❤️ What's happening this weekend in the 757

Good morning, 757!

Hampton Comicon turns ten this weekend. ZooBoo reclaims the Virginia Zoo. Stockley Gardens fills with 125 artists and a garden party on Saturday night. Yorktown is marking 245 years since the shot that ended the Revolution. And Fort Monroe is running ghost tours after dark.

October has been building to this.

Here's where we'd start:

🏛️ Yorktown Victory Weekend stacks a Friday country concert, a Saturday Victory Market, and Revolutionary War living-history programs into one long anniversary at Historic Yorktown. The 245th year. Most programs run on the NPS grounds; the Friday concert and museum admission have separate ticket pricing — check the link before you go.

🦀 Poquoson Seafood Festival runs three days at Poquoson Municipal Park. No admission fee, but parking is $10 cash. Leave pets and coolers at home.

👻 Ghost Walk at Fort Monroe runs timed evening tours covering just over half a mile and about an hour of haunted history. Ages 12 and up recommended. Rain or shine. · easy to do solo

🦁 ZooBoo adds trick-or-treat stations, animal pumpkin enrichment, costume contests and a market to the Virginia Zoo. Tickets are timed and limited — the normal ADA discount does not apply this event.

🎨 Stockley Gardens Fall Arts Festival fills the park with more than 125 artists Saturday and Sunday, and wraps up with a free garden party from 5 to 7 Saturday evening. The art gives you the route. · easy to do solo

🎮 Hampton Comicon is celebrating its tenth year with two halls of artists, comic creators, vendors, gaming and cosplay at the Hampton Roads Convention Center. VIP entry at 10 a.m., general at 10:30. Kids 10 and under are free with an adult.

🍷 Town Point Virginia Fall Wine Festival pours more than 200 wines from 25 Virginia wineries both afternoons at Town Point Park. Your tasting ticket is admission plus a souvenir glass. This is not a free waterfront stroll.

The NEON District opens its shops and galleries for indoor art, outdoor pop-ups and one Friday night of wandering. The route supplies the next stop. · easy to do solo

The ViBe closes its 2026 night-market season with global food trucks, artists, dance, music and free parking by the Convention Center.

Virginia Symphony wind players take on Mozart's Gran Partita at the Attucks Theatre. Reserved seating, one focused program, easy to walk in alone. · easy to do solo

A free service-family day at the MacArthur Memorial with screenings of The Wizard of Oz at 10:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m., plus crafts, snacks and costume contests while supplies last. RSVP ahead.

A guided 1.5-mile night hike through Chesapeake Arboretum with the spooky parts supplied by the woods. Registration is required. No tunnel from Portsmouth or western Chesapeake.

A free premiere of EFFIE at the Kimball Theatre in Williamsburg, followed by a live conversation with the director and writer. Reserve a seat before going.

The OV Sea Hags turn 250 years of Ocean View history into a twilight procession along the bay, with music, dance and storytelling checkpoints.

ODU gets an early look at this year's Monarchs against VCU before the conference games count. Chartway Arena, Saturday evening.

Williamsburg native Bruce Hornsby brings the Noisemakers and new Indigo Park material to the Ferguson Center. Once the house lights drop, easier to attend alone than most concerts. · easy to do solo

Five hours of food vendors and a wide all-ages crowd at Mount Trashmore. Walk in free (general admission) — reserved table packages and premium tiers run up to $81.88. Check your tier before registering. No tunnel from Portsmouth or Chesapeake.

A Chrysler Museum docent traces angels and demons through works spanning multiple faith traditions. No registration required, easy to show up alone. · easy to do solo

The four Golden Girls take one more caper in this 18-plus stage comedy at the Ferguson Center. Sunday afternoon, adult material.

The Hampton Roads Philharmonic packs Strauss, Gershwin, Beethoven and more into an afternoon sampler at the American Theatre in Hampton.

Four standing invitations you can walk into alone, no plan required.

🌿 Old Beach Farmers Market is in its last month of regular-season Saturdays before it drops to twice-monthly in November. Every Saturday through October, 9 a.m.–noon in the Old Beach neighborhood.

🎵 Tidewater Bluegrass Society jam at Wayne's Body Shop happens on the 3rd and 5th Saturdays of every month, 6–9 p.m. This Saturday is the 3rd Saturday. It's a body shop in Portsmouth, not a bar, and it sounds exactly like what it is.

📦 Virginia Peninsula Foodbank warehouse volunteer shifts run Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m., year-round. No appointment needed for individual shifts — sign up through VolunteerHub. Close-toed shoes required.

🛠️ Randi Marston Peterson Maker Studio at the Norfolk Public Library is open Tuesday–Thursday 11 a.m.–6 p.m. and Friday–Saturday 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Free with a library card, ages 13 and up. Online reservation required.

Reply to this if you run or know a weekly thing in the 757 that isn't hosted in a bar or taproom — a class, a group, a club, a run, anything someone could walk into on a Thursday email and find people already there.

📅 Chesapeake Restaurant Week runs through Sunday, Oct. 18. More than 30 participating restaurants are serving special menus for $15 and up — breakfast spots, lunch counters, and dinner tables. The full list is at visitchesapeake.com. (WAVY, Oct. 13)

🚀 A SpaceX Falcon 9 lit up Hampton Roads skies early Tuesday. The rocket launched from Cape Canaveral at 6:33 a.m. Tuesday carrying supplies to the International Space Station, and left a visible exhaust plume across the southern and eastern sky. If you saw it and didn't know what it was, now you know. (WAVY, Oct. 13)

🏥 A Virginia Beach teenager is one year past a Stage 4 cancer diagnosis and using that year to help other young patients. Grace Wildey, 15, found out she had Stage 4 Hodgkin lymphoma on Oct. 12, 2025. After nearly a year of chemotherapy and hospital stays, she is in remission and partnering with the Virginia Oncology Associates foundation to reach other kids facing the same thing. (WAVY, Oct. 12)

🎯 goCommute is hosting a free luncheon Thursday to help Hampton Roads residents navigate rising gas prices and tunnel delays. The event is designed to connect commuters with carpool, vanpool and transit options. (WAVY, Oct. 12)

Go do something good this weekend. And if you know someone who just moved here and still feels like a tourist, send this their way.

— Josh