It's been over a year of sheltering in place and quarantining, but now that more people are getting vaccinated and state regulations are being lifted, we are revving up to welcome everyone back to in-person events in downtown Harrisonburg! Whether you are into live music, trivia, happy hours, BINGO, art workshops, or something else, downtown Harrisonburg has something for you. The downtown Events Calendar is updated weekly with new additions, but there is also a number of weekly events to keep you entertained throughout the week. Check back as we will update weekly events here throughout the spring and summer! more
Even during the pandemic, the friendly city of Harrisonburg has seen several stores open and flourish, one of which being Mary Yoder’s Dart Resale and Trade store located on South Liberty Street. Downtown, one can find a few secondhand clothing stores, but Dart is the first to really take off with the buy-sell-trade system Yoder utilizes. more
How appropriate is it that Mother’s Day and Earth Day are so close together? Check out how businesses downtown can help you celebrate Mother Earth and every other kind of mother in your life in the upcoming weeks ahead. more
Are you interested in supporting Harrisonburg Downtown Renaissance during the Great Community Give? Here are four reasons why you should support HDR on April 21st! more
While COVID has kept many of us inside this year, construction began in earnest on First Presbyterian Church's new outdoor courtyard. When completed, the vacant space on the north side of Court Square adjacent to the church will be transformed into a grassy area bordered by pavers that will accommodate numerous church and community activities. more
The Perch, formerly known as “The Hub,” is a co-working space above Magpie Diner where entrepreneurs and organizations come together to spark new ideas and concepts. An entrepreneur herself, Kirsten Moore, founder and owner of The Perch, is a Harrisonburg native who’s always had knowledge of what can best serve a community. She began The Hub about five years ago, after seeing how similar spaces were working in Richmond, Virginia. more
For two months now, green fencing has blocked off an area near our LOVE sculpture and our new downtown sculpture is slowly taking shape. We wanted to update you on the progress. more
By Kathleen Shaw / Header photo courtesy of Kathleen Shaw — While studying in Nepal, a young Rameshwari “Rama” Shrestha first heard whispers about Shyam “John” Shrestha through her teacher, his cousin. In quick time, their parents met and discussed a potential union. Before ever meeting, the two were bound for marriage in the country’s capital of Kathmandu and wed after a handful of phone conversations. more
Some friends get together to drink a beer on the porch, go fishing in a nearby pond, play wiffle ball in the backyard, or grab a bite to eat — and some friends get together with 50 pounds of green coffee beans they’ve collectively purchased and try their hand at roasting coffee one pound at a time, because why not? This kind of ingenuity seems to be a hallmark of this town. So many fantastic ideas hatched at dusk in someone’s backyard while fireflies flash and kids with training wheels roll down the sidewalk. This was the case for cousins Darryl and Charles Matthews and their coworkers Emily and Larisa Martin, who now own Merge Coffee Company, on a typical Sunday night. After several weekly attempts at roasting, they refined their skills enough that their acquaintances were requesting bags of coffee for their own consumption. And for a year, these four friends sold their coffee online, roasting a small batch every Sunday in their garage and shipping orders every Monday. more