The first full week of fall brings a diverse harvest of activities in and around Richmond. There’s tractors and trucks in Colonial Heights, a one-person play at the Perkinson Center for the Arts and Education, a celebration of Scotchtown, the return of the 2nd Street Festival, and Powhatan’s Festival of the Grape. Enjoy!
That’ll Be the Day
Colonial Heights gets its day on Saturday, Oct. 2, at the Keystone Antique Truck & Tractor Museum, an airy, brightly lit facility with more than 90 mechanized behemoths of bygone years that once toiled in the fields or ruled the roads. Colonial Heights Day brings more than 25 local vendors to the facility, including food trucks. Admission is $5 and includes entry to the museum.
—Tharon Giddens, Lifestyle Editor
Scotch It Up
Celebrate Hanover County’s Colonial heritage at Scotchtown during the 300th Anniversary Commemoration and Fall Festival on Saturday, Oct. 2. Tour the historic house that Patrick Henry called home from 1771 to 1778, hear stories about the African American experience shared by historian and storyteller Valerie Davis, or watch the James Beard Award-winning author of “The Cooking Gene,” food historian Michael Twitty, demonstrate hearth cooking and talk Afro Atlantic culinary history. Enjoy living history interpreters, demonstrations by traditional artisans and exhibitors with links to Hanover history. There’s also live music, food trucks and a petting zoo for the kids.
—Susan Morgan, R•Home Managing Editor
Power to the Grape
Calling all oenophiles, hop-heads and imbibers: On Saturday, Oct. 2, Powhatan’s Historic Courthouse Village will transform into a walk-around tasting event featuring wineries, breweries and distilleries from across the commonwealth during Powhatan’s Festival of the Grape. The 18th (“mostly”) annual celebration kicks off just in time for Virginia Wine Month and is meant to showcase the state’s boozy offerings, including cider and mead. Look for Lake Anna Winery, Catoctin Creek distillery, Bryant’s Cider and more, along with food trucks and live tunes. Tickets are $25 in advance, $30 day-of.
—Eileen Mellon, Food Editor
Street Sounds
The 2nd Street Festival, the annual two-day celebration of Richmond’s historic Jackson Ward neighborhood, once known as the “Harlem of the South,” returns this weekend. Masks are strongly encouraged (and available on site) at the free festival, which will also include free COVID-19 vaccinations on Saturday among the usual offerings of food trucks, art and clothing vendors, and live music. This year’s headliner is local jazz makers Plunky & Oneness; also on the bill is a tribute to Prince, the Virginia Union University Gospel Choir, rapper Young Prince Charles, Debra Dean & the Key West Band, and many others.
—Craig Belcher, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Everything’s Illuminated
How do you keep someone moored to living if they become untethered to the value of life? Louise Keeton takes on this question in the one-person “Every Brilliant Thing,” produced by the Illuminated Stage Theatre Company and directed by Julie Fulcher-Davis with final performances Oct. 1-3 on the new Jimmy Dean Stage at the Perkinson Center for the Arts & Education in Chester. The engaging Keeton portrays several phases of life and experience as a daughter contending with her mother’s depression and suicidal tendencies. And yet there is humor, too. Members of the audience have parts to play in the unfolding drama as the father, the family veterinarian, a college lecturer and others. Tickets are $25 to $40.
—Harry Kollatz Jr., Senior Writer
Other Suggestions
- Jazz pianist Keiko Matsui comes to The Tin Pan Sept. 28.
- The Virginia Museum of History & Culture presents a virtual discussion of “Hispanic & Latino Heritage in Virginia” on Sept. 30.
- The Latin Ballet of Virginia performs “Alma Latina” at Pocahontas State Park on Oct. 2.
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.