Here are some of the top events around Southwest and Southside for the coming week. Check out our new events calendar. Got an event? You can add it there for free. Want to keep up with what’s happening? Sign up here for our free weekly events newsletter.
Aug. 24, 26, 27: ‘Steel Magnolias’ at Ferrum College
The Blue Ridge Dinner Theatre and Ferrum College Theatre Arts season opens this week with “Steel Magnolias.”
The comedy-drama will be staged in Sale Theatre in Scholfield Hall, with luncheon and dinner options served in Franklin Hall. The show opens Thursday with a luncheon at 12:15 p.m. and curtain at 2 p.m. Additional shows are Saturday, with dinner beginning at 6:15 p.m. and curtain at 8 p.m., and Sunday, with a luncheon beginning at 12:15 p.m. and the play starting at 2 p.m.
Call 540-365-4336 or visit www.ferrum.edu/play-tickets for tickets and more information.
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Aug. 25-27: WA Fest at Wilderness Adventure
Wilderness Adventure at Eagle Landing will host the second annual WA Fest on Friday through Sunday in Craig County.
The family-friendly festival includes camping, adventure activities and live music from performers including Sol Driven Train, Palmyra, Abby Bryant & The Echoes, Isaac Hadden Organ Trio and Logan Paone.
Outdoor activities will include hiking, canoeing, biking and fly fishing.
To buy tickets or for more information about the weekend’s activities, visit www.wilderness-adventure.com.
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Aug. 26: Kadencia at Mountain Empire Community College
Kadencia, an ensemble that plays music and dance styles native to Puerto Rico, in their traditional percussive form, will perform at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Goodloe Center on the Mountain Empire Community College campus.
Tickets are $15 at the door; children and students are free to attend.
The performance is sponsored by the Pro-Art Association and Mountain Empire Community College in conjunction with Pro-Art’s 47th season and the W. Campbell Edmonds Concert Series. For more information and to make reservations visit proartva.org.
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Aug. 26: The Barefoot Movement at The Spot on Kirk
The Spot on Kirk will host The Barefoot Movement on Saturday.
The Americana band, which received the 2014 IBMA Momentum Award for Band of the Year, brings its modern roots music to downtown Roanoke in a show that starts at 8 p.m.
Tickets are $15 in advance and $20 day of show.
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Aug. 26: Moss Arts Center community celebration
The Moss Arts Center in Blacksburg marks its 10th anniversary with a free community celebration on Saturday.
From 3 to 5 p.m., the celebration will feature hands-on arts activities, community performances, music making, learning opportunities and food trucks. It will culminate at 5 p.m. with a free outdoor concert by the Grammy-winning Lost Bayou Ramblers.
The full schedule of activities and performances is online.
All events will take place rain or shine. In case of inclement weather, the Lost Bayou Ramblers concert will be held in the Moss Arts Center’s Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, located in the Street and Davis Performance Hall.
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Aug. 26: Larry & Joe at Blue Ridge Music Center
The Blue Ridge Music Center presents Larry & Joe with guest Shay Martin Lovette for an evening of folk fusion at 7 p.m. Saturday in the outdoor amphitheater.
The Music Center is at milepost 213 on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of Galax.
Based in the Triangle area of North Carolina, Joe Troop and Larry Bellorín are versatile multi-instrumentalists and singer-songwriters. As a duo, they perform a fusion of Venezuelan and Appalachian folk music on harp, banjo, cuatro, fiddle, guitar and maracas.
Lovette, a Boone, North Carolina-based songwriter and musician, will kick off the show.
Tickets are $20 for adults and free for children 12 and younger. Advance tickets are available online at BlueRidgeMusicCenter.org. Tickets can be purchased on the evening of the show at the admission gates.
Parking opens at 5:15 p.m. and is free. Admission to the amphitheater begins at 5:45 p.m.
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Aug. 26: ‘Fall Into the New’ river cleanup
ReNew The New’s “Fall Into the New” end-of-summer river cleanup will be held Saturday.
Giles County’s ReNew the New will work with the New River Conservancy to clean up and remove tires from the New River in the Shanklin’s Ferry stretch of the river.
Participants should gather by 8:30 a.m. at Glen Lyn Park, along U.S. 460. After everyone has registered and groups have been formed with captains, buses will leave for the cleanup sites on the river, where participants will be provided with canoes, trash bags and gloves. The river section for 2023 includes Rich Creek to Shanklin’s Ferry, West Virginia.
Volunteers can bring their own water vessels (kayaks, canoes or rafts) but must call ahead for instructions on drop-off and pick-up areas. There will be an on-land option as well.
Lunch and a T-shirt will be provided around noon.
Visit the ReNew the New online at www.renewthenew.org/ or find it on Facebook at @ReNewTheNew
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Aug. 27: Piano recital at UVA Wise
Anthony Gray and Jiyeon Lee will present a piano recital entitled “Sonatenabend: An Evening of Piano Sonatas” featuring three contrasting works of the genre by Mozart, Scriabin and Brahms at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in Cantrell Hall on the campus of the University of Virginia’s College at Wise.
The recital is free and open to the public.
Gray is assistant professor of practice at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale. He was previously an adjunct instructor in piano at UVA Wise. Lee, from Seoul, South Korea, was on faculty at UVA Wise and is currently on faculty at John A. Logan College and works at Southern Illinois University-Carbondale.
For more information and to make reservations, visit proartva.org.
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Aug. 31-Sept. 3: Floyd Yoga Jam
The 13th annual Floyd Yoga Jam will kick off Aug. 31 in Floyd County.
The four-day event will feature more than 30 bands and 100 yoga instructors.
For tickets and more information, visit https://www.floydyogajam.com/.
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