Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Parks and Recreation Starts Summer Off With a Splash!


Looking for something to do this summer? The City’s Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities is sure to have an event or program to kick start your summer along with great activities for everyone in your family!

The department will start the 59th Annual Festival Arts on Sunday, June 7 with a Renaissance Fair at 4 p.m. at Dogwood Dell. The party atmosphere includes magicians, stilt walkers, and jugglers, and this is a fair for all ages.  At 8 p.m., the Henley Street Theatre will present “Romeo and Juliet” on the Dogwood Dell stage.

Beginning on Saturday, June 13, all City pools will be open for City residents. Week day hours are 1 to 8 p.m. with free swim available from 1 to 4:30 p.m., family time from 5 to 7 p.m. and adult swim from 7 to 8 p.m. Weekend hours for the outdoor pools are noon to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sundays.

On Monday, June 15, the USDA Summer Meals for Kids begins serving at more than 100 sites across the City of Richmond. The Summer Meals for Kids Program provides children and teens (through the age of 18) nutritious breakfasts and lunches during the summer months.

On Friday, June 19, residents are invited to join the department for the start of the 2015 Movies in the Park Series. The first movie in the series will be shown at Byrd Park at 8 p.m. A full schedule of the movie series is available at http://richmondvirginiaparks.blogspot.com/2015/05/movies-in-park-2015.html.

On Sunday, June 21, the Adventure Recreation division will host the “Summer Solstice Float” in starting from the Huguenot Flatwater in James River Park. Participants are encouraged to bring their bathing suits and preferred means of transportation by water such as a canoe, raft, or kayak.

Monday, June 22 marks the beginning of the department’s youth summer camps and the CarMax Summer League. Both the “All Aboard” summer camp, for ages 6 to 12, and “Generation Z” teen camp, for ages 13 to 15, are full day camps that operate from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. There are also specialty camps such as soccer, tennis, computer coding, and Lego that are available as half day camps. The CarMax Summer Basketball league games will be held at the Pine Camp Community Center, 4901 Old Brook Road, with games being played Monday through Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m.

For more information on these events and department sites and programs, please call (804) 646-5733 or visit www.richmondgov.com/parks.