VIRGINIA
State of Virginia
SPRING IS HERE
In a state blessed with four distinct seasons, Virginians have
learned to celebrate each turn of the calendar page. Residents
especially welcome the rites of spring, a time when blossoms
bloom, sugar is made and beautiful things—natural and
man-made—are properly feted. Throughout March and April,
alfresco events flirt with the season, sending visitors into the
mountains and along the coast to soak up days with higher
temps and increased hours of sunlight.
Top: One of the
many gardens
that participate
in Historic
Garden week
in Virginia.
Left: Dancers
celebrate the
Shenandoah
Apple Blossom
Festival.
SAVE THE DATE
HIGHLAND COUNT Y
SUGAR HIGH
March 12-13, 19-20
Life gets even sweeter in Highland County in March. Since 1958,
the community has marked the “opening” of the trees with an
annual Maple Festival that features live bluegrass, clogging,
syrup-making demos, sugar camp tours and, of course, tastings.
The celebration draws to the rural region (dubbed “Virginia’s
Switzerland”) thousands of revelers who get to witness a rapidly
vanishing way of life in America. Nearby, the free Maple Museum
displays the earliest methods and tools used by Native Americans
as well as present-day techniques.
540-468-2550; highlandcounty.org
HAMPTON ROADS
VIRGINIA ARTS FEST
April 12-June 20
With 50 days of events taking place throughout the region,
Hampton Roads proves the place to be this spring. Talent arrives
from near and far, and performances range from traditional theater
and classical ballet to swinging jazz and honky-tonk bluegrass.
April 12–17 in Rappahannock County, a new music theater piece
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the start of the Civil War
comes to Norfolk’s Harrison Opera House. On April 23, Grammy
Award-winning violinist Joshua Bell joins the Virginia Symphony
Orchestra at Chrysler Hall to perform Tchaikovsky’s Violin Concerto.
The Virginia International Tattoo enlivens Scope Arena April 29–
May 1 with more than 800 military artists from around the globe in a
centuries-old Scottish tradition. 757-282-2822; vafest.org
STATEWIDE
STOP AND SMELL THE ROSES
April 16-23
For the 78th year, Virginia’s Historic Garden Week showcases
properties at their springtime peak, from the Atlantic Ocean to the
Allegheny Mountains. Three dozen tours take visitors to five or six
sites each, many open to the public for the first time. On April 17,
guests in Chatham absorb history amid Victorian architecture and
fresh flower arrangements at three private homes and the historic
courtroom on Main Street. April 16–19, visitors experience Thomas
Jefferson’s “Little Eden” in Charlottesville and Albemarle County. On
April 19, guests at Monticello mix history with horticulture, wandering
the storied estate’s restored gardens and hearing a lecture by the
director of the grounds. April 20–21 in Warrenton means a tour of five
scenic houses plus three gardens designed by landscape architect
Richard Arentz. 804-644-7776; vagardenweek.org
WINCHESTER
APPLE OF OUR EYE
April 25-May 1
Since its inception in 1924, the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival has
counted among its parade marshals Bing Crosby (1948), James Cagney
(1957), Lucille Ball (1964), Mickey Mantle (1976), Katie Couric (1994)
and Val Kilmer (2010). Aside from an impressive list of participants,
the historic Winchester celebration boasts more than 30 events from
the “world’s largest firefighters’ parade” and a 10K race to a lively
carnival and the coronation of Queen Shenandoah. And for those
who like to boogie? Pick a genre; there’s a square dance, an “oldies
rock ’n’ roll” gathering, and the Thursday Night Fever Disco Dance.
540-662-3863; thebloom.com
