Bella White at The Southern 5/8

Bella White stretches her sonic blueprint beyond her bluegrass roots to arrive at a moodier brand of contemporary folk. The Calgary, Canada, native recently relocated from Vancouver Island to New Orleans, spurring explorations into indie rock, and expanding a homespun sound steeped in Appalachian traditions mixed with modern singer-songwriter stylings. Nashville-raised singer-songwriter Erin Rae performs […]

Embedded/The Tell Tale Cell Phone at Live Arts 5/1 & 5/2

As the season heats up, Charlottesville Opera’s Wallace Worx offers a weekend of chilling operas based on Edgar Allan Poe stories. Embedded (“The Cask of Amontillado”) follows a news reporter trying to maintain her top slot and stave off younger competition. The Tell Tale Cell Phone (“Tell-tale Heart”) is a short, suspenseful work that builds […]

How-To Festival at the Jefferson-Madison Regional Library 5/2

Special talents and expertise converge at Jefferson-Madison Regional Library’s How-To Festival, where attendees can “learn 30 things in three hours.” The drop-in workshops are open to curious minds of all ages and cover a range of topics from cooking techniques and how to use AI, to crafting a leather bag and mastering your Scrabble game. […]

Swan Lake at The Paramount 5/5 & 5/6

“Our mission is simple: ballet everywhere, ballet for all,” say Los Angeles-based World Ballet Company founders Sasha Gorskaya and Gulya Hartwick. With a nod to Broadway grandeur, the company’s lavish production of Swan Lake brings together 50 dancers, handcrafted costumes and sets, and Tchaikovsky’s timeless score to spin the tragic tale of cursed lovers. $45–105, […]

Wordplay at The Paramount 4/23

Are you a verbally pompous know-it-all? Prove it at Wordplay, the annual fundraiser for Literacy Volunteers of Charlottesville/Albemarle, where fans of vocabulary, pop culture, history, and literature show off their smarts to support adult literacy, one-to-one English lessons, and citizenship tutoring. Form a team, or play along in the audience, and take your chance on […]

Festival of the Moving Creature at UVA Arts Grounds 4/23

Don’t look twice—run! Run to join the fun at University of Virginia’s Festival of the Moving Creature as several man-made giants emerge at sunset for an illuminated parade through the heart of UVA Grounds. The monstrous movers are built by students from the Art of the Moving Creature class in an homage to the work […]

Erupcja at The Violet Crown 4/21

Screening as part of Virginia Film Festival’s year-round programming schedule, Erupcja (2025) offers an arthouse drama built around romance and driving dance music. On vacation together in Warsaw, Poland, Bethany (Charli xcx) discovers her boyfriend Rob (Will Madden) is about to propose. A volcanic eruption occurs, and Bethany uses the fallout from the event to […]

The North Country at The Stage at WTJU 4/18

To kick off WTJU’s Rock Marathon week, The North Country loads in for a high-energy show that blends indie-rock and art-pop. The experimental collective based out of Washington, D.C., pairs poignant and political lyrics with danceable beats reminiscent of ’80s synth-infused staples. Fronted by songwriter and singer Andrew Grossman, the band builds a big sound, […]

Billy Strings at John Paul Jones Arena 4/17 and 4/18

Bluegrass badass Billy Strings is back for more. The Grammy-winning Americana musician returns with his repertoire based in traditional roots improvisation, peppered with elements from rock, blues, and country. Strings’ earnest voice and adroit instrumentation channels the greats of the genre, whether he’s carrying on mournfully about life’s rocky roads, or jubilantly praising the simple […]