Ready to trade your usual responsible adulting weekend for one filled with creativity and color and music and…FUN? Make your plans to head to Waynesboro, VA for the Virginia Street Arts Festival (VASAF). This city doesn’t just get lit – it also gets painted.
Friday: Easel Into It
Head into our super-quaint mountain town from exit 99 atop the Blue Ridge Mountains and virtually check into the Grey Pine Lodge, the official lodging sponsor of the VASAF. This stylish boutique motel is just minutes from all the action and is a perfect base camp for the weekend.
Get all settled and make your first of many weekend Instagram posts about your cute room, then head just a couple of minutes down the road to Virginia Metalcrafters Marketplace. Be sure to download the Visit Waynesboro app and check out the challenges so you can earn free swag all weekend long!
First stop: Common Wealth Crush, a collaborative urban winery and tasting room pouring wines made in-house by emerging Virginia winemakers. Have a wine tasting and some complimentary nuts in their chic tasting room before you grab some dinner at Basic City Beer Co.’s not-so-basic FOKITchen. Next, challenge your crew to retro games at Basic’s beer-cade. End the night with a concert at The Foundry, Waynesboro’s largest and newest live music venue, where you’ll want to stay for just one more…but you have a big day tomorrow!
Saturday: A Brush with Greatness
Start your big day at HAPP Coffee Roasters, a small-batch roaster known for its seriously good coffee and really cool vibe. After a latte and a classic sando (trust me on that one), head just one mile down Main Street to Downtown Waynesboro. Start out at the Public Library and join a free guided mural tour (this is another chance to head over to the Visit Waynesboro app and get some swag). You can register for a tour here. You’ll learn about Waynesboro’s existing art and artisans and you’ll get to swing by the Waynesboro Farmers Market. It’s the perfect way to kick off the Virginia Street Arts Festival.
After you’ve finished up the tour, swing by adorn. and PYRAMID: Appalachian Magick + Remedy to watch muralist Jesse Jentzen in action as he brings Blossoming Within to life. While you’re there you can get creative at the t-shirt decorating tent sponsored by Initial Inspiration.
Craving some lunch by now? The River Burger Bar, which is right next door, is throwing a 5th birthday bash so you can jam out to some live music while you get a beer and huge pretzel (trust me on that one, too). Pro tip: this festival is a DORA event so grab another beer to go and sip on that while you’re over at the Russell Museum for a custom caricature from a local artist, then flex your own creative muscles at hands-on art stations where you can experiment with all kinds of mediums.
Stop at Shenandoah Valley Art Center to check out Andrew Davis painting Native Osprey Hunting, then head down the street (I think I forgot to mention: you can park your car in one of our free city parking lots and forget about it when you get downtown; this festival is walkable) to the Mobile Museum Experience, featuring the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and Virginia Museum of Natural History travel trailer exhibits as well as the Library of Virginia’s Library on the Go bus – all together in the heart of downtown!
Dinner time? You’ve earned it. Try out The Green Leaf Grill, a local favorite for Southern-inspired dishes with an upscale twist. You can’t skip the hush puppies and the Gumbo (trust…you know what? Never mind, just know I eat out a lot) or their handcrafted cocktails. Wrap your evening up with a show at the historic Wayne Theatre for an evening of ballet in the beautifully restored vaudeville-era theatre turned performing arts center. (Or, if you want to choose your own adventure, Switch Virginia Metalcrafters Marketplace for tonight and see Jimmy Fortune at the Wayne on Friday!)
Sunday: The Final Hue-Rah
Start your Sunday off at Crack O’ Dawn, a dedicated gluten-free bakery for their biscuits and gravy or the French Press for their biscuits and gravy. You know I would never lead you astray when it comes to food. After breakfast, head over to the Stoneburner building where muralist Humble is painting The Lure. Join the Waynesboro Parks and Recreation community art project while you’re there – yes, you get to be a part of the art this time.
Missed a mobile museum yesterday? The VMFA and VMNH will still be going strong and a little bonus, Cousins Main Lobster Truck will be there. Might want to take a quick break for some lobster bisque.
Back at SVAC, check in on the mural progress, and this time, don’t miss the Art Carnival, where there will be vintage superhero-themed prizes to be won. Slow things down with some shopping at our downtown boutiques like Rusticae, Boutique in the Boro, and a return trip to adorn. to actually buy the thing you couldn’t stop eyeing yesterday and see how Blossoming Within has evolved.
Dinner? Tonight, go to Royal India Palace (because trust me on this one, I work right next door to them). This upscale Indian and Indo-Chinese fusion restaurant and cocktail lounge is the perfect spot to enjoy a leisurely dinner and cheers to a weekend well spent.
Head back to Grey Pine Lodge one last time for what will surely be a night spent sleeping like a baby. You came, you saw, you painted the town (many colors). See you next time!
