Carytown’s 34th annual Watermelon Festival is sure to be a smash.
For more than three decades, watermelon enthusiasts have packed the streets of Carytown in Richmond to celebrate summer’s quintessential fruit.
The 34th Annual Carytown Watermelon Festival will be held Aug. 13 and hosted this year by new-to-Virginia supermarket chain Publix, features live music from School of Rock, Lady Empire, Meadow Street Band, Whiskey Revival, Caitlin Lane, Jared Jones and more as well as jugglers and folk acts on five different outdoor stages. Nearly 50 performances are scheduled and more than 100 vendors will line the festival’s mile-long stretch along the north side of Cary Street, including Nacho Mama, Citizen Burger Bar, and Garden Grove Brewing Company.
And of course there will be watermelon—lots of it. At last year’s event, the Shriners, who sell bowls of the fruit for $1 benefiting the Shriners Hospital for Children, served nearly 3,000 donated melons. Attracting 118,000 people in 2016, the Watermelon Festival has consistently been the largest one-day event in the Commonwealth. Admission is free. CarytownRVA.com/Watermelon-Festival
Upcoming Events in Carytown:
Harry Potter Film-a-thon Aug. 8 - 29, Byrd Theatre The Wizard of Oz Aug. 12 at 10:00 a.m., Byrd Theatre Holistic Healing Seminar with Lisa LaCova-Bhat Aug. 14 at 6:00 p.m., Ellwood-Thompson Sandwich Week Aug. 21 - 27, NY Deli Charity Beer Dinner with the VCU Rice River Center Aug. 28 at 7:00 p.m., Garden Grove Brewing Company Tour de Fall Line Sept. 16 at 7:00 a.m., Carytown Bicycle Co.