The 10th Annual NEON Festival

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Snacks from Hangry's food truck, projection mapping on the building with Beau.tiful Visuals and more
• 6:30pm Melodic Meditation outside on the Studio loading dock
• 7:00pm - 8:00pm Norfolk Tour Company Art Tour leaving from Grace Street
• 7:00pm AMI Dance Performance outside the Studio on the bridge
• 7:30pm The Governor's School for the Arts Dance Performance on the front path
• 7:45pm Strolling Strings at the Studio entrance
• 8:00pm Glow Yoga with Vee and Bhav Brigade outside on the Studio loading dock

Hot glass and live music come together for memorable evenings as the Perry Glass Studio kicks off the first night of NEON Festival with Glass After Dark.

Cash bar. Free, registration recommended.

• 6:00pm The Governor's School for the Arts Jazz Band, Studio Lobby
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Maury Photo Club in the Flame Shop
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Caricature Drawing in the Garden
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm TCC Visual Arts & Design in the Garden Terrace
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Teens with a Purpose in the upstairs classroom
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm WHRO's CURATE 10th Anniversary Video Celebration on the 2nd Floor
• 6:20pm Strolling Strings, upstairs inside Studio
• 6:30pm NEON 10th Anniversary Celebration Toast inside the Meredith Hot Shop
• 7:00pm - 10:00pm Glass After Dark in the Hot Shop
• 8:00pm Bread Collectors Band in the Hot Shop, alongside Glass After Dark

• 6:00pm - 8:00pm Susan Watkins and Women Artists of the Progressive Era Exhibition Preview Celebration (ticketed)
• 6:00pm - 8:00pm The Womxn's Connective community mural activity in the Museum Circle

Walk over to Favor Nation Church at 759 Yarmouth Street, across from Chrysler Museum of Art, for It's Electric! A Dance Concert.

• 6:30pm - 8:30pm Free dance performances curated by Beverly Moody.
• 6:30pm Copeland Queen School of the Arts
• 7:00pm Del Soul Dance Theatre
• 7:30pm Music in Motion Dance Company
• 8:00pm Twinkle Toes Performing Arts Company

The Plot comes alive for the NEON Festival with an evening of live performances, local art, and community activations presented by Real Fresh Radio and Freshtopia. Enjoy a diverse lineup featuring classical voices, youth talent, and high-energy DJ sets that keep the block moving all night long.

• 6:00pm - 6:30pm Melanie Dubil and Maggie Kinabrew from Virginia Opera’s Herndon Foundation Emerging Artists program, accompanied by Oleg Bellini
• 6:30pm - 7:00pm Teens With a Purpose
• 7:00pm - 9:00pm Fresh Radio with Selecta 720
• 9:00pm - 10:00pm DJ Chef Dro

On-Site Organizations & Vendors
Elizabeth River Trail
Action in Motion
Teens With a Purpose
Freshtopia
Fresh Art Exhibit

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Elation Brewing Beer Garden with food trucks, vendors and sponsor booth
• 6:00pm - 7:00pm Chalk art and temporary arm tattoos with The Governor's School for the Arts visual art students
• 7:00pm - 8:00pm Norfolk Tour Company Art Tour leaving from Cementiscope sculpture at the Plot

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Elation Brewing Beer Garden
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm TEN: Time, Transformation, and Togetherness community art competition from 757 Makerspace. Cash prizes open to all forms of art including sculpture, installation, projection, painting, mixed media, and more.
• 6:00pm - 8:00pm Vote for your favorite art installation
• 9:00pm Awards Announcement on stage 
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Levi Watts and House Revival Project, an epic 4 hour journey of underground house music from deep to soulful, to tribal and tech. With sound, stage, and lighting powered by Infinity Sounds 757

• 6:30pm - 7:30pm The Hurrah Players take the stage with a spirited selection of scenes from The Addams Family. This lively musical comedy follows everyone’s favorite quirky family through a tale of love, laughter, and a touch of the macabre.
• 6:30pm - 10:00pm Re:Formed, The Art of Becoming Ourselves exhibition by Norfolk State University Fine Arts in the front gallery
• 8:00pm - 8:30pm Opera For Us live performances alongside Truth Be Told
• 8:30pm - 9:15pm Heard Productions presents the Truth Be Told: Virginia Season 5 Launch with three new episodes featuring stories from Black faces, places, and spaces along the Elizabeth River Trail. Guests are invited to take a story and leave a story, adding their own voice to this living archive of truth and connection. Supported by the Elizabeth River Trail Foundation through a National Parks Service Chesapeake Gateways Grant and a grant from Virginia Humanities. Learn more at heardofem.com.
• 9:15pm - 10:00pm NSU x NEON Open Mic 

That’s Flee Vol. 8 (NEON Edition)
Goodsociety brings its signature streetwear and culture-forward energy to the NEON Festival with That’s Flee Vol. 8. This special NEON Edition transforms The Plot into a vibrant open-air market featuring local designers, artists, and creatives shaping the 757’s fashion and lifestyle scene. Discover exclusive drops, vintage finds, and independent brands alongside live music, food, and community. More than just a market, That’s Flee is a celebration of style, creativity, and connection in the heart of the NEON District.

• 5:00pm - 9:00pm VIVID Exhibition Closing Reception with live painting, fairy hair, a DJ, beverages and snacks
• 5:00pm - 8:00pm Buzz Stop 757 coffee bar in the parking lot

Step into Interdimensional, a space-themed experience that opens a portal into cosmic nightlife where art, fashion, and performance collide. Presented by The Doper Show and Foster Beauty Fashion Show, this immersive evening blends live performance, high-energy DJ sets with Vinny Del Sol, and avant-garde runway presentations in a setting that bends reality. Guests can dance under the stars, pose for cosmic photo ops, and explore hands-on art activities surrounded by surreal intergalactic visuals. Food and drinks will be available for purchase throughout the night as the NEON District transforms into another universe.

• 6:00pm Doors open, music, art installation, photo ops, food, and drinks
• 8:00pm Foster Beauty Runway Show 1
• 8:30pm Performance by The Doper Show
• 9:00pm Foster Beauty Runway Show 2
• 9:30pm Last call for food and drinks

Lunatique
Bienvenue! Step into Lunatique, a graveyard lounge inspired by Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris, offering a serene refuge during the NEON Festival’s 10th anniversary. This atmospheric activation blends art, mysticism, and reflection, featuring tarot readings, henna, mojo bags, and coping skill sessions led by a licensed social worker. Thematic libations and treats will be available for purchase throughout the evening. Inside Zeke’s, explore Black Out, a juried group exhibition showcasing work from more than 60 Hampton Roads artists, on view all month long. Whether you come for the art, the atmosphere, or the conversation, Lunatique invites you to slow down and connect.

Event Schedule
6:00pm - 10:00pm Lunatique: La Fête du Soir
6:00pm - 10:00pm Black Out Juried Group Exhibition
9:30pm Winners Announcement

• 5:30pm - 9:00pm Free Improv Shows every 30 minutes featuring The Pushers and some of the Push Comedy Theater's funniest improvisers. Totally FREE!
• 5:30pm Improv Riot
• 6:00pm The Jam with Lemon Pepper and Sazon
• 6:30pm Sounds Made Up: Musical Improv
• 7:00pm GirlProv
• 7:30pm Improv Tales
• 8:00pm Tales from the Campfire
• 8:30pm Date Night

The Path Within: Where Courage Grows
Step into a colorful alley filled with towering flowers and fluttering story sheets that dance in the breeze. Begin your journey by letting go of a fear, then wander through stories of real courage, raw, human, and heartfelt. Each visitor is invited to pause, read, and add their own reflection, creating a shared field of bravery. Artist Ashleigh Bagell's The Path Within invites you to consider what courage looks like in your own life and how it grows when it is shared.

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Doodlefest's Doodle Den, a cozy corner for festival wanderers to sit down, and let inspiration from NEON Fest take shape. The space invites goofiness, mindlessness, and spontaneous expression through interactive drawing experiences for all ages.
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Hampton Roads Quilting Guild's Hand Stitch Happy Hour. Check out the stunning “PRIDE BOOGIE-WOOGIE” Community Quilt 
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Immortalize Yourself in Art! Local artist Rowena Federico Finn invites everyone to contribute to her upcoming art exhibition "Crowd Control."  By adding a single anonymous fingerprint onto a translucent capiz shell, you become part of the work—adding to the collective while maintaining your individuality.  Together, the fingerprints create a powerful meditation on privacy in a data-driven age and the tension between personal identity and belonging to a larger whole.

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm Grab a taco or marg from NEON's classic dive bar

Eleanor’s NFK comes alive with student-led art experiences, hands-on activities, and community-driven showcases from Old Dominion University’s arts programs.

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm ODU Student Pottery Sale and Fundraiser  benefitting 757 Community Fridges, a local mutual aid project providing free food and resources to neighbors in need.
• 7:00pm - 8:00pm ODU's Writers in Community poetry readings by MFA students Evelyn Griffith, Kelsey Kendall, Violet Glenn, Winnie Wong, and CJ Brady
• 6:00pm - 10:00pm ODU Art Therapy make-and-take popup activities centered on togetherness, including blackout poetry with altered books, bracelet making, and customizing stamped journals. Each station offers space to reflect, connect, and create something meaningful to take home.

Recon Music Lab transforms Glow Juice Bar into an immersive music discovery experience that celebrates artistry, storytelling, and community. In collaboration with XIMERAx Agency, this live activation is the culmination of an intentional artist development program where six performers rehearse, refine, and shape their stories in the weeks leading up to the NEON Festival.

Powered by partnerships with 103 Jamz, Darknight ENT, and Baila Fuzion Dance & Creative Arts Center, the event blends live performance, brand development, and media storytelling into one dynamic experience. Expect intimate performances, creative collaboration, and a voter registration tie-in with NextGen.

• 6:00pm - 7:00pm DJ Chorder / Networking / XIMERAx Activation
• 7:00pm - 7:20pm Blk Hxxdie
• 7:25pm - 7:45pm Mike Milbourn
• 7:50pm - 8:10pm Paige Joiner
• 8:15pm - 8:35pm Nvtion
• 8:40pm - 9:00pm Shann
• 9:05pm - 9:25pm Sunny Moonshine
• 9:30pm - 10:00pm DJ Chorder / Networking / XIMERAx Activation

Rollin’ Through the Decades Fashion Show
Experience an unforgettable night of art, fashion, and movement at Rollin’ Through the Decades, part of the 10th Annual NEON Festival. Presented by Rollbounce Rollout, the 757’s all-wheels community celebration, this high-energy evening transforms Magazine Lane into a glowing runway and skate floor. All wheels. All welcome.

Hosted by Judi KO and Trulee Fresh, with music by DJ Hitman and DJ Kellie, the event features runway shows sponsored by She’s a 10 and Karma Skate Shop, live performances, demos, and interactive art. Ride, skate, and dance through the illuminated lane while exploring the Rolling Art Gallery, Cardinal Skate Shop ramp area, Glow Bar, and Moke America Bike Show.

• 6:00pm - 8:00pm Stop by the annual Hatober Fest at Stark & Legum to check out the latest in Fall hats and fashion! Win big in a raffle on Friday night, giving away Hat Club memberships and a hat as the grand prize! 

• 7:00pm - 12:00am The 5th “GOOD FRIENDS” Back to Class edition from Good Society Group. Featuring the next generation of 757 Producers: MISTER THRILLZ, BIG LIGIEE, PAIGE JOINER, TRUE LEE FRESH & FRIENDS

• 6:00pm - 10:00pm NEON NFK Nights buy one get one sale on all vintage and stickered items + 20% in store and raffles all night. Sounds by VEGA.

In a reprisal of his original mural New Energy of Norfolk, Rick Nickel's smiling houses once again grace the NEON District. Painted in honor of the tenth anniversary of NEON, the new iteration of the mural now faces the northern entrance to the neighborhood but still is the friendliest of murals.

Using a pen and watercolor drawing that she scanned, vectorized and printed large scale with NEON’s Norfolk Printing Company, Heidi Peelen then adhered her print to the backside of Push Comedy Theater with a wheat paste and glue mixture. The work is temporary, much like the lifespan of a fresh batch of McDonald’s French fries. It might make you want a hot dog.

Richmond artist The Night Owl’s Recalibration and Long Lines of Communication transformed the long-sought after Voss Street skybridge for the NEON District’s tenth anniversary. Each side of the bridge carries a distinct design but together they speak to the theme of communication. Facing one direction, Recalibration nods to the building’s media legacy with patterns inspired by vintage TV test cards, reframed through the artist’s personal mark-making and graffiti language. The opposite side, Long Lines of Communication, traces the ways people have connected across time, from ancient petroglyphs to tin cans to smartphones, while weaving in personal symbols for the artist’s family and friends. Linking two historic media buildings, television station WTKR and The Virginian-Pilot‘s former headquarters, the skybridge now has a voice of its own.

Sponsored by the Rutter Family Art Foundation.

The NEON District and the condo owners of the Gray Building partner on providing a rotating window gallery space for young and emerging artists. Curated by local educator and artist Sarah Harrington, this fall features student artworks from Solstice Hybrid Academy.

Blue Moon is a large-scale street mural created with the intention of translating the spirit and process of artist Andy Harris’ collage work into a public, painted form. Living in a coastal region, he is surrounded by nautical imagery that often adheres to familiar visual conventions. With this mural, Andy chose to challenge those norms by introducing a high horizon line and emphasizing motion through unorthodox tools like sponges, drywall taping knives, and other materials not typically associated with mural painting.

Sponsored by Dominion Energy.

The Governor's School for the Arts Visual Arts students take over the streets of NEON once again in 2025, with a new alley "rug" painting and half a dozen new sidewalk murals in the 800 block of Granby Street.

Lindsay Horne's ode to Vincent Van Gogh's masterpiece takes a forgotten corner of NEON and turns it into a walking meditation. Starry Daze is the third site-specific art installation on the Wilson Avenue fence.

Created by local fiber artist Isabella Thompson and other members of The Fiber Art Society, the one-night only floral crochet installation celebrates a decade of creativity in the NEON District. Composed of crocheted flowers, leaves, and other organic forms, the piece draws inspiration from how the NEON District has flourished over the years. Each stitch reflects the shared energy that keeps the district blooming.

NEON is an acronym for New Energy of Norfolk, which represents the energetic and creative community of Norfolk’s arts district.

Please contact neonnfk@downtownnorfolk.org for more information about the NEON District and the NEON Festival.

You can also reach festival organizers at the Downtown Norfolk Council at 757-623-1757.

Yes! We will need volunteers on Friday, October 17, 2025. We need beer pourers, festival guides and more! Stay tuned for a link to register this fall.

Thursday, October 16 the festival runs from 6pm-10pm at the Chrysler Museum Glass Studio. Friday, October 17 the festival runs from 6pm-10pm on Granby Street, Wilson Avenue and at The Plot.

The NEON Festival is a great place to bring kids for early evening festivities. There will be live music, arts and crafts, and other fun activities for kids and families.

Yes, the NEON Festival’s events are all free and open to the public.

Great question! On Thursday evening, the focus of the festival will be on the newly reopened Chrysler Museum Glass Studio. Chrysler Museum of Art will be open late for a member exhibition preview so non-members will have to pay a small entry fee.

On Friday evening, festivities include street activations. Granby Street in front of the Plot and W. Wilson Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic so that festival visitors can enjoy activities, shop, wander and drink an adult beverage throughout the street closure. It adds so much more space for vendors, visitors and lots more fun.

A LOT! Festival attendees can visit one of the NEON District eateries or find a snack at one of the food trucks or vendors around the festival.

You can also try one of the NEON businesses staying open late like Zeke's NFK, Commune or Sanctuary.

Yes! Both evenings of the festival offer many indoor activities in a variety of venues. In the advent of serious inclement weather, some outdoor programming may be moved indoors. Please follow @neonnfk or visit the festival page for updates.