5 things

Ho hum, what’s there to do around town? Probably noth–STATE FAIR! FESTIVAL OF INDIA! TONS OF OTHER STUFF! It’s fall, the season when things really start to happen! So get out and enjoy this beautiful seasonal weather, why don’t you?

September 23, 2010; 12:00 PM • by Susan Howson

Ho hum, what’s there to do around town? Probably noth–STATE FAIR! FESTIVAL OF INDIA! TONS OF OTHER STUFF! It’s fall, the season when things really start to happen! So get out and enjoy this beautiful seasonal weather, why don’t you?

1. State Fair of Virginia

Let’s just address the elephant in the room so we can all relax: Burgers with doughnuts as rolls. OK good, now we’re free to discuss the less crazy stuff, such as the speed-of-light rides, questionable exhibitions, wallet-draining games, prize-winning corn, the best people watching on Earth, and the always thrilling possibility of seeing a live cow birth. The State Fair of Virginia, there is absolutely nothing like it!

• Thursday, September 23 through Sunday, October 3. Sun.-Thurs: 10am – 10pm, Fri: 10am – 1am, Sat: 10am – 12am
• I-95 exit 98 next to Kings Dominion
• Admission begins at $10, packages available

2. 43rd Street Festival of the Arts

This beloved Southside ritual exposes festivalgoers to artwork and crafts from 65 regional creative types. See the art, hear the local bands (including Susan Greenbaum and the Bluz Catz), and taste satisfaction as you realize that the proceeds of the event go to local homeless shelter, Freedom House. Oh, you can taste some local food too, but that didn’t really fit well into what I was doing with that sentence.

• Saturday, September 25 (10am-5pm)
• 43rd Street Gallery (1412 W. 43rd St.)
• Free admission, food (and handicrafts) cost extra

3. The Foreigner at Swift Creek Mill Theatre

Look, the State Fair? The 43rd Street Festival? You’ve been doing a lot of walking. Time to have a seat and absorb some really good comedy, and this play comes highly recommended. Written by Larry Shue, The Foreigner celebrated a long off-Broadway career, and my sources tell me that the actors can barely be heard over the laughter. And I mean that in the best of ways!

• Thursday, September 16 – Saturday, October 23; (Thurs.-Fri.: 8pm, Sat. 2:30pm and 8pm)
• 17401 Jefferson Davis Hwy
• $35 per ticket

4. Voix De Villes Follies present “I Spy”

Great hat, there are a lot of things going on at this event! And not a lot of things I think I’d feel comfortable taking my grandmother to, even if she did say “Great hat!” a lot. As they say on their site, the “voice of the city” combines the best talent Richmond has to offer with a “taste for the risqué,” and with this event, they go “deep into the realm of spies, intrigue, and espionage.” If you’re not all a-flutter, you should be.

• Saturday, September 25 (8pm)
• Gallery 5 (200 W. Marshall St.)
• $10 in advance, $12 at the door, $9 for Gallery 5 members

5.The Festival of India

I am rarely as pleased as I am when a plate of Indian food is before me. Unfortunately that moment of delight only lasts for about four seconds, because I will scarf it down faster than you can say “Gimme some of that.” You’ll be welcome to scrape together my leftovers because I’ll be long gone – hitting the booths, buying some jewelry, wishing I were a little more graceful. Come, watch me experience intense cultural envy.

• Saturday, September 25 (11am – 9pm) and Sunday, September 26 (11am – 8pm)
• Greater Richmond Convention Center (403 N. 3rd Street)
• Free admission, delicious food and beautiful wares extra

September 23, 2010 12:00 PM 5