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Good morning, Blacksburg. Wednesday is dealing a proper October stunner: wall-to-wall sunshine, a high near 76, and not a drop of rain in the forecast. Tonight clears out to a crisp 49. This is the week the leaf-peepers have been waiting for.
In today's Blacksburg Connect:
🔨 Auction Wednesday: Highlighting interesting auctions in the area
🐑 Radford Highlanders Festival returns Saturday
🌳 Volunteer Opportunity: A Friday for the trees
🎃 Kids Activity: Pumpkin Splash Friday
Let’s get to it.
Wednesday, October 7
Talking About Books
11am-12pm, Christiansburg Library, 125 Sheltman St, Christiansburg. This month's pick: "The Librarian of Burned Books" by Brianna Labuskes.
Walk-In Wednesdays
10am-12pm, 201 Wheatland Ct, Christiansburg. Weekly open interviews for job seekers, from entry-level to career changers.
Blacksburg Farmers Market (Wednesday Market)
2-6pm, 108 W Roanoke St, Blacksburg. The year-round, producer-only market with seasonal produce, baked goods, and crafts.
Adult Clay Camp: Bake It Beautiful!
5:30-8pm. A 4-week clay hand-building workshop starts tonight; check the event page for the venue.
Tech Talk Live with James Franklin
6-7pm, McClain's at First & Main, 1614 S Main St, Blacksburg. Free, first-come seating. Coach Franklin joins hosts Mike Burnop and Evan Hughes to break down the Pitt heartbreaker and look ahead to Cal.
"Are You Smarter Than a Beertender?" Trivia Night
6:30-8pm, 501 2nd Street, Radford. Weekly Wednesday trivia at a craft beer spot, with food trucks and prizes per round.
Wednesday Bluegrass Jam
Wednesday evening, River City Distillery, Radford. Weekly jam: grab a drink, bring an instrument, or just kick back and listen.
Teatro La Plaza: "Hamlet" (Night 1)
7:30pm, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, Moss Arts Center, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg. Peru's Teatro La Plaza: eight actors with Down syndrome reimagine Hamlet in Spanish with English supertitles; 95 minutes, no intermission. $30 general, $10 students and youth 18 and under.
VT Jazz Ensembles Concert
7:30-9pm, Creativity and Innovation District LLC Building, 185 Kent Street, Virginia Tech. The School of Performing Arts presents the VT Jazz Ensembles in a dynamic program spanning a wide range of jazz styles, performed by student musicians from across the university. $15 general public, $12 seniors, $10 students.
Haunted History Tours
7:30 and 9pm, starting on the lawn at 204 Draper Rd SW, Blacksburg. A 60-90 minute ghost walk with T.J. Prosalenti covering five stops including The Lyric and Stroubles Creek. Limited to 15 people, ages 8 and up; buy tickets at least 3 hours ahead.
MFA Salon
7:30-8:30pm, Blacksburg Books, 401 S Main St Ste 106, Blacksburg. Readings by VT MFA writers Ashlyn Peralta, Liz Tresidder, and Sandra Riffler.
"Weird Al" Yankovic: Bigger & Weirder 2026 Tour
7:30pm, Salem Civic Center, 1001 Roanoke Blvd, Salem. The polka-rock legend with special guest Puddles Pity Party. Tickets $34.50-179.50 via Ticketmaster. Worth the drive down 81.
Thursday, October 8
16 Squares Walking Tour
12-1:30pm, meet at the Alexander Black House, 204 Draper Rd SW, Blacksburg. Every-other-Thursday walking tour of the original 16 squares of town. Limited to 15 people; RSVP to [email protected].
"Beyond the Frame" Gallery Tour
12-1pm, Moss Arts Center galleries, 190 Alumni Mall, Blacksburg. Free monthly noontime curator tour of the Fall 2026 exhibition with Director of Visual Arts Brian Holcombe.
Christiansburg Farmers Market
3-7pm, Huckleberry Park, 300 Huckleberry Pk Dr NW. Weekly Thursdays through Oct 29: produce, baked goods, and crafts.
Sinkland Farms 35th Annual Pumpkin Festival (weeknight)
4-8pm, 3060 Riner Rd, Christiansburg. Weeknight edition with a hayride to the patch, corn maze, Kids Zone, terrace bar, and food trucks. Runs Thu-Sun weekly through Nov 1.
Autumnal Evening of Songs and Stories
6:30pm, Blacksburg Museum, 204 Draper Rd SW. Local musicians play spooky-season ballads and songs of haunting, death, mourning, and creatures of the night.
Carilion vs. LewisGale Annual Charity Softball Game
6:30pm, Carilion Clinic Field at Salem Memorial Ballpark, 1008 Texas St, Salem. Free admission, raffles, and live music; donations benefit the American Heart Association.
Town-Gown meeting: "Entrepreneurship in action"
6:30-7:30pm, Creativity and Innovation District Multipurpose Library, 185 Kent St, Blacksburg. Free. This month's town-gown conversation spotlights The Local, the downtown retail incubator opening October 14, and VT's Entrepreneur Resource Center.
Town Council Candidate Forum
Blacksburg Municipal Building. Council candidates Joel L. Goodhart and Leslie C. Harwood participate ahead of the November special and general elections to fill council seats. League of Women Voters of Montgomery County
Barry Caldwell at The Farmhouse
6-9pm, The Farmhouse, 285 Ridinger St, Christiansburg. No cover; patio seating is first come, first served. Part of the weekly "On The Patio" Thursday series.
Teatro La Plaza: "Hamlet" (Night 2)
7:30pm, Anne and Ellen Fife Theatre, Moss Arts Center. Second and final night; same details as Wednesday.
Danielle Talamantes and Kerry Wilkerson
7:30-9:30pm, Squires Recital Salon, Virginia Tech. A meditative evening of German art song in the intimate Recital Salon.
Friday, October 9
School's Out Horse Camp Day
9am-1pm, Precious Valley Farms. $65 for a day of riding lessons, horse care, and games.
Five Minutes in the Forest: Tulip-poplar Milling
12:15pm, online via Virginia Cooperative Extension. A quick virtual tour of a tulip-poplar sawmill.
MCPR Boo Bash
3-6pm, 390 Cinnabar Rd, Christiansburg. Free Montgomery County Parks and Recreation Halloween event: face painting, cookie decorating, and games.
SECOND Friday NRV Tree Rescuers Workday
3pm. Volunteer workday with the NRV Tree Rescuers; check the event page for the meeting spot.
Sinkland Farms Pumpkin Festival (weeknight)
4-8pm, 3060 Riner Rd, Christiansburg. Same weeknight edition as Thursday.
Pumpkin Splash
5:30-8pm, Christiansburg Aquatic Center. The 6th annual floating pumpkin patch: $15, ages 3 and up (2 and under free without a pumpkin), preregistration required. The facility closes at 5pm for the event.
VT Women's Volleyball vs. North Carolina
6pm, Cassell Coliseum, Virginia Tech. The Hokies' first home match since August 29, against a 9-3 UNC squad riding a 5-match win streak.
Silent Book Club
6pm, 125 Sheltman St, Christiansburg. Bring whatever you're reading and enjoy an hour of companionable silence.
🐑 Radford Highlanders Festival returns Saturday
The Radford Highlanders Festival takes over Radford University's main campus Saturday from 9am, and it is completely free. Expect Highland games, sheepherding demonstrations, live Celtic music all day, the noon massed-band and clan march, and a herd of Highland cattle. The festival is a partnership between Radford University and the City of Radford and now draws around 10,000 attendees, so plan to arrive early and wear comfortable shoes. Radford University
🌳 Volunteer Opportunity: A Friday for the trees
The NRV Tree Rescuers hold their Second Friday workday from 3-5pm at Wong Park, the new location this month. Volunteers help rescue mature trees from premature decline caused by invasive vines. Bring hand tools and gloves if you have them; extras are available to borrow. Workdays are canceled in high winds, rain, or temperatures at or below 38. Tree Rescuers Workday
🎃 Pumpkin Splash Friday: sign up for the floating pumpkin patch
Friday is the 6th annual Pumpkin Splash at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center, 5:30-8pm. Hundreds of pumpkins float in the pool and kids pick theirs right out of the water. It is $15, open to ages 3 and up (2 and under free without a pumpkin), and preregistration is required. If you have been meaning to sign up, today would be a good day to get it in. Christiansburg Aquatic Center
🔨 Auction Wednesday
It's auction week in the NRV, with four auctions closing this week and next — here's the rundown.
Virginia Tech surplus auction is the big one. Matthews Auctioneers is running 586 lots of university castoffs in an online-only auction ending Thursday at 6pm, with in-person preview Thursday 8am-4pm at 1425 S Main St in Blacksburg. No buyer's premium; pickup runs Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday after the auction. The catalog is a treasure hunt: an NMR spectrometer, a robot arm with conveyor, a Boston grand piano ("cart not included"), three sousaphones from the Marching Virginians, two mannequins drawing 19 bids, a corn sheller with 34 watchers, liquid nitrogen dewars (listed as "DEVARs"), and a 2016 Impala with an "undiagnosed intermitten voltage drain." As of Tuesday, the robot arm was at $6 and the piano at $41.50. auction
Two land auctions from Blue Ridge Land & Auction: 45.12 acres of farmland with views at 5902 Chestnut Ridge Rd in Riner, with online bidding starting to end Thursday, October 8. 10% buyer's premium, $10,000 earnest money due day of sale, sold as-is subject to seller confirmation. Riner listing
Then Friday: +/- 16 acres of recreational land on Georges Run Road in Shawsville, about 15 minutes from Christiansburg, with bidding starting to end Friday, October 9 (the listing says 3pm; confirm on the listing page). Two unfinished cabins, rainwater collection tanks, an outdoor shower, storage sheds, and a brand-new greenhouse — pitched as a hunter's getaway, off-grid retreat, or recreational property. 10% buyer's premium, $5,000 earnest money deposit, close on or before November 23, sold as-is subject to seller confirmation. Shawsville listing
Linkous "Incredible Short Notice" online auction — 165 lots of estate goods at 615 Porter Street in Blacksburg, with lots beginning to close Monday, October 12 at 10am. Fine home furnishings, stained and leaded glass windows, Chinese porcelain, costume jewelry, vintage Pyrex, and dolls (American Girl, Barbie, Disney, Madame Alexander). The headliner is Lot 1: a 1999 Ford Econoline conversion van with 95,846 miles. The oddities are the real draw: "picking rights" to a storage shed and a carport storage area (a Storage Wars-style pick-through), a vintage Todd Protectograph check-writer machine, an antique guitar zither, a pair of wooden zebra sculptures, vintage Air Force uniforms, and a lighted blow-mold snowman. Preview Friday 10am-12pm; pickup October 13-14. 5.3% sales tax; the buyer's premium is listed as 15% but the terms page says 18% with 3% waived for cash or check — confirm before bidding. auction
📰 News Around the NRV
🏐 Volleyball back home Friday. The Hokies host 9-3 North Carolina at 6pm at Cassell Coliseum, their first home match since August 29. Schedule
🗳️ Candidate forum Thursday. Reminder: the Town Council Candidate Forum with Joel L. Goodhart and Leslie C. Harwood is Thursday at the Blacksburg Municipal Building, ahead of November's special and general elections. League of Women Voters
Warner, Kaine announce $4.14M for veteran suicide prevention. The senators announced $4,144,835 in federal funding through the Staff Sergeant Parker Gordon Fox Suicide Prevention Grant Program for eight Virginia community organizations. The local angle: $357,782 goes to Mountain Valor Veteran Services, serving Montgomery, Floyd, Pulaski, Franklin, Patrick, Wythe, and Carroll counties and the city of Radford. Warner press release
📌 Community Board
45-acre farmland auction in Riner. Blue Ridge Land & Auction is auctioning 45.12 acres of farmland at 5902 Chestnut Ridge Rd in Riner (Montgomery County); online bidding ends Thursday, October 8. 10% buyer's premium, $10,000 earnest money due day of sale, sold as-is subject to seller confirmation. listing
Tiny beagle spotted on Glade Road. Seen running near the Heritage Park crossroad on Monday. FB post
A VT nutrition professor is launching "The CLAW Bar." Vegan, gluten-free, organic, built on 20+ years of weight-regulation research; the Kickstarter pre-launch page is live. FB post
Copper Hill Farms has its pasture-raised pork butcher sheet open. Farm pickup in early December. FB post
#threeforliam river cleanup challenge. After picking up trash at the public boat ramp, a local is challenging river visitors to each pick up 3 pieces of trash. FB post
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