The 25th annual James River Parade of Lights will be held this Saturday, July 21 with viewing opportunities at three Richmond-area locations. The Parade of Lights, hosted by the James River Advisory Council, is normally held in December, but inclement weather forced organizers to cancel last year.

“We couldn’t miss the 25th anniversary of this cherished event,” JRAC Executive Director Kimberly Conley said. “So we decided to make it a summer party with a ‘Christmas in July’ theme. This event will be a real treat with warmer temperatures and fun takes on our traditional holiday displays.”

Beginning at 6 p.m., decorated boats will parade down the James from the city of Richmond to the Varina-Enon Bridge. Admission is free. The parade may be viewed at these sites:

Ancarrow’s Landing, 2000 Brander St., Richmond – viewing site only; Osborne Park and Boat Landing, 9530 Osborne Turnpike, Richmond – DJ, children’s games and food vendors; Henricus Historical Park, 251 Henricus Park Road, Chester – children’s activities and food vendors.

More details are available at https://jrac-va.org/signatureevents/annual-parade-of-lights/. The rain date is July 22. Viewers are encouraged to bring nonperishable donations to support FeedMore. The most needed items are peanut butter, canned proteins (tuna, salmon, etc.), canned fruits or vegetables, beans, whole grains and whole grain cereals, tomato products, and healthy snacks (raisins, fruit cups and granola bars).

Interested boaters can still register at www.jrac-va.org. Call Conley at (804) 748-1567 for media interviews before the event. Media are invited to view the parade at any of the sites. Ask for the event site coordinator for assistance and more information.

The Sports Backers today announced the inaugural ‘Walmart Biz Bowl‘ to take place on Saturday, September 29 at the River City Sportsplex. The corporate-themed challenge offers companies from around the Richmond region the opportunity to enter teams and compete against each other in a variety of sports, activities, and fitness challenges during the field-day style event.

Registration for teams is now open at www.sportsbackers.org, and to help kick off the event Sports Backers held a Biz Bowl field day to demonstrate several events, including tug of war and tricycle races. This field day provided a glimpse of the fun, competitive nature of the Walmart Biz Bowl and allows companies to start their preparations for the new event.

The event is open to all businesses in the Richmond region. The companies will compete based on the total number of employees they have in Richmond, with categories of ‘Small Business’ (less than 50 employees), ‘Medium Business’ (51 – 249 employees) and ‘Large Business’ (more than 250 employees). Scoring will vary depending on the sport or activity, with competitive team and individual events as well as participatory activities such as yoga and a one-mile trail loop for walking and running.

Walmart Biz Bowl gives employees from entry level to CEO a chance to mingle in a relaxed, fun environment outside of work as well as a chance to network with the other participating companies. The games also provide an opportunity for all employees to compete on equal footing as they work together to achieve success.

FeedMore will serve as the official event charity of the Walmart Biz Bowl. As Central Virginia’s core hunger-relief organization, FeedMore collects, prepares, and distributes food to neighbors in need. Biz Bowl participants and teams can donate to FeedMore in a variety of ways: during online registration for the event, through office food drives ahead of the event, and through volunteer opportunities with FeedMore leading up to the event.

For more information and registration for the Walmart Biz Bowl, please visit www.sportsbackers.org

The Perseid meteor shower will be at its best in Mid-August.

The Friends of the James River Park’s July e-newsletter features a couple of cool-looking events that I think deserve wider attention. The first is a creative workshop with James River Park Artist-in-Residence Shay Wilson:

Explore your creativity, enjoy the park, and get inspired in an on-site workshop facilitated by the park’s Artist-in-Residence. Participants of all skill levels will delight in this fun workshop. We meet at noon at the Pony Pasture parking lot. Bring your sketchbook, pencils, paints, and any other tools you choose to be creative with. You may also want to bring a camp chair or blanket and water bottle. You will be lead through a series of creative exercises as you sit in nature along the river and engage with the James River Park in a creative, intentional way. Can’t make it? These workshops will be held monthly, so stay tuned for the next one. If you have questions, contact Shay at shaywilsonart@gmail.com.

The second event is coming up in August and is offered by the staff of the James River Park:

Sign up for a scenic and challenging ride along the Virginia Capital Trail, on August 10 and 11,  then camp under the stars to watch the Perseid meteor shower! JRPS Adventure Staff departs from Reedy Creek Visitors Center on Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. and travels to Chickahominy Riverfront Park campground, where the sky is dark, and conditions are best to experience this annual sky show. The Perseid meteor shower is created when the earth passes through the cloud of debris left by the Swift-Tuttle comet. At its peak, you can expect to see between 60 and 100 meteors per hour. We’ll return to the city on our bikes Saturday morning. You can bring your own bike or borrow one of ours!

The price for this trip is $40, which includes food for two days and transportation of your belongings to the campground, plus vehicle support in case of emergency. This does not include camping fees. Reservations are required. For more information and to register contact penelope.davenport@richmondgov.com.

All 37 Virginia State Parks will participate in the Great American Campout beginning tomorrow and lasting all weekend. Parks will offer activities that day to teach basic skills related to camping, including programs about campfire cooking, fire starting, camping basics, gear suggestions and the camaraderie of a campfire.

Click here for a complete list of programs.

The tent campground at James River State Park is right along the river.

Eight parks will provide special, overnight camping programs offering experiences, help and guidance. All campouts begin Saturday except at High Bridge (the closest one to Richmond), where the campout starts Friday evening.

High Bridge Trail State Park near Farmville offers the unique experience of camping on the High Bridge. The $40 fee covers camping, parking and activities.

Caledon State Park in King George also isn’t to far from RVA. It will have its traditional Great American Campout with the twist of a citizen science 24-hour BioBlitz. A $15 per-family fee includes dinner by the fire and a continental breakfast.

All the other special programs are at parks farther afield. Click here for more.

All 37 Virginia State Parks will participate in the Great American Campout beginning tomorrow and lasting all weekend. Parks will offer activities that day to teach basic skills related to camping, including programs about campfire cooking, fire starting, camping basics, gear suggestions and the camaraderie of a campfire.

Click here for a complete list of programs.

The tent campground at James River State Park is right along the river.

Eight parks will provide special, overnight camping programs offering experiences, help and guidance. All campouts begin Saturday except at High Bridge (the closest one to Richmond), where the campout starts Friday evening.

High Bridge Trail State Park near Farmville offers the unique experience of camping on the High Bridge. The $40 fee covers camping, parking and activities.

Caledon State Park in King George also isn’t to far from RVA. It will have its traditional Great American Campout with the twist of a citizen science 24-hour BioBlitz. A $15 per-family fee includes dinner by the fire and a continental breakfast.

All the other special programs are at parks farther afield. Click here for more.

The Sports Backers yesterday announced the first-ever Pulse Pedal Pursuit to take place on Saturday, July 21. In the scavenger hunt-style event, participants will utilize the GRTC Pulse bus rapid transit system and RVA Bike Share to visit destinations along the Pulse corridor to collect points while traveling by foot, bus, or bike.

An RVA Bike Share station in Richmond. Credit: Sports Backers

During Pulse Pedal Pursuit, participants will have from 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. on July 21 to visit as many designated sites of interest as possible in and around the new GRTC Pulse route. As part of their registration, participants will receive free day passes for both GRTC Pulse and RVA Bike Share, along with a free 30-day membership to RVA Bike Share. Individual or group teams can go for speed or stick to casual sightseeing in their pursuit of points during the event.

GRTC Pulse is a modern, high-quality, high-capacity bus rapid transit system that serves a 7.6-mile route along Broad Street and Main Street, from Rocketts Landing in Richmond to Willow Lawn in Henrico County. GRTC Pulse is jointly sponsored by Bon Secours Richmond Health System and VCU Health System. The Pulse links passengers with many exciting destinations, including restaurants, breweries, museums, parks, and more. Launched in 2017, the RVA Bike Share system offers a pedal-powered option for residents and visitors to explore the city. RVA Bike Share is available 24/7 and works well for errands, commuting, or recreation.

The event will start and finish at the newly-opened River City Roll, with packet pick-up taking place from 8 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. on either side of the 9 a.m. start, followed by the Finish Festival taking place from 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

“Pulse Pedal Pursuit aims to show off some of the best RVA destinations and provide participants an active and innovative way to experience Richmond,” said Megan Schultz, Director of Events for Sports Backers. “GRTC Pulse and RVA Bike Share are two great options for active transportation and this is a great way for residents from all over the region to take advantage of them for the day, and continue to come back in the future.”

The new Pulse bus route comes online this coming Sunday.

RVA Rapid Transit will serve as the official event charity of Pulse Pedal Pursuit. RVA Rapid Transit is a grassroots organization dedicated to educating, organizing, and advocating for regional public transit across the metro Richmond area. They aim to transform the region’s transit system to make it more accessible and practical for more people, and working with Pulse Pedal Pursuit will highlight the role that rapid transit can play in the lives of residents throughout Richmond.

In addition to participant finisher items to help commemorate the unique experience, prizes will also be up for grabs for the individuals, duos, and four-person teams that accumulate the most points, along with prizes for best photos and social media engagement. Registration for Pulse Pedal Pursuit is currently $20 through July 20 and is available by clicking here.

Walking and hiking are the top activities in Virginia’s 37 state parks, according to visitor surveys. That makes Saturday (June 2nd) — National Trails Day — the perfect day to head out to a state (or local) park and hit the dirt.

Join Va. State Parks as they participate in the American Hiking Society’s annual National Trails Day celebration. All 37 state parks are offering some sort of special trail programming and/or volunteer projects to help keep the trails in great shape for the more than 10 million annual visitors.

To find special programs at a park near you, check this listing. There are three state parks — Pocahontas, Powhatan and Bear Creek Lake — within an hour of downtown Richmond. But if you’d rather stay more local, check out this previous piece we ran that has some options for trail volunteering on Saturday.

It’s not too early to start planning for National Trails Day on June 2nd, and RVA MORE, Richmond’s mountain biking/trail building club has the scoop on a number of events happening in the James River Park System and Pocahontas State Park. Information below:

Trail work with REI and Friends of Pocahontas State Park
Enjoy breakfast and then work on a hiking trail alongside REI and the Friends of Pocahontas State Park. Click here to find all the details for this event.

James River Park System 
Mountain Bike Ride with RVA MORE
Location: 21st Street parking lot
Along with the social mountain bike ride, there will be many other events happening around the river including guided hikes and trail runs! Booths will be set up in different areas where you can learn more about the outdoor organizations and programs involved with supporting the JRPS! Click here to view the full schedule for this event.

Pocahontas State Park
Trail work with rvaMORE and Bell Joy Ride.  After working on a mountain bike trail, there will be a women’s social ride and cookout with Molly’s Bicycle Shop. Click here to register for this event.

The mud run will go on as scheduled. Credit: Sports Backers

In light of the drenching, equatorial, Amazonian, monsoon rains Richmond has been and is currently experiencing, I emailed the Sports Backers’ PR maven Pete Woody about the status of Riverrock. Here’s what he, and event director Megan Schultz, had to say:

“Participant safety is extremely important, as is protecting the integrity of the trails in the James River Park System. We’ve worked closely with event staff and trail managers to come up with new courses for each event and believe they will offer great experiences for outdoor enthusiasts to enjoy,” said Megan Schultz, event director for Dominion Energy Riverrock.

The festival is on rain or shine, and the complete schedule can be found at www.riverrockrva.com.

-The Mountain Bike Time Trial, originally scheduled for Friday, May 18, at 6:30pm, has been canceled. Registered participants have been notified by email, and full refunds will be offered.

-The James River Scramble 10k Trail Run and Urban Assault Mountain Bike Ride, scheduled for Saturday, May 19 at 9:00a.m. and 1:30p.m., respectively, will take place as scheduled with rerouted courses. The James River Scramble map can be found here, and the Urban Assault map can be found here. 

-The course for the Sierra Nevada Down River Paddle, taking place on Saturday, May 19, at 11:30am, has been moved and will now go from Pony Pasture to Reedy Creek, rather than Reedy Creek to the 14th Street Takeout. 

The High Bridge at High Bridge Trail State Park near Farmville.

National Kids to Parks Day, May 19, marks the official kickoff for summer programming in Virginia State Parks. Every weekend through June 30 offers something special to enhance your visit to one of 37 Virginia State Parks.

Kids to Parks Day, celebrated annually on the third Saturday of May, is a national day of play connecting kids and families with local, state and national parks. An official 2018 National Collaborator, Virginia State Parks have celebrated National Kids to Parks Day since its inception in 2011.

Every family will receive a complementary pass to return and visit a Virginia State Park at no cost any time before the end of the year.

[vasp.fun/KTP]Click here for a list of special offerings for the day, including nature hikes, geocaching, scavenger hunts, wagon rides, fishing, archery, and more.

May 19 also kicks off two special contests that run through June 30. The Get Outdoors! Challenge invites families to visit five different parks between May 19 and June 30 and earn a $66 gift certificate to cover the cost of a Virginia State Parks pass.

Douthat State Park.

Photographers can submit up to five photos between May 19 andJune 30 for a chance to win gift certificates good for overnight visits. The grand prize is valued at $500. For contest rules, visit contest site. Visitors can earn extra credit toward prizes by sharing contest entries on Instagram with the tag #vspoutdoors.

For a day trip or a longer stay in a cabin or campground, Virginia’s state parks offer more than 1,800 campsites and 300 cabins. For more information about all offerings in Virginia State Parks, visit www.VirginiaStateParks.gov.