Haagen-Dazs Offering Free Ice Cream During Grand Opening Festivities

Are you ready for some free ice cream, Bethesda?

To mark the opening of their new downtown Bethesda location next to the Häagen-Dazs Bethesda will be giving away a free scoop of ice cream to the first 500 customers who stop by their grand opening celebration Saturday. The festivities will feature a live band and one lucky visitor will receive free ice cream for a year.

The shop at 7237 Woodmont Avenue from their previous location a block away about a month ago. The iconic space was left vacant by Gifford’s, which closed last year amidst a host of legal troubles.

“We like the fact that it’s next to the movie theater, and it has a lot of traffic with the Capital Crescent Trail,” said Tommy Hughes, co-owner of the Bethesda shop. “Bethesda Row is a really dynamic area with a lot of energy. We love being a part of it and we didn’t want to move out of Bethesda.”

According to Hughes, Häagen-Dazs Bethesda owners have commissioned a floor-to-ceiling, six-by-30-foot mural inside the shop that will be representative of the community. The mural is currently being created on canvas panels by artist Christian Kanienberg, and an unveiling is planned for mid-September.

So far, about 40 images of local landmarks are planned to be featured on the mural, and suggestions have been developed with the help of a suggestion box at the shop. Some of the ideas for scenes to feature include President Obama getting a checkup at the and the Madonna of the Trail statue, featured with the face of pop star Madonna.

“We have a mural in Georgetown that’s been really popular. People love it and come in for it and it has all the local Georgetown features," Hughes said. "We wanted to do the same thing here. We thought it would be a great way to show we are a part of the local community.”

The grand opening festivities will begin at 11a.m. Saturday with live music from 1p.m. to 3p.m.