They came, they saw, they ate healthy. Herbivores mingled peacefully with omnivores in the azalea gardens at Richmond’s Bryan Park, flaunting their fare and offering some lifestyle education. The seventh annual Richmond Vegetarian Festival brought out nearly 5,000 to the free event despite the blistering heat. As always, food took center stage, followed closely by the canine attendees.

Strawberry fields Strawberry shortcake anyone? The Ashland Strawberry Faire will be held Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the streets adjacent to Randolph-Macon College. Besides strawberries, the free community event will feature music, arts and crafts, and antiques, as well as the crowning of Little Miss and Little Mr. Strawberry.

The drive-through line was a popular lunchtime destination as the Richmond Greek Festival opened yesterday.

Tough economic times mean less spending on entertainment. Popular festivals in Petersburg have been canceled or cut back because of funding reductions, giving festival-goers fewer options for free entertainment this year. The Petersburg Intercultural Celebration, an annual city-funded festival held in July, is expected to be canceled because the city is not fully financing it. The Life Through Literature Festival, also a weekend event that was to take place last weekend, was canceled because of a lack of money. And the popular Nostalgiafest, held in October since the 1970s, may be cut back to one day.

Brunswick stew isn’t just about chicken, butter beans, secret spices and a big pot. When Herbie Williams and his three brothers are cooking, the recipe is their great-grandmother’s from Cherokee, N.C., and a paddle is used for stirring and testing thickness. Their stew is stew when the paddle can stand on one end. “We really bust our hind ends to make sure the consistency is right and the color is orange,“ said Williams, assistant stew master for the Richmond-based Northern Neck Redneck Stew Crew.

Regardless of where you live, there’s a good chance you knew Mike Pascucci. “Scucci,“ as his friends called him, was hard to miss. He was big. His laugh was big. His heart was big. Within minutes of meeting him, he was your friend. There were no strangers in his presence. Fun came first with Mike. And he brought you along for the ride. If you didn’t know Mike, you knew someone like him: someone who reminded you to enjoy the moment, someone who gave more than they took. But sadly, we all know someone, who like Mike, was taken by cancer.

The Second Street Festival celebrates its 20th year this weekend, looking to the past to commemorate the fabled street’s swinging heyday, when Jackson Ward was known as The Harlem of the South.

Petersburg’s annual three-day Nostalgiafest is known for its music, but it also offers a chance to get some exercise. 

Check out these wine festivals throughout Virginia for the month of October.

Second Street was hopping in the 1920s, 1930s, 1940s—and it hops the first weekend in October every year.  The Second Street Festival celebrates its 20th year this weekend, looking to the past to commemorate the fabled street’s swinging heyday, when Jackson Ward was known as The Harlem of the South.

Miss Esta Bunny” shivered in a red satin robe and flowery swim cap. He was recovering from being repeatedly dunked for charity at yesterday’s Circo Paradiso, Gay Pride Virginia’s Annual Pride Festival. It was $5 a pop to get a chance to drop drag queens into a large tub of water, and it proved to be a popular event, said the dunkee, whose real name is Charles Dishman.

Katie Walls is a young yet dedicated dancer. At 6½ years old, she has spent months trying to master the ethnic dances of her Armenian heritage. This weekend, she made her dancing debut with other kids who have been training for the 50th annual Armenian Food Festival. The festival, held at St. James Armenian Church at 834 Pepper Ave. in the West End, began Thursday and continues today from noon to 7 p.m.

Beth and David Hammer left Glen Allen to come to Glen Allen Day. “We had to move away,“ Beth Hammer laughed, “to come back and attend an event we used to live a mile away from.“

Event that showcases cultures 'is like taking a trip to Latin America'.

Just when you thought Chesterfield County had gone all urban on you, here comes the Chesterfield County Fair.