Richmond is ranked the number one city in America for supporting local businesses, according to a new national study from OnDeck. The report analyzed Instagram activity tied to hashtags like #shoplocal and #shopsmall across nearly 500 U.S. cities and found Richmond...
Thousands of you weighed in for our 2025 Readers’ Poll, chiming in on everything from the city’s smokiest BBQ to the boutiques you swear by and the spots you insist your visiting friends have to see “to get the real Richmond.” So thanks to everyone who voted. Here’s how it shaked out. ZZQ DOMINATES FOR A 3RD STRAIGHT YEARHow does ZZQ Texas Craft...
Everyone in the media business will tell you it has been a tough year. In some ways it has been, but it was also the year we found another gear. As newsrooms froze up, we kept shining a light on the people who make Richmond what it is. The musicians, artists, comedians, actors, entrepreneurs, and all the folks building culture in real time. We...
Drinksgiving isn’t on any calendar, but it behaves like a holiday anyway predictable, chaotic, and oddly comforting, the way familiar mistakes often are. This year, instead of guessing which dive bars would be overflowing, we just asked the city. Our 2025 Support Local, Vote Local Readers’ Poll pulled in more than a few thousand votes,...
Virginia Repertory Theatre is gearing up for the holidays with a new staging of A Christmas Carol, adapted and directed by Artistic Director Rick Hammerly. The production opens November 28 and runs through December 28 at the November Theatre, and if ambition counts for anything, Virginia Rep may be trying to carve out Richmond’s next annual...
A Night at Black Iris with John Campbell and Tyler Williams hosted by Landon Shroder, co-publisher, RVA Magazine. Presented in partnership with MSE Properties, Plan 9 Music and Medora Laser. Last Thursday night’s Salon de Résistance: The Shape of Music to Come at Black Iris took on a question that has gone from hypothetical to philosophical to...
Editor’s note: The results are in and can be found HERE! Let the groans begin, Richmond, it’s that time again: our semi annual Support Local, Vote Local Poll. We’ve all been through it lately. Another election, another pile of headlines designed to grind your optimism into dust. Everyone’s tired, broke, and trying to make it to the weekend...
Editor’s note: As the holiday shopping season begins, we are encouraging Richmonders to support independent businesses, you can find a list of those in our ongoing “Support Local, Vote Local” 2025 Readers’ Poll, which highlights hundreds of local shops, restaurants, and services across the region. Every dollar spent locally makes a...
When you talk to the workers on strike outside the Starbucks in the Fan, you don’t hear anything abstract about “labor movements” or “corporate negotiations.” You hear frustration, exhaustion, and a pretty simple question: why won’t Starbucks come to the table? Last Thursday, baristas at the Robinson Street Starbucks walked out as part of a...
Fall of Freedom bills itself as “an urgent call to the arts community to unite in defiance of authoritarian forces sweeping the nation.” The organizers aren’t pulling punches: they argue that democracy is under attack, threats to free expression are rising, dissent is being criminalized, and institutions, including the arts, are being bent toward...
