Arts & Entertainment

Lancaster County's lively arts and entertainment scene gives the lie to all those negative stereotypes of country towns closing down at sunset. Theatrical productions, concerts and dance performances fill the community calendar. A year-round series of fairs, festivals and special events provides a showcase for the work of local artists and crafters. And if you've always dreamed of being part of the action, not just part of the audience, now is your chance. Art is a community activity here. If you can act, sing, play an instrument, wield a hammer or help staff a ticket booth, you can get involved. So, yes, you might find nothing to do here in Lancaster County. But only if nothing is what you want to do. Visit our new community calendar at tlcva.com (Travel Lancaster County Virginia) for upcoming community and Chamber events.

Theater

Good theater and a good time! That's what you get with your ticket to a production by the Lancaster Players. A local drama group originally dedicated to children's theater, the Players have expanded their repertoire to include adult fare such as the recent production of Joe DiPietro's long-running Broadway hit, "Over the River and Through the Woods," which played recently to an SRO crowd in the group's White Stone theater.

Music and Dance

From folk to funk and bluegrass to Beethoven, Lancaster County is alive with music year-round. Irvington's summer series of concerts on the green features folk singers, jazz artists, brass bands and soft rock. The Rappahannock Foundation for the Arts sponsors performances by the Richmond Symphony, among other events. The Northern Neck Orchestra is a full-sized symphony orchestra based in Kilmarnock. Founded in 1991 and operating without interruption since its inception, the NNO performs two to three concerts yearly featuring selections from the standard symphonic orchestra repertory. And festivals, fairs and fundraising events fill in the gaps with beach music, military bands, soloists, Native American dance and drum troupes and more.

The Visual Arts

In Lancaster County, you'll find fine art on office walls, in restaurants and gift shops, art galleries (naturally), even in a White Stone seafood market. You can be the first to discover a hometown Hockney before he (or she) becomes famous. Or you can select from prints and original works by artists who have already made it. And if you'd rather make your own, sign up for classes offered by the Rappahannock Art League, the Lower Northern Neck Family YMCA or any of several private art and crafts galleries.