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A daily look at the most significant and interesting stories affecting Richmond.

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Virginia sightings detailed in UFO hearings

The pilots reported the sighting but said there was no further investigation by the military.

News

Hot new restaurant openings in Richmond

Treat yourself to something new and freshen up your Insta feed.

Food and Drink

Year-round school experiment kicks off in Richmond

Students at Fairfield and Cardinal elementary schools returned to class Monday, 20 instructional days before their peers.

Education

The Valentine museum is hiring a city historian

It's the first official historian job for the Richmond history museum in its 125 years.

Halloween events, parties and haunted tours in Richmond

Richmond brings its A-game for Halloween every year.

Things to Do

Richmond is going all in on spooky events, beginning this weekend and going strong through Halloween.What&#x27;s happening: Horror movie parties, terrifying tours, costume contests, parades, zombies and more — oh my.

Illustration of a zombie hand coming up from the ground wielding fire. 

Richmond's Folk Festival is back — here are some of the highlights of the annual event

Over its 19 years, Folk Fest has become Richmond's can't-miss music and cultural event.

The weekend for Richmond&#x27;s biggest and best festival is finally here.Driving the news: The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Richmond Folk Festival" data-vars-click-url="https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org/" data-vars-content-id="bb734202-cb88-47df-9b7e-ad5b8d18cebd" data-vars-headline="Richmond&#x27;s Folk Festival is back — here are some of the highlights of the annual event" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org/" target="_blank">Richmond Folk Festival</a> kicks off Friday night and runs through Sunday along the city&#x27;s riverfront.

Duke's Mayo tattoo pop-up is back

The pop-up takes place Nov. 13 with a generational twist this year.

Do you and your grandma want matching Duke&#x27;s Mayo tattoos?It&#x27;s a silly question — of course you do. And you&#x27;re in luck, Duke&#x27;s tattoo pop-up shop is back for the second year and the mayo makers are <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="again giving out" data-vars-click-url="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdv7q/dukes-mayo-tattoos-photos-richmond" data-vars-content-id="8b2d654f-3133-4672-8977-d4919eaff72b" data-vars-headline="Duke&#x27;s Mayo tattoo pop-up is back" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.vice.com/en/article/wxdv7q/dukes-mayo-tattoos-photos-richmond" target="_blank">again giving out</a> free Duke&#x27;s Mayo tattoos to a select few.

This is the top-selling liquor store in the Richmond area

The Carytown store has long been thought to sell the most liquor in the Richmond area.

Culture

The top-selling liquor store in the Richmond area is in Short Pump.Driving the news: The Virginia ABC store at 3450-3452 Pump Road sold 91,075 gallons of booze in the last fiscal year, making it the top booze seller in the Richmond region, according to stats from Virginia ABC.

The Iron Blossom Music Festival is this weekend

Here's what to know about the highly-anticipated festival.

Music

The weekend for the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="highly anticipated Iron Blossom Music Festival" data-vars-click-url="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/06/09/richmonds-iron-blossom-music-fest-has-a-new-venue" data-vars-content-id="b9889351-bdd9-4601-912d-058d9739a7cf" data-vars-headline="The Iron Blossom Music Festival is this weekend" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://www.axios.com/local/richmond/2023/06/09/richmonds-iron-blossom-music-fest-has-a-new-venue" target="_self">highly anticipated Iron Blossom Music Festival</a> has arrived.Why it matters: The first-time event is bringing big name acts to town and appears to be positioning itself to become a big-deal annual summer music festival in the vein of Bonnaroo and Coachella.

Porch concerts are bringing Richmond neighborhoods together

"Neighborhoods are better when people know each other and look out for each other."

Richmond is becoming a hotbed of pop-up yard and porch concerts.What&#x27;s happening: On Sunday, the <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Woodland Heights" data-vars-click-url="https://woodlandheightsrva.org/" data-vars-content-id="4a55798d-2838-4b50-af5f-d68cbdc007d7" data-vars-headline="Porch concerts are bringing Richmond neighborhoods together" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://woodlandheightsrva.org/" target="_blank">Woodland Heights</a> neighborhood association is hosting the third installment of its <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Tiny Porch Concerts" data-vars-click-url="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r71psQlGfY-Sjz05SP9A9ZJBxHXrjkqztbPz3uEoNaE/present?slide=id.g274854fc1bd_0_0" data-vars-content-id="4a55798d-2838-4b50-af5f-d68cbdc007d7" data-vars-headline="Porch concerts are bringing Richmond neighborhoods together" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1r71psQlGfY-Sjz05SP9A9ZJBxHXrjkqztbPz3uEoNaE/present?slide=id.g274854fc1bd_0_0" target="_blank">Tiny Porch Concerts</a> series.

New baby giraffe at the Metro Richmond Zoo

The Metro Richmond Zoo is open Monday-Saturday.

<a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="The Metro Richmond Zoo" data-vars-click-url="https://metrorichmondzoo.com/" data-vars-content-id="3f3f63bf-ea0d-432b-810b-f4e66acfe4df" data-vars-headline="New baby giraffe at the Metro Richmond Zoo" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://metrorichmondzoo.com/" target="_blank">The Metro Richmond Zoo</a> has a new baby giraffe, born Aug. 2 to proud giraffe parents, Iris and Wakati.The baby is currently unnamed, but he&#x27;s on view in a small habitat at the Chesterfield zoo, along with mom Iris, who (like all giraffes) had a 15-month pregnancy.

Richmond's last neon shop gets new ownership

Chloe Kottwitz, 24, bought Uptown Neon earlier this summer.

Business

Richmond&#x27;s last shop dedicated exclusively to neon has a new owner.What&#x27;s happening: Chloe Kottwitz, 24, bought <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Uptown Neon" data-vars-click-url="https://goo.gl/maps/dnbxAmHqhvaTy1GF8" data-vars-content-id="f4688830-9088-46dc-b86f-d9b14249028e" data-vars-headline="Richmond&#x27;s last neon shop gets new ownership" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://goo.gl/maps/dnbxAmHqhvaTy1GF8" target="_blank">Uptown Neon</a> earlier this summer after learning the craft from its founder, <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Doug Solyan" data-vars-click-url="https://m.styleweekly.com/richmond/word-and-image/Content?oid=2174909" data-vars-content-id="f4688830-9088-46dc-b86f-d9b14249028e" data-vars-headline="Richmond&#x27;s last neon shop gets new ownership" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://m.styleweekly.com/richmond/word-and-image/Content?oid=2174909" target="_blank">Doug Solyan</a>.

Richmond now has its own Monopoly game

The Monopoly makers took emailed suggestions for about two weeks in the spring.

The <a class="gtmContentClick" data-vars-link-text="Richmond edition of Monopoly" data-vars-click-url="https://toptrumps.us/products/richmond-edition-monopoly-board-game" data-vars-content-id="9197e526-8a64-404c-8583-739a4e092c6c" data-vars-headline="Richmond now has its own Monopoly game" data-vars-event-category="story" data-vars-sub-category="story" data-vars-item="in_content_link" href="https://toptrumps.us/products/richmond-edition-monopoly-board-game" target="_blank">Richmond edition of Monopoly</a> is here.What&#x27;s happening: The makers of the classic Monopoly board game unveiled a Richmond-specific version on Monday.

Charted: Number of Virginians who speak another language at home up sharply

7.4% of Virginians speak Spanish at home, up sharply from the 1.3% in 1980.

Newcomers

The share of Virginians who speak a language other than English at home has tripled compared with 40 years ago, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau.What&#x27;s happening: Just over 16% of Virginians spoke a non-English language at home as of 2021.