Steppin Out - Blacksburg, VA
Steppin Out is a local music and arts festival in Blacksburg, VA held every summer. It takes place when school is out of session at Virginia Tech so it does not have many students and is mostly geared toward the residents. It takes place over two days and features three stages of live music an hundreds of vendors including food and artisan goods. Besides being a really fun festival it is completely free! They even have free parking and shuttles available.
Craft Vendors
During Steppin Out downtown Blacksburg is shut down and vendors line both sides of the streets on Main Street, Draper Street, and the connecting streets. There are over 200 different vendors selling all manner of handmade and local good. I saw booths selling paintings, clothing, ceramics, jewelry, décor, pet merchandise, metalwork, woodwork, soaps, preserves, house plants, and many more. I was impressed by the variety of booths and the quality of goods available. There were also some booths offering henna or face painting services. Additionally, almost every booth was held by a craftsperson or local business. They did not rent booths to big commercial brands. I really enjoyed perusing all the booths and chatting with the artisans.
Live Music
The Steppin Out festival sports three stages with live music continuously available throughout the two days: main stage, acoustic stage, and community stage. The acoustic stage was a smaller stage that hosted individuals and small groups playing acoustic bluegrass and country music. The community stage was a tent-stage area that hosted performances by local dance and music community groups. The main stage was the best performances with bands featuring sound and lighting. These performers were pretty good and the best performers were later in the day.
Food Vendors
A unique aspect of Steppin Out is the food vendors. There were over 15 different food vendors and every one was directly tied to a restaurant in Blacksburg. Therefore, it’s a unique opportunity to try dishes from all the local restaurants and cafes. The types of cuisine available included American, Indian, Asian, Vegan, Greek, and coffeeshops. I tried the Indian restaurants chicken plate that included chicken tikka masala, daal, rice, and naan with a mango lassi. It was a good size and pretty tasty for festival food. There was also a beer garden available next to the main stage where you could get local beer, wine, and cocktails.
Who Goes Here?
A wide variety of people at all ages attend Steppin Out including a lot of Blacksburg locals.
Venue
The atmosphere of Steppin Out is very fun, charming, and relaxed. The area is a very attractive quaint historic downtown with several murals throughout. The vendors and musicians were all pleasant and jovial. Though it got pretty busy at times I never found it congested. It can be a bit hot since it is the summer so would recommend bringing water and a hat. The event was very well organized. They had plenty of restrooms setup and available throughout. The food vendors were distributed throughout as well. Also, the live music was well setup and had a very organized schedule throughout the day. Additionally, the transportation was very well organized. The entire festival area was also very clean with plenty of trashcans that were emptied regularly.
Location
Steppin Out takes place throughout downtown Blacksburg, VA. It is a good central location that is safe and charming. There is not a lot of parking available downtown, so they have a large parking area available at Virginia Tech for free for the event with an event shuttle running every 15min. Besides the festivities there are many shops and restaurants throughout the festival area for attendees to explore.
Summary
Overall, Steppin Out is a very fun and affordable festival to attend. I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys supporting local business, live music, or artisan goods. There is really something for everyone to enjoy.
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