Community Movies Return! WW84! UPDATE: POSTPONED DUE TO WEATHER

In a sure sign that the pandemic has abated, Pine Street Baptist Church is resuming its Friday night community movies in Pleasants Park.

Community Movie Night
Friday, June 11 @ 8:30 pm in Pleasants Park Free Refreshments Served: Grilled hot dogs, sides, and beverages. Bring a chair or blanket.
Join the fun for our first movie of the season!

UPDATE:

Due to the weather forecast for Friday, tonight’s movie Wonder Woman 1984 is canceled. We will show the movie on our next Community Movie Night, June 25!

RVA EFF Kicks Off Tonight With VCU Sponsored Film

The 11th Annual RVA Environmental Film Festival kicks off TONIGHT with the world premiere of the feature-length documentary Frozen Obsession, chronicling the expedition of the Swedish icebreaker Oden through 2,000 miles of the Arctic to study the impact of climate change. For even more insight into the findings of this amazing voyage, a panel discussion follows the screening with director and producer David Clark, Donglai Gong of Virginia Institute of Marine Science, and the VCU students who were part of this historic research trip.
Be sure to check out the full schedule for the festival, February 12th – 26th, at RVAEFF.org. Read descriptions and see the trailers of over 20 carefully selected films covering a wide array of environmental issues – 5th graders taking on plastic pollution; the benefits of regenerative agriculture; the impact of sea level rise on our national security; the quest of Native Americans for food sovereignty, and so much more!
The entire festival is free to viewers thanks to the generous support of our sponsors. However, registration is required for all films, which is done through festival web page, www.rvaeff.org

Halloween Parade Still Planned; UPDATE: CANCELLED

UPDATE: With national and international concerns rising over surges in COVID-19 cases, the annual All The Saints Halloween Parade has officially been cancelled by organizers.

While disappointed, most if not all the Oregon Hill neighbors seem to appreciate and understand the decision.

Message from the All The Saints Theater Company:

The 15th Annual Halloween Parade: “A Funeral March for the Plague of Now!” will take place on Saturday October 31st, All Hallow’s Eve.
This year is a very different year. We take COVID-19 very seriously and urge everyone to take all safety precautions should you decide to join us.
Please read the following to understand how this year will be different!
THIS YEAR’S ROUTE WON’T BE MARCHING THROUGH OREGON HILL.
Please come with your COVID Pod who you are prepared to carry a puppet with or march alongside! MASKS ARE REQUIRED TO PARTICIPATE! We will have masks to spare if you forget yours! If you would like to decorate your car and be at the back of the parade that is allowed as I am picking a route that allows for vehicles.
We are meeting (per usual) at Monroe Park 7pm sharp on 10/31! Due to the nature of this year, in order to keep the people usually on the sidelines out of the equation we are NOT announcing the route until we march, and it will be slightly shorter than our usual route. It is a year to participate, not to be a bystander (in all ways, not just for the parade).
15 ft Plague Doctors, Vultures schlepping the refugees of the Humanity System, the celebratory skeleton puppets, Grandma Elder, the Hawk of Resistance that defeated the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Black Lives Matter and the Confederacy is Dead Puppets, and King NoOne and his Fascist Empire will be there and they must be defeated this November with the Vote!
Music by members of NoBS as Tyrannis Bass, and many other amazing local musicians!
All the protection from COVID-19, the police state, and the fascist empire to you and your people. Please stay safe.
As always, this parade is in honor of the dead. Thank you.

The Puppets Protect,
Lily Lamberta and the All the Saints’ Family.

Virtual Richmond Folk Festival Begins

Unfortunately, the pandemic has forced this year’s Richmond Folk Festival to ‘go virtual’.
From The Richmond Free Press:

The 16th Annual Richmond Folk Festival, a celebration of music and culture from around the globe, will take place virtually Oct. 9 through 11.

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, people can enjoy the festival through a special television program, radio broadcasts and online streaming.

Music from Jamaican reggae, Chicago blues, Altai throat singing, kosher gospel, Gypsy jazz, Indian slide guitar, Gulf Coast boogie-woogie, Ireland and Dominican bachata will be featured from 6 to 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, noon to 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11, on Virginia Public Media radio stations 107.3 and 93.1 FM. The music is by performers from past Richmond festivals.

From 6 to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, the festival will broadcast “All Together Now,” a two-part television celebration of Virginia artists, including Butcher Brown featuring J. Plunky Branch, Cora Harvey Armstrong, Kadencia and Jared Pool & Friends. The performances were filmed at Richmond’s Spacebomb Studios in partnership with VPM, and will be interspersed with performances from the festival’s Virginia Folklife Stage from the past. It will be broadcast on VPM Plus Channel 57.1 WCVW digital HD and livestreamed on VPM’s Facebook page and VPM’s YouTube page.

An interactive art installation by artist Kevin Orlosky will take place on Brown’s Island, the site of the festival in the past. Public participation is encouraged, with people wearing masks and socially distancing. People can paint a rock that represents something they miss, mourn or are looking forward to doing again after the pandemic. The rocks will become part of Mr. Orlosky’s stone labyrinth that, when viewed from above, will form a hand.

Artist Shannon Wright of Richmond, an illustrator and cartoonist whose work has been featured in major publications, books and online sites including The New York Times, created the official poster for the festival.

Details about the festival, performers, schedule, activities and where to listen or watch it are available on www.richmondfolkfestival.org.

As one of the handful of people who attended the very first folk festival (rainy) night in Richmond, back when it was National Folk Festival, I am delighted to see that it is soldiering on, as I very much enjoy the outside music it usually brings to the area. And while neighborhood relations have not always been harmonious, I know many Oregon Hill residents will be sad that they will not have the full festival just down the hill this year. It deserves support. (And talk is cheap- if you can afford it, do purchase a folk festival poster or t-shirt at Plan 9 Records or online).