It’s a busy week in the River City, with something for everyone, from the Richmond Home Show to the 28th Richmond Tattoo Art & Music Festival. Check out “Storied Strings” at the VMFA, the Afro-Vegan Social at the Black History Museum, the Dominion Energy Charity Classic golf tournament and more. Enjoy!
Guitar World
Maybe you learned to make bread during the past two years instead of picking up a musical instrument, but at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts exhibition “Storied Strings: The Guitar in American Art,” you can pick up a guitar to teach yourself some chords. Or stop by the marvelous recording studio, where you may catch musicians laying down some tracks. There’s plenty to see, including 125 works of art from nearly 200 years and 35 guitars used by performers such as Lulu Belle, John Lee Hooker and Brian Setzer. Tickets are $16.
—Harry Kollatz Jr., Senior Writer
Air Refresher
What makes Richmond so “sneezy and wheezy”? As the city works to promote pedestrian connectivity and walkability, air quality takes on added importance. For a region that ranks among the country’s worst places for allergy and asthma sufferers, the Science Museum of Virginia’s scientist collective, RVAir, works to measure and understand what’s in our atmosphere. Join the museum’s “Lunch Break Science” seminar on Oct. 19 at noon to learn about the microscopic particles that make Richmond unique and the environmental factors (proximity to highways, tree canopy, etc.) that affect the air we breathe.
—Scott Bass, News Editor
Fore a Good Cause
You’ll find champion golfers including 2000 Masters Tournament winner Vijay Singh in Richmond this weekend for the Dominion Energy Charity Classic. The seventh annual tournament — which has raised more than $7.3 million for Richmond-area nonprofits since 2016 — features golfers aged 50 and older and is set for Thursday, Oct. 20, through Sunday, Oct. 23, at the James River Course of the Country Club of Virginia. Among the array of attractions for spectators is a fan zone with a wine garden and interactive golf activities. Post-golf fun on Friday includes a concert featuring singer-songwriter Lauren Alaina. Tickets are $15 to $90.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
Sweet Home
The annual Richmond Home Show is the place to go to meet local experts on everything for your domicile — heating and cooling, solar panels, kitchens and baths, flooring, gardening and landscaping — and to discover new products and trends. The show returns to the Richmond Raceway Complex Oct. 21-23, with HGTV’s “Laundry Guy,” Patric Richardson, who’ll share tips on laundering just about everything at home on Friday and Saturday. I’ll be there on Saturday at 2 p.m. to moderate a discussion with three local industry experts: Tina Kurtz of Mr. Fix It; Jamie Shea of ReFresh Cabinets; and Wes Gauvin of Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating and Cooling. Join us for tips on getting your projects started.
—Susan Morgan, R•Home Managing Editor
Rocking Ink
Turning 18 and being allowed to get tattoos legally has opened a new sphere of possibilities for me that I’m eager to explore. This weekend, Oct. 21-23, the 28th Richmond Tattoo Art & Music Festival will bring more than 100 internationally known tattoo artists, along with the tattoo enthusiasts who are their canvases, to the DoubleTree Hotel on Koger Center Boulevard. The event also features music (ska from Sneaky Heat Missiles), burlesque performances (Cervena Fox) and a mural painting fundraiser via The Giving Arts Foundation. Ticket prices vary.
—Gray Pershing, Editorial Intern
Culture and Cuisine
On Oct. 22, The Black History Museum & Cultural Center of Virginia hosts the Afro-Vegan Social from 5 to 9 p.m., a cultural event dubbed as a “wonderful night of celebrating afro-futurism thru fashion and scrumptious eats.” The evening kicks off with a seated dinner featuring vegan fare from local restaurants — black-tie attire is encouraged — followed by a few hours of mingling, shopping and busting a move, capped off with a fashion show. Proceeds support “For the Fem in You,” an area nonprofit focused on creating safe spaces for women.
—Eileen Mellon, Food Editor
Other Suggestions
- The Stavna Ballet presents a Haunting at the Hippodrome on Friday, Oct. 21.
- See the first annual River City Dance Film Festival at the Grace Street Theater on Saturday, Oct. 22.
- Fancy Me Mad returns to St. John’s Church Oct. 22 with a graveyard tour featuring historical characters performing, followed by an Edgar Allan Poe reading inside the church.
- From the cover of this month’s Rolling Stone to Brown’s Island: Pusha T performs on Oct. 22.
River City Roundup is Richmond magazine's weekly compilation of the best things to see, do and experience in the region, compiled by our editors. Get each week's installment directly in your inbox every Monday by subscribing to our e-newsletter.
