Baja Bean Hosts Thursday Trivia with Dexter

Join Baja Bean and Dexter Underwood of King Trivia for some brain stimulating Trivia. Sign-ups start at 7pm- bring yourself, your smarty pants friends & grab a seat in the Cantina!

Summerfest26 in Downtown Staunton

One day. One downtown. A whole lot to show off. SummerFest ’26: Showoff Staunton is taking over Downtown Staunton on Saturday, August 22 (10 AM–10 PM) with a full day of family fun, live music, local creativity, and community celebration. The morning starts with the Staunton City School’s Kindness Matters Kickoff Carnival Bring your pet to enter Downtown Staunton’s contest for the first-ever Christmas Parade Pet Grand Marshal Enjoy an afternoon of live music brought to you by the Queen City Music Studios and the Mary Baldwin University Marching Band Finish with a mini MADcon evening at the Barrister’s Row Block Party with art, style, DJs, drinks, and so much dancing ! Whether you’re bringing the kids, your friends, your dog, or just looking for an excuse to spend the day downtown, there’s something happening all day.

Art in the Park 2026 at Gypsy Hill Park

Art in the Park is Staunton’s beloved Labor Day weekend arts festival, held annually at the beautiful Gypsy Hill Park. Now in its decades-long tradition, the festival brings together over 90 local and regional artists and makers for two days of original art, live demonstrations, food trucks, youth activities, and an art competition with prizes. Browse and purchase one-of-a-kind works including paintings, pottery, jewelry, photography, fiber arts, sculpture, and more — all in the open-air setting of one of Staunton’s most treasured public spaces. Free admission. Free parking. Open to all ages. Rain or shine.

Mermaid Avenue Sessions Tribute at Baja: A Benefit for Aleks

Join us for a special evening celebrating the music of Mermaid Avenue Sessions while coming together to support one of our own. Released in the late 1990s, Mermaid Avenue was the landmark collaboration that brought hundreds of previously unpublished lyrics by legendary folk songwriter Woody Guthrie to life through new music by Billy Bragg and Wilco. The project revealed a side of Guthrie many had never heard—songs filled with love, humor, family, hope, and everyday life—and remains one of the most celebrated collaborations in modern American roots music. In that same spirit of community, compassion, and shared music, we’ll gather at Baja for an evening featuring many of Staunton’s favorite musicians. Like the beloved Icon Nights, performers will share the stage with a common backline and house PA, each offering songs from the Mermaid Avenue sessions. The evening will also benefit the family of our friend and neighbor, Courtney Spencer Cranor, who has spent the past several years as the full-time caregiver for her eldest child, Aleks, whose severe illness has resulted in the loss of much of her physical function. The emotional, physical, and financial challenges have been overwhelming, with medical and caregiving expenses exponentially rising as out-of-pocket costs grow while benefits are being reduced. There is now a GoFundMe link: https://gofund.me/c836021a7 For those who feel more comfortable with this fundraising platform. GoFundMe does charge a fee. The list of performers includes: Peter Aaslestad • Jeanne Bishop • Josie Cranor • Sally Davis • Danny Dolinger • Erin Hunter • William Lott • Nathan Scott Moore • Allan Moye • Molly Rose Murphy • Chad Pelton • Sarah Frances Roberson • Pete Stallings • Laura Sutton • Steve Sutton • and more… Suggested Donation: $10 – $20 (+) at the door

The Off Center presents The Chimerical Ballad of Betsy Bell and Mary Gray

The Ballad of Betsy Bell and Mary Gray tells the tale of two young women whose world is plagued by resource-eating intelligent machines. Betsy and Mary must not only survive in the surveilled forest, but help a three-headed beast defeat WISER® before it destroys all life on Earth. The Ballad is adapted from the lives and deaths of Bessie Bell and Mary Gray, whose attempt to escape a 1645 plague became a Scottish folk legend. It is said the women were found in one another’s embrace, inspiring the Scots-Irish immigrants of Staunton to give their names to its pair of mountains. This new puppet play blends mythologies of the past with threats of today, asking if humans will survive our own technological plague.

Staunton Music Festival

The Staunton Summer Festival will return for its 28th season. Some of the planned highlights include a grand Bach-themed program on opening night (with Brazilian influence); Mozart’s Don Giovanni as finale; performances and works by bandoneon virtuoso JP Jofre; musical dramas by Benjamin Britten, Leah Reid, and Jake Heggie; multiple concerts celebrating minor masters and marginalized voices; chamber works from across five centuries; Nightcaps and Pop-Ups, and so much more. From Monteverdi to Mozart’s “Jupiter” Symphony and music from Biber to Bernstein, August 2026 is shaping up for magical experiences!

Registration is now open for the Wayne Theatre’s 16th annual Virginia Chili, Blues & Brews Festival

Think you’ve got what it takes? Is your chili red hot? Well, registration is now open for the annual Virginia Chili, Blues and Brews Festival Head on over to virginiachili.com to register. They’re also looking for vendors or exhibitors. The Festival runs September 11-12 in Waynesboro.  

Staunton Parks and Recreation is hosting Family Night Flix: Project Hail Mary at Gypsy Hill Park

Middle school science teacher Ryland Grace (Ryan Gosling) wakes up on a spaceship light-years from home with no recollection of who he is or how he got there. As his memory returns, he begins to uncover his mission: to solve the riddle of the mysterious substance that is causing the sun to die out. He must call on his scientific knowledge and unorthodox ideas to save everything on Earth from extinction… but an unexpected friendship means he may not have to do it alone. Bring your own snacks and popcorn.

Peter Asher: Everywhere Man

Peter Asher’s extraordinary life has intersected with some of the greatest artists and musical moments of the last six decades. A child actor who became a pop star and then a manager and producer to the likes of James Taylor and Linda Ronstadt, he is a Zelig-like figure who remains a vital creative force to this day. Featuring interviews with Paul McCartney, Carole King, and many more.  

The School of Rock at Shenanarts

Rock got no reason, rock got no rhyme… You better get me to school on time! Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock – The Musical is a two-hour, two-act show (plus intermission), based on the hit movie. The tuner follows Dewey Finn, a failed, wannabe rock star who decides to earn an extra bit of cash by posing as a substitute teacher at a prestigious prep school. There he turns a class of straight–A pupils into a guitar-shredding, bass-slapping, mind-blowing rock band. But can he get them to the Battle of the Bands without their parents and the school’s headmistress finding out? Andrew Lloyd Webber’s School of Rock – The Musical, with its sensational live kids’ rock band, is a loving testimony to the transformative power of music. May the spirit of rock be with all who pledge allegiance to Lloyd Webber’s newest hit!