event we have found in the state, and we have city guides for Leesburg, Middleburg, Chantilly and Centreville. The national search sorts every event by distance from your town.
A story for the drive home
A morning with Santa or an evening of holiday stories tends to end the same way: tired kids, a long drive and one more book before bed. Our picture book follows Rally the corgi on his first train ride to see his grand-paw-rents, and every page is painted by hand. If your family is spending December missing someone, it was written for that too. For the car, print our free corgi and train coloring pages.
A bedtime story after seeing SantaRally Takes the Train is a five-minute rhyming picture book about a corgi’s first ride on a California train, hand-painted in watercolor. $16.99 on Amazon, ages 0 to 8.
Buy on Amazon2026 Christmas events are coming in late November
More Christmas events arrive in late November. We add them here as soon as we confirm them.
The story of Christmas in Ashburn
Ashburn started out as a farming village called Farmwell and a small rail stop on the Washington and Old Dominion Railroad, and today so many data centers cluster here that the area is nicknamed Data Center Alley. Christmas moves at a gentler pace, with a gingerbread competition at Brambleton Library and a family painting class at One Loudoun.
How Ashburn celebrates
The confirmed 2026 listings in the Ashburn area lean toward making things. Loudoun County Public Library runs the Brambleton Gingerbread Competition at Brambleton Library, which the library describes as its first: families build at home, drop entries off December 1 to 8, vote December 9 to 15 and hear the winners on December 16. Brambleton is one of the neighboring communities that share Ashburn's mailing addresses and ZIP codes. Earlier in the season, Muse Paintbar at One Loudoun holds a Merry Gnome painting class on Sunday, November 15, led step by step by artist instructors and open to all ages.
Fun facts about Christmas in Ashburn
The name Ashburn is believed to come from Ashburn Farm, a 1,236-acre estate once owned by John Janney, and before that the village was known as Farmwell. The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad arrived in the late 19th century, and its corridor is now a regional trail. The population grew from 3,393 in 1990 to 46,349 at the 2020 census. Two Washington Metro Silver Line stations serving Ashburn opened on November 15, 2022.
Traditions today
- Brambleton Gingerbread Competition: Brambleton Library's first gingerbread competition invites families to build a dwelling at home and enter it in one of four age categories.
- Voting week at the library: From December 9 to 15, library visitors vote for their favorite gingerbread entries before winners are announced on December 16.
- Merry Gnome painting class: Muse Paintbar at One Loudoun leads painters of all ages through a Merry Gnome canvas on Sunday, November 15.
- The W&OD Trail: The old Washington and Old Dominion rail corridor, now a regional trail, is one of the area's key preserved historical routes.
A fact for kids
Ashburn has so many data centers, the buildings full of computers that keep websites running, that people call it Data Center Alley. Even Wikipedia's parent organization has a data center there.
Questions about Christmas in Ashburn
How did Ashburn, Virginia get its name?
The name is believed to come from Ashburn Farm, a 1,236-acre estate originally owned by John Janney. George Lee III bought the property in the 1870s and is thought to have named it Ashburn, perhaps for the ash trees on the land or for its ash-colored soil.
What was Ashburn called before it was Ashburn?
The area was originally a quiet farming village known as Farmwell, part of a rural agricultural region in eastern Loudoun County. It stayed sparsely populated and mostly agricultural well into the 20th century, before suburban neighborhoods arrived in the 1980s and 1990s.
Is Ashburn a city?
No. Ashburn is an unincorporated settlement and census-designated place in Loudoun County, about 30 miles northwest of Washington, D.C. The 2020 census counted 46,349 residents, up from 3,393 in 1990, and the wider Ashburn area includes communities such as Brambleton and Broadlands.
Did a railroad run through Ashburn?
Yes. The Washington and Old Dominion Railroad arrived in the late 19th century and gave local farms and small industries a transportation link, with Ashburn as a small rail stop. The rail corridor is now a regional trail known as the W&OD Trail.
Why is Ashburn called Data Center Alley?
By the early 2000s Ashburn had become a hub for internet infrastructure, drawn by reliable electricity and fiber-optic networks. The region developed the highest concentration of data centers in the world, which earned it the nickname Data Center Alley.
What happens at Christmas for kids in Ashburn?
Two events are confirmed for 2026. Muse Paintbar at One Loudoun holds a Merry Gnome painting class on Sunday, November 15, and Brambleton Library runs its first Brambleton Gingerbread Competition from December 1 to 16, with home-built entries, public voting and four age categories.
Who runs the Brambleton Gingerbread Competition?
Loudoun County Public Library organizes it at its Brambleton Library branch, 22850 Brambleton Plaza. The library calls it the branch's first gingerbread competition. Entries are accepted December 1 to 8, voting runs December 9 to 15, and winners are announced on December 16.
Is Brambleton part of Ashburn?
Brambleton is one of several neighboring communities, along with Broadlands, Moorefield and Belmont, that fall within the broader Ashburn area. These communities share mailing addresses, infrastructure and ZIP codes such as 20147 and 20148 with Ashburn, which is why Brambleton Library has an Ashburn address.
Can you reach Ashburn by train today?
Yes. Two Washington Metro Silver Line stations serve Ashburn. After passing Dulles Airport the line stops at Loudoun Gateway station and ends at Ashburn station. The stations were first planned to open in 2016 and finally opened on November 15, 2022.
Sources
- Ashburn, Virginia, Wikipedia
- Brambleton Gingerbread Competition, Loudoun County Public Library
- Merry Gnome Painting Class on Nov 15, 2026, Muse Paintbar
Keep the Christmas magic going: track Rally the corgi on Christmas Eve, print free Christmas coloring pages, learn how to say Merry Christmas in 100+ languages, find train museums to visit with kids, or browse Christmas events in every Virginia city.
Ashburn Christmas events for kids: questions parents ask
What Christmas events for kids are happening in Ashburn, VA in 2026?
Two are confirmed. Muse Paintbar at One Loudoun holds a Merry Gnome painting class on Sunday, November 15 from 3:00 to 5:00 pm. Brambleton Library runs its first Brambleton Gingerbread Competition from December 1 to 16, with entries built at home, a week of public voting and winners in four age categories.
Are there free Christmas activities for kids in Ashburn?
The Brambleton Gingerbread Competition listing from Loudoun County Public Library gives no fee, and anyone visiting the library from December 9 to 15 can vote for a favorite entry. The Merry Gnome painting class at Muse Paintbar on November 15 is a paid event at $47 per painter.
Which Ashburn holiday events need a reservation?
The Merry Gnome painting class on November 15 requires a reservation, paid at booking, and every guest needs a paid seat, children included. The Brambleton Gingerbread Competition has no sign-up form on its listing; entries are simply dropped off December 1 to 8, and library staff can share the guidelines.
How does the Brambleton Gingerbread Competition work?
Families build a gingerbread dwelling at home and bring it to Brambleton Library between December 1 and 8. Visitors vote from December 9 to 15, and winners are announced December 16 in four categories: kids 7 and younger, youth 8 to 12, teens 13 to 17, and adults.
What ages are these Ashburn events good for?
The gingerbread competition has a category for every age, starting with kids 7 and younger. The Merry Gnome painting class on November 15 welcomes all ages, though Muse Paintbar recommends 5 and up, and anyone under 13 needs an adult with them who also has a paid seat.
Where in Ashburn do these events take place?
The gingerbread competition is at Brambleton Library, 22850 Brambleton Plaza, in the Brambleton community that shares Ashburn's mailing addresses and ZIP codes. The Merry Gnome class on November 15 is at Muse Paintbar's One Loudoun studio. The One Loudoun community borders Ashburn to the north.
Are there Christmas train rides for kids near Ashburn?
Santa trains and holiday train rides have their own guide: Rally Takes the Train’s Virginia Christmas train rides guide. This Ashburn guide covers Santa visits, story times, light shows and other events off the rails.
How do you confirm these events?
We list an event only after we find this season’s date on the host’s own website or an official city or tourism calendar. We last checked every listing on November 10, 2026. Hosts change details, so always confirm on the host’s page before you go.
Event names belong to their hosts. Rally Takes the Train is a family picture book and is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by any host listed here. Confirm dates, times and prices on each host’s own site before you go.