“It’s time to play the music, it’s time to light the lights” and, to paraphrase slightly, it’s time to get things started on a sensational, inspirational, Richmond-tational season of entertainment.
Not that shows ever slowed — the summer was packed with outstanding events — but as we head into harvest season, there’s a bounty of bands, stage spectacles, dance performances and film festivals coming our way. We highlight the top tickets for the next few months in our annual Fall Arts Preview, starting on Page 76. Plus, we honor the Richmond Folk Festival’s 20th anniversary with a special look back on its origins by enthusiastic Bucket Brigade volunteer Harry Kollatz Jr. (Page 86).
There are far more events than we can fit into the issue. For weekly updates, sign up for our entertainment email newsletter, the River City Roundup.
Fall is also the traditional start of school, of course. A while back I heard about two organizations offering lessons of a different sort and asked writer Laura Anders Lee to investigate. In “Girl Power” (Page 68), she explores how mentorships make a difference both to young Richmonders and the adults who volunteer with them.
Speaking of school, we did something different with this year’s Virginia College Guide (Page 97). Choosing to take the title of the special section literally, we reached out to staff and administrators at the Richmond region’s five institutions, as well as several independent specialists, and asked them to serve as experts in a getting-started guide for families with kids considering college. We include advice for starting the search, navigating applications, planning for dorm life, figuring out finances and more. And, of course, we updated our at-a-glance charts, collected some interesting info about each of our consulting colleges and added a few reasons students should consider staying local. Let us know if you like this slant or prefer the deep dives into educational topics typical of our previous approach.
Also in this issue, see a sketch of Chesterfield’s new mascot, learn about an upcoming nonprofit news site, sign up to celebrate National Sewing Month, find out about some unusual fish in the Tri-Cities, and meet a retiring CEO and another just getting started. See how the commonwealth recognizes longtime farm families, rep restaurants with meal merch, welcome back the State Fair of Virginia, understand intuitive eating, lace on your sneakers to race through Black history and much more. Enjoy!
