The week after Halloween, Richmond trades costumes for culture — and then turns solemn, in the best sense, for Veterans Day. Thursday brings glowing gardens with aerialists overhead and a string quartet on the University of Richmond campus; Friday belongs to the Boulevard museums and a brand-new pickle festival in Jackson Ward; Saturday pairs a neighborhood history walk with Jane Austen under the stars; and the week closes with two very different, very Richmond ways to honor Veterans Day. Here is what is on from Thursday, November 5 through Wednesday, November 11.
1. Garden Glow LIVE
Thursday, November 5 (evening; last entry 9:00 PM)
Maymont, Robins Nature Center entrance, 2201 Shields Lake Dr, Richmond
Garden Glow’s final weekend gets a lift — literally. On this special LIVE night, the Bandits Troupe performs aerial acts in rotating sets every half hour on the glowing Carriage House Lawn, above the mile-long path of lights: Petals in Pink, the Field of Fireflies, 20-foot Light Ladders, and the expanded Laser Lane in the Japanese Garden. It is the most spectacular version of an already spectacular night, and with the run ending Sunday, this is the week to go. Timed-entry tickets; allow about 90 minutes.
Cost: $25 adults, $21 seniors and children on standard nights; $20/$16 on value nights.
More info: Event page
2. Isidore String Quartet at Modlin
Thursday, November 5, 7:30 PM
Modlin Center for the Arts, 453 Westhampton Way, Richmond
The Modlin Arts Presents season brings the Isidore String Quartet to Camp Concert Hall — one of the most talked-about young quartets on the chamber circuit, in the intimate room that suits this music best. A ten-minute drive from the Village, a world away from the week’s noise, and exactly the kind of Thursday night the Modlin does so well. Note: Modlin is a cashless facility.
Cost: Ticketed; see Modlin’s event page for pricing.
More info: Event page
3. First Fridays at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture
Friday, November 6, 5:00–8:00 PM
Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 N Arthur Ashe Blvd, Richmond
The museum stays open late and free on the first Friday of the month: galleries, food trucks, live music, family activities, and specials in the Commonwealth Café. This month’s bonus is a drop-in screening of the Barbie movie at 5:30 PM in the Robins Family Forum — a fitting tie-in while Barbie: A Cultural Icon is on view — plus the museum’s toy drive for Children’s Hospital of Richmond at VCU. The easiest free Friday night on the Boulevard.
Cost: Free; no registration required.
More info: Event page
4. Richmond Pickle Party — First Friday Block Party
Friday, November 6, 5:00–10:00 PM (festival continues Saturday–Sunday)
Gallery5, 200 W Marshall St, Richmond
Richmond’s first-ever Pickle Party kicks off at the First Friday Block Party: an outdoor artisan market along the Brook Road corridor, live music, an art exhibition, pickled and fermented goods from local makers, and — at 7:00 PM — a Pickle Parade (conga line, green garb encouraged) meeting outside GWAR Bar at Clay Street and Brook Road. It is gloriously unserious, deeply local, and the kind of only-in-Richmond weekend that deserves a crowd. The party continues through Sunday at Gallery5.
Cost: Free to attend; food and goods for purchase.
More info: Event page
5. Spotlight Tour: Frederick Douglass Court
Saturday, November 7, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM
Meets at 1209 Overbrook Rd, Richmond
The Valentine, presented with the Black History Museum, walks Frederick Douglass Court — a historically African-American neighborhood just north of Virginia Union University — with longtime residents telling its remarkable history firsthand. This is the Valentine at its best: not a lecture about a neighborhood, but a walk through it with the people who lived it. Expect 1–2 miles; wear comfortable shoes and bring water.
Cost: $20 adults, $10 members, free for children; advance tickets required.
More info: Event page
6. Pride & Prejudice Under the Stars at Agecroft
Saturday, November 7, gates 6:00 PM, film 7:00 PM
Agecroft Hall & Gardens, 4305 Sulgrave Rd, Richmond
What better place to watch a Regency romance than a Tudor manor’s back lawn? Agecroft and Good For Her Films screen the 2005 Pride & Prejudice — Keira Knightley, Matthew Macfadyen, and that hand flex — outdoors, with live harp before the film, tarot readings, Blue Bee Cider, and Graze Craze charcuterie boxes for the full picnic effect. Bring lawn chairs or blankets, and dress for a crisp fall evening. If weather intervenes, everything moves to Sunday, November 8 at 7:00 PM and tickets transfer automatically.
Cost: $20 adults, $15 students ages 7–18, free for children 6 and under; members save 20%.
More info: Event page
7. Liberty or Death Reenactment in Honor of Veterans Day
Sunday, November 8, 1:30–2:15 PM
Historic St. John’s Church, 2401 E Broad St, Richmond
In the very room where it happened, professional actors in 1770s attire reenact the Second Virginia Convention of March 1775 — the debates, the arguments, and finally Patrick Henry’s “Give me liberty or give me death!” speech. Staged in honor of Veterans Day, in the 250th year of American independence, it lands differently this November: a reminder of what the holiday’s service members were defending, in the place where the argument for it was made. Walk-up ticket sales open at noon in the visitor center; doors open at 1:00 PM.
Cost: Ticketed; see the event page for pricing.
More info: Event page
8. Richmond Pops Band: Veterans Day Tribute
Tuesday, November 10, 7:30 PM
Altria Theater, 6 N Laurel St, Richmond
The Richmond Pops Band — a community institution for over 45 years — plays its annual Veterans Day tribute: wind-band masterworks, patriotic favorites, and Americana classics under Earl E. Shaffer Jr., joined by vocal soloist Emma Potts, guest conductor Michael Warnock, and some 30 of Central Virginia’s finest young student musicians. The Pops play to full houses, and this one, on the eve of Veterans Day, is the most moving night of their year.
Cost: Free (pay-what-you-can); donations welcome and keep these concerts going.
More info: Event page
9. 70th Annual Commonwealth’s Veterans Day Ceremony
Wednesday, November 11, 11:00 AM
Virginia War Memorial, 621 S Belvidere St, Richmond
The Commonwealth’s official Veterans Day ceremony turns 70 this year — seven decades on the same sacred ground. The program includes speakers, a tribute to Virginia’s Blue Star families, the Virginia Military Family of the Year, and the student essay contest winners, with music by the Mount Vernon Baptist Church Choir of Glen Allen (pre-ceremony concert at 10:35 AM). Held outdoors in the Heilman Amphitheater, weather permitting; arrive by 10:30 AM to be seated. If you cannot attend, it airs live on WTVR CBS 6.
Cost: Free.
More info: Event page
10. Dominion Energy Jazz Café: Ban Caribe
Wednesday, November 11, 6:00–8:00 PM
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Cochrane Atrium, 200 N Arthur Ashe Blvd, Richmond
Close the week the way every week around here should close: free jazz in the Cochrane Atrium. This week it is Ban Caribe, multi-instrumentalist Kevin Davis’s ensemble, playing the Afro-Cuban, Latin, Caribbean, and R&B blend Davis calls “Clave Soul” — a livelier, warmer sound than the usual Wednesday fare, and a good reason to arrive early, since seats fill fast. The museum stays open until 9 PM on Wednesdays.
Cost: Free; no registration required.
More info: Event page
Know of an event we should include in a future edition? Send us a tip through the contact page — the more neighborhood the better.
Also on this week: Broadway in Richmond’s The Notebook plays the Altria Theater through Sunday, November 8 (evenings at 7:30 PM, plus Saturday at 2:00 PM and Sunday at 1:00 and 6:30 PM); Garden Glow’s final night is Sunday, November 8; and the Birdhouse Farmers Market runs Tuesday, November 10, 3:00–6:00 PM at 1507 Grayland Ave.
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