COMMUNITY




more in community

New Menu, Who Dis? Get Tight Gets Tighter.

Randy O’Dell has a posse. The co-owner of Get Tight Lounge, and owner of En Su Boca, and beloved bars and restaurants of RVA legend, has always known how to attract incredible talent in his kitchen and behind the bar. He’s joined forces with Drew Schlegel in keeping...

The Byrd Theatre Is Still Richmond’s Palace of Dreams

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...

Tired of Guessing | What Adult Literacy Looks Like in Richmond

Editor’s Note: The following essay is by Mary Graham, CEO of READ RVA, a Richmond-based nonprofit focused on adult literacy. I learned early not to assume anything about who can read. A man once stopped me on Broad Street. He held out a scrap of paper with an address...

Viral Video Sparks Questions About Cancer-Causing Gas in Richmond

A new Instagram video circulating among Richmond residents is raising questions about ethylene oxide, a cancer-causing gas used to sterilize medical equipment, and whether local facilities and warehouses could be contributing to an underrecognized public health...

Photos | Thousands Gather for No Kings Protests Across Richmond

Two separate “No Kings” demonstrations took place across downtown Richmond on Saturday, March 28, drawing crowds to both Kanawha Plaza and Monroe Park as part of a coordinated nationwide day of action. The first gathering began earlier in the day at Kanawha Plaza,...

Remembering WRIR Founders and Leaders in a Year of Loss

Over the past six months, three people foundational to WRIR 97.3 FM, Richmond’s volunteer-run station built outside the expectations of corporate radio, rooted in a love of music, giving locals a voice, and creating space where there wasn’t any, have died. All from...

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...

Richmond “No Kings” Protest Returns on March 28

Editor's note: Updated with new information. Richmond’s ongoing No Kings movement will return to the streets later this month, with two rallies planned across the region on Saturday, March 28. A gathering is scheduled for 1–3 pm at Monroe Park rganized by RVA Indivisible. On March 28, organizers say they hope to bring Richmonders...

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Richmond Is a Top Ten City for Seasonal Allergies.

If you’ve lived here long enough, you know the moment. Your car suddenly looks like it’s been dusted with powdered mustard. Your eyes itch. Your sinuses start to close up. Spring in Richmond has arrived, and with it comes the pollen. After several weeks of freezing or near-freezing temperatures, Richmond is heading into a stretch of warm weather...

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Richmond seasonal allergies_photo by James Peacock RVA Magazine 2026

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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