For decades, the middle two weeks of summer sounded the same from anywhere along the western edge of Windsor Woods: the whir of a Ferris wheel motor carrying over the tree line, the smell of funnel cake drifting off Edwin Drive, the low murmur of a crowd that had driven in from well outside the neighborhood. That sound is gone this year. The Mount Trashmore Summer Carnival, a staple for decades at the park that forms Windsor Woods' own western boundary, will not return in 2026.
The end came in stages. The 2025 carnival shut down after just three days when the city cited staffing shortages, including a lack of public safety officers, and safety concerns following a 2024 shooting in the carnival's parking lot that killed a teenage girl and injured a young man. A city spokesperson later confirmed the ride would not come back at all this year, gave no single reason, and said, as quoted by 13News Now, that the park would have "a full schedule of events planned throughout the summer" instead. Mayor Bobby Dyer, as quoted by WTKR, said: "We're sorry that we had to close down a business that wanted to do business in Virginia Beach."
That is the part of the story that made the local news. The calendar of events offers another view of how the city plans to use the park.
What's Actually on the Calendar Instead
Rather than one operator running a multi-week midway, the city built out a run of single-day events spread across nearly the entire year. Several have already happened by the time you're reading this. Others are still ahead.
| Event | Date | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Rising Sun Pow Wow | May 16 | A celebration of the Nansemond Tribe and Native American culture, with a Grand Entry procession, drumming, dancing, and craft vendors |
| July 4th Celebration | July 4 | The city's annual Independence Day gathering |
| Summer Bash | Aug. 8 | A single-day summer festival |
| Sand & Surf 5K/10K | Aug. 9 | A run and walk course through the park |
| LigayaFest Filipino Festival | Oct. 24 | A Filipino cultural festival |
| Autumn in the Air | Nov. 7 | A one-day fall festival |
| Electronics recycling drop-off | Nov. 21 | A community e-waste and paper recycling event |
Every one of these is free, city-run or city-partnered, and contained to a single day.
How the Park's Schedule Has Changed
Read that list end to end and a pattern shows up that the cancellation announcement never spelled out. The carnival ran for weeks, while the new calendar lists single-day events at points throughout the year. A tribal pow wow in May. A distance race in August. A Filipino festival in October. Each one draws a different slice of Hampton Roads for a single afternoon or evening, then the park goes back to being a neighborhood park.
For someone who already lives along Loch Haven Road or Level Green Drive, the park's calendar now includes several single-day events throughout the year, and residents can choose which, if any, to attend. The park's giant playground, skate park, and lakeside picnic areas are available on the days between events.
A Year-Round Recreation Option
None of this touches the other anchor a few minutes from the same stretch of Windsor Woods: Bow Creek Recreation Center on Club House Road. It's a 67,743-square-foot LEED-certified facility with an indoor pool that includes a sprayground, slide, and diving board, a double gym with basketball courts, and a full slate of drop-in classes including Zumba, Pilates, TRX, yoga, and Les Mills BODYPUMP. Bow Creek operates on the city's regular schedule throughout the year.
It remains a separate recreation option from the events scheduled at Mount Trashmore.
What's Actually Within Walking Distance
The stretch of South Plaza Trail that runs along Windsor Woods has its own small food cluster, and it's worth knowing by name rather than category. Jerrrk Time Caribbean Cuisine, at 3540 S Plaza Trail, runs a Trinidadian-influenced kitchen built around jerk chicken, curry goat, and oxtails, generous enough that a single order regularly stretches into two meals. A few blocks down at 152 S Plaza Trail, Plaza Jamaican Restaurant serves the same oxtail-and-rice-and-peas tradition with its own following. And at 4541 S Plaza Trail, near the park entrance, Jollibee brings its Filipino-style fried chicken and Jolly Spaghetti to the same corridor, a fitting neighbor given that LigayaFest lands at Mount Trashmore every October.
None of these existed because of the carnival, and none of them will disappear now that it's gone. They're the kind of businesses that keep running regardless of what the city schedules at the park down the street, which is exactly the point.
The Real Takeaway for Anyone Already Living Here
The carnival's exit changes the summer schedule at Mount Trashmore. The park's calendar includes a slate of single-day events throughout the year. If you live in Windsor Woods, that means more chances to show up for something specific throughout the year, a recreation center that never blinked through any of it, and a food strip on Plaza Trail that was always worth the walk.
If you're weighing a move into this part of Virginia Beach, or thinking about what your own home here might be worth in a market shaped by details like these, Just Call Coco knows this neighborhood block by block. Let's Connect.
