Starting the week after next, two holiday schedules will run side by side in Scott's Addition. On weekend afternoons, maker markets fill the park and the brewery taprooms around Belleville and West Leigh streets. Starting at 4 p.m. on weekends and on the holiday dates, the lights come on at CarMax Park.

CarMax Park opened in April, so this is its first winter. For the first time, the neighborhood has a nighttime holiday draw at the north end of the Boulevard, a short trip from the taprooms that already host the afternoon markets. The two schedules barely overlap, and on several December weekends you can shop the markets after lunch and still make it to the ballpark by dark.

Noon to 5: the markets stay local and free

The afternoon schedule is built around two venues, both inside the neighborhood.

Brambly Park, 1708 Belleville St. The Sunday Artisan Market is free and runs weekly through Dec. 20. From publish day, the Sundays left on the calendar are Nov. 15, 22 and 29 and Dec. 6, 13 and 20. Hours vary between listings, so check with the organizer, Artisan Events, before you go. On Sunday, Dec. 6, Brambly Park also hosts a Holiday Market from noon to 4 p.m., with free admission.

Strangeways Brewing, 3110 W. Leigh St. The taproom has two holiday weekends on the calendar. Small Business Saturday at Strangeways runs Nov. 28 from noon to 5 p.m. and is free. Then the 2 Day Holiday Market takes over Dec. 19 and 20, noon to 5 p.m. both days. Richmond Family Magazine's listing says the vendor lineup will include handmade home décor, original art, jewelry, apparel and wellness goods.

Just outside the neighborhood, Thanksgiving weekend gets busy. The Virginia Museum of History & Culture, 428 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., holds its Holiday Makers Market Friday, Nov. 27, from 5 to 8 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 28, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., with free admission. Also on Nov. 28, Hardywood RVA hosts the 2026 Small Business Saturday Artisan Market in its Barrel Room at 2410 Ownby Ln., noon to 5 p.m., free.

After 4 p.m.: the ballpark turns into WinterWorld

WinterWorld opens at CarMax Park, 2929 N. Arthur Ashe Blvd., on Thursday, Nov. 19, and runs through Jan. 3, 2027. The event comes from 804Live, with SERVPRO as sponsor. In late October, the Richmond Flying Squirrels reported that it will include:

• more than a million lights across the stadium
• a 12,500-square-foot outdoor ice rink
• a six-lane ice slide
• a 60-foot Ferris wheel
• a holiday retail village
• seasonal food and drinks, plus a lounge for guests 21 and older
• what the team calls "the tallest Christmas tree in the region"

WinterWorld's schedule starts after the markets wind down. Official hours are 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 4 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 4 to 10 p.m. Sunday. It's open 4 to 11 p.m. Nov. 25 through 27 and every day from Dec. 18 through Jan. 2. On Christmas Eve it closes at 9 p.m., and on New Year's Eve it stays open until 12:30 a.m. It's closed on select Mondays and Tuesdays between Nov. 19 and Dec. 17.

RVAHub reported these prices when tickets went on sale in September:

Add-ons cost extra: $13 for ice skating, $10 for the ice slide and $7 for the Ferris wheel, with taxes and fees on top. Holiday pricing costs $10 more per adult than a weekday visit, so a Wednesday or Thursday evening in early December is the cheapest night to go.

Tickets are timed. According to the WinterWorld FAQ, you get a one-hour window to arrive and a 30-minute window for timed skating, and there's no set time to leave. You can exchange tickets for another date if space is available, but not within 24 hours of the event. Online exchanges are free unless the new date costs more.

The days you can do both

Put the two schedules side by side and several dates line up:

1. Saturday, Nov. 28. Small Business Saturday at Strangeways runs noon to 5 p.m., and WinterWorld opens at 4 p.m. on Saturdays. If you're willing to go a little farther, the museum's Saturday market starts at 10 a.m.
2. Sunday, Dec. 6. The Holiday Market at Brambly Park runs noon to 4 p.m., and WinterWorld opens at 4 p.m. on Sundays.
3. Saturday, Dec. 19, and Sunday, Dec. 20. Strangeways' two-day market runs noon to 5 p.m. both days. Dec. 20 is also the last scheduled Sunday Artisan Market at Brambly Park. WinterWorld is on its 4 to 11 p.m. holiday schedule all weekend.

On each of those dates, the trip from Belleville Street or West Leigh Street to the ballpark takes you north toward the Diamond District, where construction is underway beside CarMax Park.

Getting to the ballpark without circling

WinterWorld parking is $8 if you buy in advance and $10 the day of, in the Yellow, Green and Red lots. ADA parking is in the Black and Gold lot. The Flying Squirrels' parking page lists entrances on Arthur Ashe Boulevard, Hermitage Road and Robin Hood Road, and suggests GRTC Pulse as an alternative to driving.

Pulse stops at the Science Museum station in both directions. On the local bus, GRTC Route 14, Hermitage/East Main, stops at Hermitage and Rhoadmiller. If you live within walking distance, the markets and the ballpark are close enough for a single evening without moving the car.

Between stops: where to eat on the way

The neighborhood's newest options are close to the market venues.

• Pizzeria Delores, 3001 W. Clay St. Richmond BizSense covered its opening in September, calling it the neighborhood's newest pizza parlor.
• Benny's Pizza, 2943 W. Marshall St. This pizza shop, which started in Blacksburg, held a soft opening in early June, BizSense reported.
• Lineage Coffee. The Scott's Addition cafe announced in August that it's rebranding as Keepsake Coffee Co., Richmond Magazine reported. Look for either name.

That gives you two pizza places a few blocks apart and a coffee stop. Each one works as a break between an afternoon market and a 4 p.m. arrival at the ballpark.

What the crews around the ballpark are building

WinterWorld may be the start of something bigger. The development planned around CarMax Park is designed to bring people to that corner of the neighborhood in the evenings all year.

Richmond BizSense reported on Oct. 23 that the first phase of the Diamond District plan was amended to add 150,000 square feet of commercial space and 96 hotel rooms. The same report said Dōma, which broke ground in July, was going up beside the ballpark with a 2028 completion target, and that construction had started on a shared parking deck along Hermitage Road. Crews were also replacing the asphalt at the ballpark entrance with concrete pavers that will connect to a future street. Plans call for a 20,000-square-foot retail building next to the outfield entrance, with a Makers Union restaurant and a sports-bar concept from Eat Restaurant Partners, targeted for 2028. With a 2028 target, the restaurants planned for the ballpark gate are still a couple of years away. This winter, the food at the park is WinterWorld's seasonal menu.

Back at the south end of the neighborhood, the Capital Region Land Conservancy completed its purchase of the former Christie's Fine Gardening site at 3420 Norfolk St. in early August. The plan is to turn it into Scott's Addition's first park, about half an acre, with a 2028 completion goal, BizSense reported. Until then, the neighborhood's Sunday markets will stay at Brambly Park.

The season ends at the ballpark. The Flying Squirrels announced that 804Live will host RVA NYE presented by Miller High Life in the Atlantic Union Bank Lounge at CarMax Park on Dec. 31, with doors at 9:30 p.m. Early-bird general admission was announced at $125 plus taxes and fees.

Our agents at Coldwell Banker Elite keep an eye on what's opening, closing and being built across the Richmond neighborhoods we serve, from Brambly Park to the blocks around CarMax Park. If you'd like to talk through what all this activity means for your own plans, Schedule an Appointment and we'll share what we're seeing.