Christmas Eve, 1928. Richmond is cold and the city is dressed for the holiday. On West Cary Street, a crowd gathers outside a building that wasn't there six months ago; a French Empire facade rising up in the middle of a neighborhood that had no idea it was about to...
Recently, I met with GirlSpit, a band composed of Sera (they/she) on vocals and keytar, Harley (she/her) on bass and lead synth, and Rosa (she/her) on drums, who create slightly gothic, synth-punk music in Richmond. Birthed out of connections from queer bike ride nights and kink clubs, GirlSpit embodies what it means to be musicians who know...
On June 22, 2024, Texas Beach in Richmond became the epicenter of the city’s skateboarding scene for Go Skate Day 2024. Organized by Venue Skateboards and backed by prizes from Heroin Skateboards, the event featured a loose blend of skate contests, local music, and food provided by 1115 Kitchen. Skaters from all over the city gathered at the...
The Carytown Watermelon Festival is in its 42nd year and features vendors, food, drinks, music, rides, and big crowds. What the Watermelon Festival is now famous for is what it doesn't have: cars on Cary Street. This event is similar to the Easter Parade, where the pedestrians are the parade, or the Monument Ave 10k, which makes the Fan and...
On a steamy September Saturday, Richmond is set to explode with the kaleidoscopic energy of Pridefest 2024. The city’s Bon Secours Training Center will be ground zero for this year’s LGBTQ celebration, turning the Commonwealth’s capital into a pulsing epicenter of music, culture, and unapologetic self-expression. Mark your calendars for September...
“Bodhi, this is your fucking wake up call. I am an FBI Agent.” - Undercover FBI Agent, Johnny Utah. When the Voyager spacecraft launched in 1977, it contained two identical golden records bound for interstellar space. Within those records were sounds and images that portrayed the vast diversity of life on planet Earth, including photographs and...
A few months back, I stumbled upon the work of Truxton, a boutique creative shop right here in town, and it stopped me for a minute. The energy and high-caliber quality of their work felt like a big-city agency's touch brought to our local scene. I reached out. What follows is a conversation with Alex, the sharp-eyed photographer and visual...
The booze bandits are out in full force, and they’ve got Virginia ABC stores in their sights. In the first six months of this year, a jaw-dropping $800,000 worth of alcohol has vanished from the shelves, marking a hefty 50% uptick compared to last year’s heists. This wave of thefts could soon make your favorite spirits as elusive as a good...
The following is a statement by the RVA Street Festival organizers. If you would like to join the conversation and comment, please follow the link HERE. Since April 2012 and the first RVA Street Art Festival, the abandoned Haxall Power Plant has been a cultural landmark for the city of Richmond and a prime example of the power of public art and...
Mark your calendars (or draw it on your leg?), but come October 18th, you should be in for Richmond at the Midlothian Doubletree Hotel for the 36th annual Richmond Tattoo and Arts Convention. Richmond had been ground zero for the explosion of interest in tattoo artistry, by sheer volume of tatted-up local residents and the glut of incredible...
