Summer's sizzle will be in the air tomorrow night at Byrd Park with the kickoff of the 54th annual Festival of the Arts. The summer celebration at Dogwood Dell will start at 8 PM with a performance by the Upper East Side Big Band.

Says the Department of Parks and Recreation on the Festival:

In addition to the lineup of performances on the Dell stage, this year's summer-long festival of free outdoor entertainment for families includes a series of Tuesday Blue Plate Specials at 12:30 p.m. for active adults; a series for young audiences on the Ha'Penny Stage adjacent to the Dell; a Gospel Music Fest on July 11 from 3 to 9 p.m.; a Words & Music Festival on July 18 from 2 p.m. to 9 p.m.; the Fourth Annual Latin Jazz Festival on August 14 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.; a series of Carillon concerts performed by the city's Carilloneur Larry Robinson; and the popular Fourth of July annual performance series concluding with cannon fire and a fireworks spectacular.

The bells of the Carillon will chime starting at 4 PM today for the annual Memorial Day concert. Says The Department of Parks & Recreation on the event:

We will be offering a free concert at 4:00 p.m. on the Carillon bells played by Larry Robinson, who is celebrating his 50th year of playing Richmond's Carillon. He will play patriotic music and other selections. Following the concert there will be an Open House with light refreshments.

Summer officially starts tomorrow at Byrd Park with the opening of Sally Bell's new concession stand and the arrival of Paddle Boats at Fountain Lake. An employee at Sally Bell's tells us that they passed their health department inspection with flying colors and we can look forward to delicious boxed lunch type meals and fresh grilled burgers and hot dogs starting at lunch time on Friday.

In addition to delicious meals, Sally Bell's will offer paddle boat rentals on Fountain Lake. $12 will buy you 30 minutes on the lake plus a bonus life preserver to keep you afloat no matter what happens to your boat.

Picnics in the park are going to be even more delicious this summer thanks to a new vendor opening Byrd Park. Richmond's preeminent sandwich maker, Sally Bell's Kitchen was awarded a contract to provide restaurant services daily from the new Landing concession building.

Reports Style Weekly:

Sally Bell’s Kitchen — with its salty corned beef sandwiches, flaky pecan-cheese wafers and onion-rich potato salad whipped with homemade mayonnaise — is expanding to a second location for the first time in 1924.

It’s a big step for the fabled hometown institution, which has been featured in The New York Times and GQ magazine but has stood pat in the 700 block of West Grace Street since it opened as Sarah Lee Kitchen in

Read More From Style Weekly

Sally Bell's will operate Tuesday - Sunday from 11 am to park closing. The restaurateur hopes to begin operating by Memorial Day and will run the stand through October.

H/T To Our Friends At ByrdPark.net

Motorists on South Boulevard are on high alert this afternoon after a deer assault on passing sedan. The shocking deer vs. car incursion occurred in the northbound lane of the Boulevard at the 195 onramp bordering Byrd Park around 5:30 pm. Without any warning at all a fawn charged from a stealth position and slammed with full force into the front fender of a vehicle. The unprovoked attack caused significant body damage to the vehicle and proved fatal for the deer.

As a result of this startling act of urban deer vs. car violence in broad daylight Boulevardizen.com is raising the BLVD Deer Threat Level to ORANGE.

It's a tent city! Fortunately for the hundreds of artists the tents in Byrd Park are needed merely to protect them from too much beautiful sunshine and warm weather. Thousands of visitors are flocking to the two day art and craft carnival located next to the Carillon.

Make sure your Sunday afternoon plans involve an afternoon stroll through this once a year art event!

Do you live along or near the Boulevard? Well be sure to claim your parking spot tonight because this weekend is going to be a very busy one on our grand avenue.

The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts grand opening celebration on Saturday and Sunday will draw thousands of residents and tourists to the Grove through Kensington blocks of Boulevard. The expanded museum features a 600 car parking garage however we can expect many visitors to utilize free street parking.

Further south on Boulevard traffic and parking will also be more of a challenge than usual as Byrd Park hosts Arts in the Park. The 38th annual art show will feature more than 450 artists and will also draw thousands of people to the Carillon area in Byrd Park.

Arts in The Park will provide free parking and free shuttle service from the City Stadium parking lot to Byrd Park.

After an #EpicFail by Henrico County the Lewis Ginter Botanical Garden's popular  Groovin’ In The Garden concert series will shift all four of their May events to Maymont. In a statement on the Lewis Ginter webpage  the organization blames the concert production company for failing to secure permits from the county government.

As a result we can expect to enjoy the following May events at Maymont:

• Thursday, May 6: Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings
• Thursday, May 13: Keller Williams
• Thursday, May 20: Jay Farrar
• Thursday, May 27: Carbon Leaf

For More Details On Groovin' In The Garden Visit Lewis Ginter's Event Page

The Hills & Heights blog has more on the good fortune about to grace Maymont

The Boulevard entertainment scene is going to get a little more crowded this summer when the Department of Parks & Recreation begins their Movies in the Park series. Each Friday night this summer you can enjoy recent blockbuster movies on the big screen at Byrd Park:

Friday June 18, 8:30 pm - Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs

Friday July 9, 8:30 pm - Star Trek

Friday July 23, 8:30 pm - The Blind Side

Friday July 30, 8:30 pm - Monsters vs. Aliens

Friday August 6, 8:30 pm - This Is It

Friday August 13, 8:30 pm - Fame

Friday August 20, 8:30 pm - G-Force

Friday August 27, 8:30 pm - The Princes & The Frog

On June 13, 1951 a large F3 tornado touched down just west of the Boulevard Bridge and carved a path of destruction through Byrd Park, The Fan and into Richmond's north side communities. The late afternoon tornado travelled four miles through the city, completely destroying 35 buildings and damaging 1,000 others.

From the Richmond Times-Dispatch:
"It came on fast. It sounded to me like an earthquake. I saw rooftops flying through the air. Pieces of tin and trees were falling on South Granby Street. When it hit my house, the back of the house came down. All the houses along here got hit in the back, and they all were half ripped down." - Perl Price, 1835 Rosewood Avenue.

And from the Richmond News Leader came this quote by John L. Walker:
"Four different clouds - all funnel-shaped - were rushing toward the city. Each one had a tail like a kite. Then the four came together in the shape of a huge auger that picked up everything in front of it."
This report suggests that it was a multi-vortex tornado with, at one point, four vortices visible.

Read More From The National Weather Service In Sterling

Did this morning's record setting Monument Avenue 10k inspire you to perspire on more road races in Richmond? This year we have a number of challenging races in our area neighborhoods that will help you train for the ultimate Richmond running event: The Richmond Marathon!

Mark Your Calendars:

• 'Make It Happen' 5K Run at Byrd Park - Benefitting the Nicole Megaloudis Foundation - Sunday April 11 @ 1:00 PM - Download A Brochure
  
• Reveille 5K in Windsor Farms - Benefitting Swansboro Elementary School - Saturday April 17 @ 9 AM - Download A Brochure
• Carytown 10K in Carytown - Benefitting the Harvey Family Memorial Endowment - Sunday May 16 @ 8 AM - Visit The Website
• Beat The Heat 5K in Shockoe Bottom - Benefitting the Richmond Firefighters Scholarship Fund - Saturday June 19 @ 8:30 AM - Visit The Website
• US Army X-Country 5K at Maymont - Friday September 24 @ 6 PM - Visit The Website
• Capitol 10 Miler - Sunday October 3 @ 7 AM - Starts at the Capitol and travels through Richmond's streets (including the Boulevard & Nickel Bridge!). - Visit The Website  
• Suntrust Richmond Marathon, Half Marathon & 8K - Saturday November 13 - Visit The Website

When you stir the spirits in Richmond only bad things are bound to happen. Such was the case this sunny Saturday morning when one guest arrived for the Foundation For Paranormal research's event to "capture and contain" real ghosts at Byrd Park's Pump House building.

The guest parked his car on the curb of Pump House Drive adjacent to the canal and Pump House building when he felt a sudden jolt as the asphalt gave way beneath him. Upon closer inspection he realized the nature of his dilemma, a sink hole was swallowing his car!

Police arrived on the scene around 12:30 to investigate the failing road surface and discovered significant erosion of the hillside next to Pump House Drive and a hole almost 8 feet deep enveloping the rear of the vehicle.

The threat of the expanding hole forced authorities to close down the roadway just before the Pump House complex. It remains unclear when the road will reopen and the city's plan to restore the stability of the road surface.

It also remains unclear what, if any additional vengeance Richmonders can expect from the supernatural after this morning's attempts to capture and contain the poltergeists.

UPDATE 3 PM: Pump House Drive now has Road Closed signs posted. The large hole still remains on the shoulder of the road and a close up inspection reveals a 8-10 foot deep cavern beneath the road surface.

SPOOKY! The Hills & Heights blog tips us that the Foundation for Paranormal Research will "capture and contain" real ghosts this Saturday at the Pump House near the Boulevard Bridge.

The 3 Mile Lock Experiment – Conquest event will take place from 10:30 AM - 12 PM on March 6th.

The organization says about the event:

The foundation’s founder Robert Bess, along with his technical containment team, will demonstrate the real existence of ghosts and other worldly entities by actual capture and containment of real ghosts using the foundation’s inventions and techniques. An explanation of the equipment, the theories, and practical applications etc will be given before the event. The environment will be fully lit and fully visible. This is a rare opportunity for skeptics and non-committed believers, etc.

The paranormal professionals tell us there will be a bonus metaphysical display of at this event:

An added attraction will be the “Parabot,”..... Parabot will be capturing and containing ghosts and showing off its abilities. The foundation will also be demonstrating how its latest invention, “The Tesla Tower,” works. There will be two fully active Tesla coils firing during the demonstration. The coils will be producing over .2.6 million volts of raw uncontrolled energy – wild and attractive arcs from the coils.

Read More About The Biggest Ghost Hunting Event of the Year At Hills & Heights

The bears of Maymont ventured out of their lairs this morning with the intent to prognosticate the end of winter but officials at the popular wildlife park tell us that due to dense cloud cover the park's bears could not spot a hint of shadow cast upon the glistening snow.

According to Germanic tradition "if a hibernating animal sees its shadow on Feb. 2 -- the Christian holiday of Candlemas -- winter will last another six weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend says spring will come early." In the United States this meteorological analysis of the seasons is typically provided by the groundhog, but lacking a friendly marmot in Richmond our next best prognosticators are the bears of Maymont.

Yet while the bears' forecast promises an early spring for Richmonders the staff at Maymont continue to clear the park of winter's most recent snow storm. "It's business as usual [at Maymont]. We're still clearing roads and walkways from our most recent dose of winter this past weekend. Since the bears didn't see their shadows, we're hoping that the forecast for more snow this weekend will prove to be inaccurate," said Maymont Foundation spokesperson Carla Murray.

With the park filled with snow and winter's chill still lingering in the air, there are plenty of adventures to be had on the landscaped hills of Maymont according to Murray. "There are families sledding the snow-covered hills as we speak and for visitors who wish to stay warm, Nature & Visitor Center and Maymont Mansion are both indoors and open Tuesday through Sunday year round. In the Nature Center, visitors can enjoy 13 giant aquariums, river otters and interactive exhibits."

Richmond City's curious lack of groundhogs begs the question, "Did the bears of Maymont eat them?" Says Murray "No, the bears have a strictly regulated diet that doesn't include groundhogs."

Learn More About Winter Adventures at the Maymont Foundation

Make a Contribution To Maymont & Help Keep Groundhogs Off The Bears' Dinner Plate

Feeling like giving back to your community? Saturday morning offers the perfect opportunity at Byrd Park's Vita running course where volunteers are needed to help plant 20 new trees.

According to the City of Richmond:

The trees are being provided by the Friends of William Byrd Park, a citizen’s group that helps care for the park.

The holes in which the trees will be planted will be dug in advance. Volunteers will receive instruction on how to plant the trees correctly so that they will grow and thrive. The project is expected to be completed by noon or perhaps earlier.

The tree planting is a joint effort of the Friends of William Byrd Park, the Department of Parks, Recreation and Community Facilities, the Richmond Recreation and Parks Foundation, and the Department of Public Works. It is the first of a multi-year project planned by the Friends group to plant trees around the Vita Course to increase the shade canopy.

Volunteers are encouraged to meet at the entrance to the course on Trafford Rd at 9 AM and are asked to bring their own work gloves. The Friends of Byrd Park are also in need of volunteers with garden hardware such as shovels, rakes and wire cutters to assist with the planting effort.