Ed 398: Converted Church Condo, Floral Cafe, Fringe Fest Happenings
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Hello!
Since we last chatted up top here, Richmond has seen snow accumulation, a tornado warning, and me try to split the G at a time in my life when I really should just be trying to split a social gathering before 9 pm at the latest. All of this to say, it’s been a week — and it’s only Wednesday. So, we’re getting this show on the road right the hell now ⬇️
Keep scrolling for RVA’s latest social news, including a T-shirt design contest, Best of RVA votes, a period packing party, and more.
PODCAST
WEATHER
Wednesday: Sunny in the aft; high of 44°, low of 29°
Thursday: Partly cloudy; high of 59°, low of 39°
Friday: Partly cloudy; high of 65°, low of 47°
HAPPENINGS
Wednesday, 6 - 9 pm: SEEING DIFFERENTLY: DRAWING WHAT YOU ACTUALLY SEE
Thursday, 7 - 9 pm: TRIVIA NIGHT
Friday, 11:30 am & 2:30 pm seatings: BRIDGERTON-INSPIRED TEA EVENT
CITY GUIDES
1. 7 TOP SPOTS TO CATCH RICHMOND IN BLOOM
Image Source: Rowland Fine Dining
RICHMONDER(S) TO KNOW
Bruce & Virginia Rowland: They’re the (apparently adorable??) couple behind Rowland Fine Dining, a mod-American restaurant in the Fan focusing on elegant simplicity and offering creative, seasonally inspired cuisine that reflects a blend of influences. Chef Bruce is a Culinary Institute of America grad and a non-conformist in the kitchen, while Chef Virginia handles pastries, breads, and housemade dressings and desserts. As for Rowland: The mouth-watering eatery is open from 5 to 9 pm, Wednesday through Sunday — which means we just made your dinner plans for tonight.
THE LATEST:
Image Source: Dave Parrish Photography via Church Hill Irish Festival
Image Source: Eliza Conrad/SRMF Real Estate
Image Source: Abhisek Bhattacharya
Image Source: Luxe & You Floral Cafe
SOCIAL NEWS
Don’t forget! The Church Hill Irish Festival began 40 years ago in the alley behind St. Patrick’s Church and now spans four city blocks around E Broad and 25th streets — and the two-day event is celebrating those 40 years of fun this weekend, March 21 and 22. Head to the whimsical neighborhood for traditional music, Irish and Scottish dance performances, Celtic crafts, children’s activities, and classic fare like corned beef and cabbage, and bring five bucks to donate to local schools, community organizations, and the preservation of St. Patrick’s Church. (Richmond magazine)
This sounds like a good opp for local artists, by par. Journey House Foundation has launched a community-wide T-shirt design contest ahead of its annual Larry Roberts Golf for Recovery Tournament this June. The winning design will appear on the official tournament shirt worn by golfers, sponsors, volunteers, and supporters to raise awareness for substance use recovery and behavioral health services, and submissions are open now through April 15. Creatives are invited to send in original, one-color designs that reflect the org’s mission, with subtle golf elements and space for sponsor logos. If you win, you’ll get public recognition, a featured spotlight story, tournament acknowledgment, and a $500 prize package. (Press Release)
Style Weekly is inviting readers to vote for Richmond’s top businesses, restaurants, entertainers, and notable individuals in its annual Best of RVA contest. After an initial round of noms across more than 100 categories, the top votes have advanced to the final ballot stage. Readers can vote once per category each day through March 31 at midnight, and winners will be announced in the June 2026 print issue and online, and honored at the pub’s annual Best Fest celebration. (Style Weekly)
The Richmond Fringe Festival is on the calendar for Richmond for the fifth time this spring, and we’ve heard from a couple participating artists who we thought you *may* like to hear from, too.
Up first, artist and creative facilitator Casey Urban will make her Richmond debut during the festival with her one-woman show Favorite Lover on April 12 at Crescent Collective. Inspired by the festival’s theme, “DON’T. STAY. QUIET.,” the performance explores abortion, grief, and artistic rebirth through psychedelic projections, burlesque, and an original score. Casey describes the show as a somatic reclamation and a response to silence around loss, marking the start of her broader mission to launch The Portal House, a creative space for artist mothers and caregivers.
Second, Hattimatim-Team will present award-winning playwright Abhisek Bhattacharya’s new play Empty Night at the festival on April 12 at Toy Lair. Directed by Abhisek, the play explores climate change, animal-human relationships, parental love, and moral responsibility, as it follows an injured thief and a wounded Bengal tigress whose lives are upended by deforestation caused by a dam project. Their encounter raises questions about survival, sacrifice, and what it truly means to be human. (Press Releases)
Let your buds know, Luxe & You Floral Cafe — a bright spot for luxe florals, coffee, entertaining, and community building — recently opened at 2100 W Cary St and is hosting a couple upcoming events to note. This Friday, March 20, there’s Florals with Friends, which will offer you and your crew a hands-on floral arranging party to create your own gorg take-home bouquet. Then, on March 29, the spot is hosting Pages & Petals, a curated brunch experience centered on conversation, connection, and inspiration, and, this time around, featuring author Candace Nicole, who will chit-chat with attendees about her work. (Instagram, Eventbrite)
As you may remember us telling you in an earlier edition of this here Insider, Sylvia’s Sisters is a nonprofit dedicated to ending period poverty by achieving menstrual equity in Central Virginia and abroad through education, advocacy, and providing essential period products so menstruators can thrive at school, work, and in all aspects of life. Their vision is a future where everyone has access to affordable, quality period products and comprehensive menstrual health education, menstrual stigma no longer exists, and healthy communities support the natural process of menstruation. In support of those efforts, this Sunday, March 22, Sylvia’s Sisters is hosting a packing party where folks can help put together kits of pads, tampons, and liners for people in need. (Sylvia’s Sisters)
Go ahead and put all your eggs in this basket. Easter hoppens in just a couple weeks, and as always, Maymont is offering a day full of cutesy to-dos to celebrate. Dominion Energy Family Easter is celebrating 100 years of family fun this year with hands-on crafts and games, live entertainment, food trucks, and photos with the Easter Bunny on the Carriage House Lawn. Plus, you can mosey about the Robins Nature Center, the Maymont Farm, and the newly reopened Maymont Mansion to find bb animals, interactive experiences with farm vehicles and emergency responder trucks, and lots more. (Maymont)
MORE LINKS YOU’LL WANT TO CLICK
🎬 RVA Gov is on Letterboxd now, lol. (Instagram)
💒 There’s a real stunner of a condo inside a converted church in Church Hill. (Instagram)
🌸 ICYMI, Pt 1: The National Park Service announced peak bloom for this season’s cherry blossoms. And ICYMI, Pt 2: We refreshed our guide for top spots to catch Richmond in bloom. (Instagram)
Image Source: The Roosevelt
Weekly Giveaway
The Roosevelt
Since you’re gonna be on the East End for the Irish Festival this weekend (right?), you’ll need some sustenance before, during, or after your responsible (right??) imbibing. Some sweet-style cornbread with whipped maple butter oughta get things started right nice.
This week, we’re giving away a $25 gift card to The Roosevelt! Not for nothin’, a whiskey sour here wouldn’t be a bad move either.
To enter, tell us: According to Irish lore, what do the leaves of a four-leaf clover stand for?
Last week: Congratulations to last edition’s winner, Julia G, for winning the Second Arrow giveaway!
Image Source: Beauty in Order Events
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Hey, new members!
We’d like to welcome 8 new members this week: Kelly M, Randolph W, Theonya C, Amber M, Lacy H, Jo D, Elisabeth C, and Maddie M, we’re so glad you’re here!
It takes a village, so let us know if you have any questions, thoughts, feedback, tips, or recs! Thanks for reading edition 398 of The Weekly Insider.
You shamrock our world 🌈
- The Richmond Experience
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