It’s winter in Williamsburg and people tend to hunker down after the busy holiday season.

I think this is the case everywhere, recovering from travel and holiday festivities. It’s the time of a new calendar and some resolutions, but it is also a time to learn. We are extremely fortunate to have so many institutions that encourage lifelong learning in Williamsburg.

One of the events coming up this month that I’m the most excited about is the Virginia Black Film Festival, in Williamsburg for the first time Feb. 19-22. It’s at the Kimball Theatre, and late last year, I talked with the organizer Bryan Thompson about the festival, which is full of short films, discussions, panels, experts on the business and art of filmmaking.

Bryan will be presenting a masterclass on film distribution, and there are also talks on acting, screen combat and entertainment law. There are locals sharing their projects, like The Village Initiative’s Jackie Bridgeforth-Williams and Amy Quark with a film about the Historic Triangle Block, in “Displaced from the Birthplace of America,” and Let Freedom Ring Foundation’s “History Half Told is Untold” with Connie Matthews Harshaw. The event celebrates “the essential role that African Americans played in the origin of the nation and the critical importance of telling stories that represent the culture in a positive and authentic way. Exceptional films will be showcased and awarded in multiple categories, including special subcategories for historically significant films.”

Natalie Miller Moore

In my conversation with Bryan, I made some introductions and told him some of the unique features of our downtown. I did advise him that it will be hard to find a place to get a late night drink. (This is the case even when it’s not winter!) I understand that there is a cyclical issue here, where businesses don’t stay open late because no one comes, and no one comes because businesses aren’t open. Please let me know if anyone has figured out the trick to cracking this!

One (slightly later) event is from 8 to 10 p.m. on Feb. 13, sometimes called “Galentine’s Day.” Precarious Beer Project is hosting a Galentine’s Day Singalong event for women celebrating their friendships, with a night out for singing everyone’s favorite songs. If that sounds like fun to you, join in!

Another Kimball Theatre event is the Historic Triangle Grand Slam poetry event on Feb. 28. The organizer is also Williamsburg’s first poet laureate, Lacroy Nixon. Apparently there’s poetry happening all over Williamsburg under the radar. (Did you know the Poetry Society of Virginia was founded here in 1923?) There are open mic nights and other Slam Connection to develop poets as writers and performers at The Fallen Acorn Bookshop, the Hennage Auditorium and the Williamsburg Regional Library.

Another opportunity to learn and be community minded is the Global Friends program at William & Mary through the Reves Center for International Studies. My family has been participating in it since 2019. Think of it like having a foreign exchange student, except they don’t live at your house.

So then, what do you do with them? Well, you help your assigned international student navigate Williamsburg (and Virginia and the United States), and you go to events at the college that are specifically for this program — anything from a Diwali celebration at the business school to a dance syndicate show at the Sadler Center.

We’ve had our Global Friends come for Thanksgiving (Ping scored a touchdown!) or our St. Patrick’s Day party (Sally brought me green carnations). We’ve taken them grocery shopping (while Jose convinced me to stay off my broken foot) and helped them buy a used car (Claus borrowed our vacuum to clean it before he resold it). We have hosted their families when they’ve come to visit and we’ve explained some nuances of life in Williamsburg.

The benefit for our kids has been that they meet people from other countries who are between their age and the ages of their parents, and it gives them a global perspective with a personal touch. They can ask about soccer leagues in Germany or how people celebrate holidays in China. We’ve benefited from trying empanadas from El Salvador and tried Russian pancakes and sardines.

Part of the appreciation I have come to have for this part of winter is that it’s an opportunity for personal growth. It can also be a time for community. I encourage you to set some goals that stretch you a little bit, that enrich your mental landscape and appreciation for artistic expression. Grow your appreciation for cultures that may not be your own, and extend the enthusiasm of radical hospitality and welcome that Williamsburg is noted for.

Natalie Miller Moore is executive director of Williamsburg Downtown. You can reach her at director@williamsburgdowntown.com.

https://www.pilotonline.com/2026/02/07/column-dont-let-the-cold-keep-you-from-williamsburg-events/