Richmond magazine’s annual Sourcebook serves as both a welcome guide for those new to the region and a business, activity and entertainment bible for the community. Our largest issue of the year, it’s a treasure trove of information about the place we all call home.
The city has a well-deserved reputation for its arts, music and food, so we have guides to galleries, performance venues, film festivals, museums and entertainment options ranging from demure to daring — as well as a full slate of athletic activities, because Richmond may not have a major sports franchise, but we have plenty of teams to support. On the food side, we offer samples of our outstanding chef-driven cuisine, insider suggestions for delicious dining in unexpected locales, send you around the world at international markets and list all the local farmers markets.
But there's so much more to Richmond, so we also include insights into the business scene, commentary on health care and in-depth information on education to create a well-rounded view of Richmond’s resources.
Although it’s natural to focus on the here and now in a book like this, we would be remiss if we didn’t layer in the history that is, in a very real way, the “source” of the city and the context for much of what you see around you every day. So we have dedicated the 2024 Sourcebook to “Celebrating Our Roots” in as many different ways as we can.
Per our original intention, many of this issue’s articles were inspired by “roots” in the historical sense: mentions of museums and anniversaries, an overview of Broad Street’s evolution, an excerpt from a guidebook that marks sites of resistance and resilience.
But then we began to branch out, you could say. We took the word literally in the discussion of plants in the Neighborhoods section and put an etymological spin on it to investigate the sources of place names around the region for the Welcome section. “Roots” means family in the Dining section’s stories of multigenerational restaurateurs, while thinking about hair roots led to an a-ha! moment and an article about the role of hair salons and barbershops for the Health section. The stylized roots and branches that decorate the pages also suggest a web of “routes.” However you define the word, we hope the issue is a source of information, entertainment and, for those of you who are new to the area, welcome.
