City and Sports Backers Announce New Course for RVA Streets Alive!

Mayor Dwight C. Jones and Sports Backers Executive Director Jon Lugbill were joined by City Council member Parker Agelasto and Richmond City Health District Deputy Director Dr. Danny Avula today in announcing a new course for the third annual RVA Streets Alive! festival on Saturday, June 20.

RVA Streets Alive! will take place in Byrd Park and encompass the areas between Fountain Lake and Swan Lake. The event will close Boat Lake Drive, Swan Lake Drive, Lake Road, and Amelia Street between Shields Lake and Swan Lake from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. to allow residents and visitors to use these streets to be active through running, walking, biking, and many other physical activities. Vendors will be on site offering health and fitness information and interactive demonstrations.

“I am pleased that through the City’s Healthy Richmond Campaign, we continue to partner in presenting RVA Streets Alive! to encourage healthy and active lifestyles,” said Mayor Dwight C. Jones. “This year’s event will be held in Byrd Park on June 20, as the venue provides open green spaces, scenery and an outstanding atmosphere for residents to be active in various activities.”

The Mayor’s Healthy Richmond Campaign and the Richmond City Health District partner with Sports Backers to host the RVA Streets Alive! festival. The event is free and open to the public. It was created to promote and celebrate active and healthy lifestyles throughout communities by opening up roads and streets safely to the public for physical activity.

“The variety of free activities offered at RVA Streets Alive! is what makes it so much fun,” said Lugbill. “With everything from biking and jump roping to pickleball and zumba, as well as fitness demos from the Active RVA Warriors, it’s a great opportunity to discover a new, healthy passion.”

In 2014, more than 10,000 people attended and interacted with more than 40 vendors.

“RVA Streets Alive! is a fun and exciting way for children, families and individuals of all ages to learn more ways to be active,” said Richmond City Health District Deputy Director Dr. Danny Avula. “Our goal is to put people on the road to engaging in regular physical activity and a healthier lifestyle.”

As part of a larger initiative to increase physical activity to the region’s most vulnerable communities, a grant from the Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation has provided support to RVA Streets Alive! for the past three years. For more information about RVA Streets Alive!, or to sign up to be a vendor, please visit www.sportsbackers.org.