Culture

Studio 51 at The Looking Glass at IX Art Park 12/31

Music, art, performance, and fantasy collide in a glowing, interstellar playground at Studio 51, an out-of-this-world New Year’s Eve celebration combining elements of Studio 54 and Area 51. The immersive experience with retro-stellar sensibilities, where extraterrestrial costumes are encouraged, features three different DJs spinning high-energy celestial mixes—including Fancy K (pictured), gravity-defying aerialist performances, enchanting alien […]

C-VILLE Writers | December 24, 2025

Culture

Books that left impact craters in 2025

As the year wraps up, we often look to best-of lists for books, movies, and music that stood out over the past 12 months—the so-called greatest the year had to offer. The understood suggestion of such lists is that we have something of a shared taste in what we read, watch, and listen to, and […]

Sarah Lawson | December 24, 2025

Arts Culture

The Grand Kyiv Ballet Presents: Snow White at The Paramount Theater 1/4

You’ve likely seen the classic Disney cartoon—and maybe even the Magic Kingdom’s live action $270 million stinker from earlier this year. Now you can witness the beauty of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in ballet form when this family-friendly version arrives in town for a Sunday afternoon show. The Grand Kyiv Ballet, which features […]

CM Gorey | December 24, 2025

Culture

Tomato parties, quick Brekky, sushi lines, and specialty chicken gave us much to cluck about in 2025

It was a year of torch-passing and table-setting. Albemarle Baking Co. celebrated 30 years of shaping Charlottesville’s bread culture and changed ownership. The sandwich scene on the Corner saw a change of hands at Take It Away while Littlejohn’s settled into permanent retirement. Virginia wine had a banner year—earning national and international accolades and lowering […]

Sarah Golibart Gorman | December 24, 2025

Culture

Ruby Lopez Harper in the HotSeat

The City of Charlottesville and the surrounding region’s robust arts community has lacked a centralized arts council since the Piedmont Council for the Arts shuttered in 2017. A new effort to establish an equitable, accessible, and focused arts organization is now in the works, facilitated by independent consultant Ruby Lopez Harper. The initiative invites artists, […]

C-VILLE Writers | December 17, 2025

Culture

Stacey Evans captures ephemeral perspectives from a window seat

Stacey Evans began taking photos from trains more than 20 years ago. What started casually, with a couple of images snapped on a trip, evolved into a serious body of work produced over 44 separate train journeys, along 14 different routes. “Passenger: Riding the Rails” at Second Street Gallery features photographs taken by Evans along […]

Sarah Sargent | December 17, 2025

Culture

Tried it in C’ville: Glass-blowing at Studio 1050°

What do you give people who have everything—especially if they’re decluttering? Experiential gifts have been the answer to that question for some in my family. We did a paint-n-sip night once andhad a lot of laughs, made memories, and left with our own (kinda) matching piece of art. Studio 1050°, a local flameworking and glass […]

Kristie Smeltzer | December 17, 2025

Culture

Shakey Graves with Clover County at The Jefferson Theater 12/20

An Austin, Texas, musician and actor with a history that runs through Los Angeles, Shakey Graves (Alejandro Rose-Garcia) does an admirable job writing dynamic Americana that avoids cliché. He’s amassed a discography of four full-lengths, a fistful of EPs, and a pair of compilations since gaining attention that netted him the unusual position of official […]

CM Gorey | December 17, 2025

Culture

Christmas at The Paramount 12/20

The Oratorio Society of Virginia presents Christmas at The Paramount, an annual celebration of the season that’s become a Charlottesville tradition. Music Director Michael Slon leads more than 100 of Central Virginia’s finest voices in a festive concert featuring Camille Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio with harp, organ, and string orchestra. Sparkling new arrangements of holiday classics […]

C-VILLE Writers | December 17, 2025