Ladies and gentlemen, the RVA Adult Expo has returned for a second year! And despite what you may have heard earlier on, the event will be taking place at Plant Zero’s RVA Event Space tomorrow beginning at 3 PM.
Ladies and gentlemen, the RVA Adult Expo has returned for a second year! And despite what you may have heard earlier on, the event will be taking place at Plant Zero’s RVA Event Space tomorrow beginning at 3 PM.
Surely some of you remember the hubbub that surrounded the first RVA Adult Expo, which took place back in June 2013. Venue issues and other controversies plagued the leadup to the event, which ended up going off without a hitch on June 1, 2013 at the Clarion Hotel on N. Boulevard. This year, things hit more of a snag, and the previously reported venue, the Hat Factory aka RVA Theatre, had to be abandoned at the eleventh hour. Never fear, though–this exhibition featuring porn stars, fetish models, MMA fighters, and plenty of adult entertainment vendors will still be happening tomorrow!
Photo by Richard Perkins
I can hear you saying, “What exactly am I going to get if I show up for this show tomorrow?” Well, an eyeful, for starters. I attended this show in a very official, journalistic capacity last year, and was immediately overwhelmed by the sheer amount of things to look at. The people watching alone at an event like this is incredible, and that’s especially true when scantily clad porn stars are in the mix. Here’s a bit of what I had to say about last year’s event:
Even if you’ve seen a million pornographic magazines and movies, it’s weird to be in a room with a bunch of porn stars standing behind tables waiting to talk to you. I handled my shyness by clamming up and letting my fellow reporter ask all the questions. She talked to all sorts of different vendors (while I quietly listened), everyone from an artist who drew comics about furries to a sex toy salesperson who arranged in-home exhibitions of the products she sold (like an X-rated Tupperware party). For a convention featuring only around three dozen booths, it was pretty amazing to see the wide variety of sexual interests covered by the expo.
Photo by Richard Perkins
Richelle Ryan and Lisa Licious, two porn stars who were sharing a booth, stood out as the most obvious representatives of the California porn industry, aka “The Other Hollywood.” Both of them had an aggressively sexy look that emphasized their secondary sexual characteristics to an overwhelming extreme. On camera, a look like this can be hot as hell, but in person, it feels more intimidating than anything, which didn’t make it easy to walk up and talk to them.
There was another booth staffed by tattooed alt-porn stars showing off DVDs in which they had starred. While they seemed more approachable at first, it was a bit weird to realize that I’d actually met a couple of the girls in the booth at parties around town. I had the same kind of uncomfortable reaction when I saw the booths for local sex toy shops and strip clubs, and recognized a few of their booth girls as well. It was all a bit too real. Maybe this is the downside of a locally-focused adult expo–are you going to see people you know? Best to be prepared for it to happen. Well, I’ll remember next time.
This year’s event promises to be much the same sort of experience. With porn stars Roxy Reynolds and Richelle Ryan on hand as well as alternative model The Perfect Sin and MMA Fighter/porn star David Derby, there’ll be plenty of people to talk to that you don’t exactly meet every day. Plus, adult entertainment podcaster Tony Batman will be in the building, taping an episode of his podcast that’s been promised to feature a blowjob contest (they’ll be using frozen bananas, so chill out, everybody!), so there’ll be a lot to see. It might make you a little nervous, but you sure won’t be bored!
Advance tickets for this year’s RVA Adult Expo are still available online for another 12 or so hours. Admission to the Expo is $20 in advance, with a ticket to the Expo and the after party running you $30 total. VIP tickets are $75. Order any and all of these tickets by clicking HERE–but do it before midnight, because tomorrow morning, they’ll be gone!
The whole thing is happening tomorrow beginning at 3 PM at Plant Zero’s RVA Event Space, located at 0 E. 4th St in the Manchester district (just south of the James River from downtown). For more info, click here, or go to RVAAdultXpo.com.
