COMMUNITY




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No Red Carpet, Just Films! James River Film Festival Is Back

Every spring, I look forward to one of Richmond’s best film traditions, the James River Film Festival. With the mantra “Eclectic Celluloid for the Cinematic Soul,” the James River Film Society curates programs spanning a wide range of subjects and styles. It’s always...

Babe Improv Might Be The Funniest Thing in Richmond Right Now

There’s a moment during a Babe Improv set where you realize two things at once. First, they have no idea what they’re about to do next. Second, it’s all going to work out somehow. That tightrope is what makes it work, and when you have two people this in sync, it...

Hemp Retailers Say New Virginia Cannabis Law Would Shut Them Down

With a major cannabis bill now awaiting Governor Abigail Spanberger’s decision, Virginia hemp retailers, farmers, and small business advocates are urging her to step in before it becomes law. The Cannabis Small Business Association (CSBA) and a coalition of hemp...

The Man Who Sold Richmond on a Flying Squirrel

Editor’s note: With Richmond’s new CarMax Park opening soon, it felt like the right time to revisit how the Flying Squirrels first took root in the city. We had the chance to speak with Chuck Domino, the veteran minor league baseball operator during that transition....

Ring, Richmond, and the Feeling of Being Watched

Walk through just about any neighborhood in Richmond and you’ll see them. The small blue-lit doorbells tucked into brick row houses in Church Hill. The newer setups in Manchester townhomes and Scott’s Addition apartments. For a lot of us, buying a Ring camera was practical. Packages were disappearing, car break-ins felt closer to home. It wasn’t...

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Ring Camera Richmond_photo by Turquo Cabbit-by R Anthony Harris_RVA Magazine 2026

DAY 8 & 9 | What It’s Like to Judge the Richmond Cannabis Cup

Editor's Note: We are an official media sponsor for February Fire which will be held February 28th at Homegrown VA. Weed has been the diadem of rebellious youth for generations, a product so diametrically opposed to the capitalist urge that its use conjures images of human driftwood lounging in bathrobes. And yet, all over the country, soccer...

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2 Killed, 9 Shot in Shockoe Bottom After Bars Closed

On the first warm weekend of 2026, in the early hours of Saturday, Feb. 21, at least nine people were shot on North 18th Street in Shockoe Bottom. Two people, 23-year-old Genesis Tamar Jones and 42-year-old Dominic Antoine Jackson, were killed, and seven others were wounded. Police say the shooting began as an argument between two groups after...

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Starting the Dream in Richmond’s Local Music Scene

Editor’s Note: This piece was written by a student at Randolph-Macon College as part of a feature writing course. Thank you to the students and to Professor Seth Clabough, Ph.D., for organizing the project. Gavin Lawton remembers the exact moment he decided music was not just a hobby, but a path. “I was ten years old,” he says confidently. “I got...

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Starting-in-Richmond-music-scence-by-Asher-Burns_photo-by-Flavio-Vallone_RVA-Magazine-2026

The Good Road: Craig Martin on Challenging Myths Through Travel

When Richmond producer Craig Martin talks about The Good Road, he does not start with ratings or distribution. He starts with a pitch he heard on a flight more than a decade ago. “The first words out of his mouth,” Craig said of his business partner and co-host Earl Bridges, “‘I want to do a show that’s Bourdain meets philanthropy.’ And I was...

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Craig Martin_The Good Road_Shockoe Records_interview by R Anthony Harris_RVA Magazine 2026

It’s Still Our City Ep. 18 | Lauren Healy Flora of Blue Bones Vintage

Editor's Note: This came out a few months ago. We are late on posting. Apologies. "Local small business owner, Lauren Healy Flora, owner of Blue Bones Vintage for the past eleven years has a degree in fashion design and a background in art/wardrobe/props for production. She's an established staple in our Richmond community and a badass mother and...

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Prison Work And Court Fines: A Reform Proposal For Virginia

Editor’s Note: This article is based on reporting by Julianna Brown of Capital News Service, a student-powered newsroom at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. RVA Magazine has edited and expanded the reporting for our audience. For years, Virginia has allowed community service to count toward court fines and...

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