Many big-name musicians will be performing at festivals and venues around Virginia during October. From major country acts to the biggest names in rock and pop, catch your favorite artists and discover new ones all over the Commonwealth.
NOTE: This is not a complete list of shows and certain schedules may change. Please check with the individual venues for the most up to date details.
MUSIC FESTIVALS
The 2nd Street Festival (Oct. 7-8) celebrates the rich culture of the historic Jackson Ward neighborhood in downtown Richmond featuring three stages of live musical entertainment. Performers include Average White Band, I Would Die 4 U: A Musical Tribute to PRINCE, The Marvin Taylor Experience, and more.
Celebrating the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional craft and food, the Richmond Folk Festival takes place Oct. 13-15 and features more than 30 performing groups on seven live music stages, along with a Virginia Folklife demonstration area, children’s activities, a folk arts marketplace, regional and ethnic foods and more. The free three-day festival is one of the largest events in Virginia.
Ferrum College’s Blue Ridge Folklife Festival on Oct. 28 celebrates western Virginia’s folkways and rural life with three music stages with all the famed Blue Ridge music styles including bluegrass, ballads, blues, gospel, and string band music. There will also be craftspeople, vintage farm tractors, hundreds of custom cars, and more.
Photo Credit: Adam Kleibenstein
RICHMOND CONCERTS
At The National
- Oct. 5 – Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
- Oct. 11 – Chromeo
- Oct. 13 – Switchfoot
- Oct. 22 – Violent Femmes
- Oct. 24 – GWAR
- Oct. 27 – SOJA
- Oct. 28 – Dylan Scott
- Oct. 31 - Tennis
- Oct. 5 – Perpetual Groove
- Oct. 6 – Southern Culture on the Skids
- Oct. 8 – Helmet
- Oct. 18 – Andy & Travis (from Infamous Stringdusters) play Jerry Garcia
- Oct. 28 – Full Moon Fever 15th Anniversary Show
At Virginia Credit Union Live at Richmond Raceway
- Oct. 13 – Cody Johnson
At the Altria Theater
- Oct. 1 – Patti LaBelle
- Oct. 28 – Richmond Symphony: Ghostbusters – Live with Film
At the Dominion Energy Center
- Oct. 4 – Zach Williams
- Oct. 17 – Buddy Guy
- Oct. 21-22 – Tchaikovsky's Pathétique with the Richmond Symphony
At the Modlin Center for the Arts at University of Richmond
- Oct. 1 - Rhiannon Giddens with The Legendary Ingramettes
- Oct. 25 - Kenny Barron Voyage Trio
CHARLOTTESVILLE CONCERTS
At the John Paul Jones Arena
- Oct. 5 – Chris Stapleton
- Oct. 27 – Luke Bryan
At the Ting Pavilion
- Oct. 1 – Dropkick Murphy’s
At the Jefferson Theater
- Oct. 14 – Papadosio
- Oct. 20 – Full Moon Fever
- Oct. 29 – Rayland Baxter
- Oct. 31 - Lucero
At the Paramount Theater
- Oct. 2 – Rhiannon Giddens
- Oct. 3 – Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band
CENTRAL VIRGINIA CONCERTS
At the Beacon Theatre in Hopewell
- Oct. 5 - Lady Supreme: A Diana Ross Experience
- Oct. 6 - Live Wire: The Ultimate AC/DC Expericene & Completely Unchained: Tribute to Van Halen
- Oct. 7 - Roger McGuinn
- Oct. 13 - Satisfaction: International Rolling Stones Tribute
- Oct. 14 - Crystal Visions: Fleetwood Mac Tribute
- Oct. 21 - The Old Dominion Barn Dance presents Ronnie McDowell with special guests Lexi Korkos, Michael Robbins, Sean Stewart, and Patsy Hockaday
- Oct. 28 - Monsters of Metal featuring Priest Unleashed: A Tribute To Judas Priest, For Those About to Rock: An AC/DC Tribute, and Fade to Black: A Metallica Tribute
- Oct. 29 - Mia x Ally
After Hours Concerts at The Meadow Event Park in Doswell
- Oct. 7 – Dustin Lynch
Photo Credit: Adam Kleibenstein
HAMPTON ROADS CONCERTS
At the Atlantic Union Bank Pavilion in Portsmouth
- Oct. 6 - Kevin Gates
- Oct. 27 – Kodak Black, Luh Tyler, Rob 49
At the Chrysler Hall in Norfolk
- Oct. 7 – 7 Cities Blues Festival featuring King George, Calvin Richardson, Pokey Bear, Lenny Williams, Ronnie Bell and Theodis Ealey
- Oct 21 - Rachmaninoff Piano Concerto Festival
- Oct. 22 - Loreena McKennitt
At the Norva in Norfolk
- Oct. 4 – The Devil Wears Prada + Fit for a King
- Oct. 6 – Midnight Rain: A Live Band Tribute to Taylor Swift
- Oct. 10 – Macy Gray
- Oct. 12 – Common Kings
- Oct. 13 – Thrice
- Oct. 14 - Switchfoot
- Oct. 20 – Stephen Marley
- Oct. 21 – Violent Femmes
- Oct. 26 – Dylan Scott
- Oct. 27 – We Came As Romans
- Oct. 29 – The Head and the Heart
At the Chartway Arena in Norfolk
- Oct. 7 – Rick Ross and Friends
- Oct. 22 - Maxwell
SHENANDOAH VALLEY CONCERTS
At the Golden Pony in Harrisonburg
- Oct. 1 - The Judy Chops
- Oct. 6 - Virginia Man
- Oct. 12 - Jervis Campbell
- Oct. 13 - Southern Culture On The Skids
- Oct. 25 - Country Creep Show
- Oct. 27 - Easy Honey
- Oct. 29 - Casper Allen vs. South Texas Tweek
At the Bright Box Theater in Winchester
- Oct. 6 - Red Dirt Revolution
- Oct. 13 - Agent Orange
- Oct. 15 - For the Love of Linda: Honoring the Music of Linda Ronstadt
At the Lime Kiln Theater in Lexington
- Oct. 6 – Drew Holcomb & The Neighbors
VIRGINIA MOUNTAINS CONCERTS
At the Berglund Center in Roanoke
- Oct. 5 – Old Dominion
- Oct. 13 – Zach Williams
At the Salem Civic Center in Salem
- Oct. 19 – Travis Tritt
At the Harvester Performance Center in Rocky Mount
- Oct. 5 – Moonshine Bandits
- Oct. 7 – Brandy Clark & Lori McKenna
- Oct. 13 – Lady Supreme: A Diana Ross Experience
- Oct. 14 – Southern Culture On The Skids
- Oct. 18 – Kitchen Dwellers
- Oct. 21 - 5 Mile Mountain Road
- Oct. 27 - Albert Cummings
- Oct. 29 - Jethro Tull's Martin Barre
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA CONCERTS
At the Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol
- Oct. 14 – Lady Supreme: A Diana Ross Experience
- Oct. 19 – Farm & Fun Time featuring Rodney Crowell
- Oct. 21 – Bristol Truth & Freedom Music Festival
At the Lincoln Theatre in Marion
- Oct. 7 – “Song of the Mountains” featuring Rhonda Vincent and Crandall Creek
- Oct. 21 – Guy Penrod
At the Rex Theater in Galax
- Oct. 13 – Kenny & Amanda Smith Band
- Oct. 20 – Dan Tyminski
At the Carter Family Fold in Hiltons
- Oct. 7 - Russell Moore & IIIrd Tyme Out
- Oct. 14 - Billy Droze & Kentucky Blue
- Oct. 21 - Hillbilly Biscuits
- Oct. 28 - Surefire Bluegrass Band
NORTHERN VIRGINIA CONCERTS
At Wolf Trap National Park for Performing Arts in Vienna
- Oct. 13 - Andy Summers of The Police
- Oct. 14 - Magpie: A 50th Anniversary Celebration
- Oct. 17 & 18 - Branford Marsalis Quartet
- Oct. 10 & 21 - Pablo Cruise and Jim Messina
- Oct. 22 - Sam Bush
- Oct. 25 & 26 - Max Weinberg’s Jukebox
- Oct. 27 - The New York Arabic Orchestra
- Oct. 28 - Red Baraat
- Oct. 29 – Madison McFerrin
At The Birchmere in Alexandria
- Oct. 1 – Marshall Crenshaw
- Oct. 2 – Jake Shimabukuro
- Oct. 3 – The Lil Smokies & Town Mountain
- Oct. 4 – Eric Hutchinson
- Oct. 5 – Edwin McCain
- Oct. 7-9 – The Bacon Brothers
- Oct. 11 – Eric Benét
- Oct. 13 & 14 – Jeffrey Osborne
- Oct. 18 - Rodney Crowell
- Oct. 20 - Phil Vassar
- Oct. 22 - The Secret Sisters
- Oct. 23 - Gene Noble
- Oct. 24 - The Zombies
- Oct. 25 - Euge Groove
- Oct. 26-28 - Mary Chapin Carpenter & Shawn Colvin
At EagleBank Arena in Fairfax
- Oct. 22 – Carlos Vives
- Oct. 24 – The Rose
At the State Theatre in Falls Church
- Oct. 6 – EAGLEMANIA: The World's Greatest Eagles Tribute Band
- Oct. 7 - Gondwana
- Oct. 13 – Long Beach Dub Allstars & Passafire
- Oct. 20 – The Side Cars Band: Tribute to The Cars
At the Tally Ho Theatre in Leesburg
- Oct. 4 - Josey Scott’s Saliva
- Oct. 5 - The Motet
- Oct. 7 - End of the Line: A Tribute to The Allman Brothers Band
- Oct 8 - Bohemian Queen: A Theatrical Tribute to Queen
- Oct. 11 - Venom Inc
- Oct. 12 – Electric Six
- Oct. 13 – Varnam Ft. Indian Telugu Idols
- Oct. 19 – Yarn
- Oct. 20 - Better Off Dead
- Oct. 21 - ZZ-KC: The World’s Most Authentic Tribute to ZZ Top
- Oct. 25 - Mushroomhead
- Oct. 28 - EnRAGE Against The Machine Tribute
Are we missing any big concerts? Let us know in the comments below. For more big names coming to Virginia this month, go to virginia.org/music.
At a Virginia concert this month? Share your photos with @VisitVirginia on Twitter and Instagram with the hashtags #vamusic and #vaisformusiclovers.