Gene Marrano

Its not happening for a while but David Stewart Wiley will be stepping down from his role as music director and conductor for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra – after the RSO’s 75th anniversary season ends in mid-2028. When he does retire on July 1st, 2028, Wiley, who turns 60 next month, will have served in that role since 1996. He’s not putting his baton on the shelf entirely, but travel and more time with his wife Leah are at the top of DSW’s list. David Stewart Wiley is just the fourth music director the orchestra had had over its first 73 years. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment. See more at Roanoke Cultural Endowment.com. Festival in the Park is back at Elmwood Park this Friday afternoon through Sunday.. free live music, Artemis Journal poetry readings, Southwest Virginia Ballet performances, and vendors all day – 15 dollar ticketed Concerts at night Friday through Sunday. One weekend only NEXT week, May 28 through the 31 at Attic Productions in Fincastle, a Most Horrid Conspiracy, the true story of John Wyatt, a revolutionary spy from Botetourt County who helped foil a number of British plans after he went undercover, posing as a Tory loyalist. David Stewart Wiley is stepping away from the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra – but not for two more years, Wiley isn’t leaving until July 1st,2028, he figured on one more year but then the RSO Board of Directors asked him to stay another year – to coincide with the Symphony’s Golden Jamboree 75th anniversary season.

Several generations of Roanokers always mark it on their calendars for the Memorial Day weekend if they are staying close to home. This Friday through Sunday night, Festival in the Park is back in downtown Roanoke. Once again its packed with live music, special performances and activities for the young ones. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano

Visitors to the valley may come and go – but “Family Stays” when they are hear with a child needing serious medical attention at a local hospital or special clinic. Ronald McDonald House of Southwest Virginia and other “Houses,” want to make sure people understand their mission. Ronald McDonald House of Southwest Virginia is among the Phase 1 House’s nationwide to reveal the new logo – a heart and a house are prominent features, and so is the Family Stays tagline, as executive director Shannon Boothe explained at a ribbon cutting held yesterday to note the rebranding. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

Its become a foodie favorite over the past 25 years and attracts thousands of people over three days of food, music and community. The Lebanese Festival returns this weekend. It begins at 11am this Friday and runs through Sunday, opening at 11am each day. The Lebanese Festival at St. Elias Maronite Catholic Church on Cove Road in NW Roanoke now attracts thousands every year during the weekend after Memorial Day, to sample meat pies, stuffed cabbage rolls, chicken shawarma, baklava for desert and much more. Besides all the food choices – you can get it to go and even order online for curbside pickup – there is Lebanese music and traditional folk dancers in costume. A group of 15-20 dedicated volunteers from the church help prep food every year ahead of the festival, and more friends are recuited to help cook it all in the last few weeks. WFIR’s Gene Marrano reports:

From the WFIR News room this is your Culture Calendar – With a look at some of the local events coming up this weekend and in the near future. Sponsored by the Roanoke Cultural Endowment. See more at Roanoke Cultural Endowment.org. The 68th annual Sidewalk Art Show in the streets near the Taubman Museum of Art returns this Saturday and Sunday. There’s a beer and wine garden as well. The 5th annual Star City Rockabilly Festival returns to the Virginia Museum of Transportation this Saturday, featuring local groups like the Jesse Ray Carter Band and the Screamin Rebel Angels from New York. How a barrel of rum and a Botetourt spy helped make America. That’s the idea behind the 1-act play A Most Horrid Conspiracy, this Thursday through Sunday at Attic Productions in Fincastle, a VA 250 project celebrating America’s 250th birthday.

Its back again this weekend – the 68th annual Sidewalk Art Show in the streets adjacent to the Taubman Museum of Art – and this year it reaches inside the Museum’s atrium as well. Parts of Salem Avenue, along with the streets on both sides of the City Market building will be occupied by more than 130 artists this Saturday and Sunday from 10am until 5pm both days, with works for sale at all different price points. Its also a fundraiser for the Taubman Museum, which collects the booth fees for its art education programs. Its a juried show as well, with two out of town judges sizing the artists up for various awards on Saturday, and handing out ribbons at the start of Sunday’s Sidewalk Art Show. A beer and wine garden, lemonade and Blue Cow Ice Cream will also be available this Saturday and Sunday during the 68th annual Sidewalk Art Show. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

What does an 1850 house in Salem, a now-closed golf course, an abandoned stone bridge and “Old Cave Springs,” have in common. They all made the 2026 Roanoke Valley Preservation Foundation Endangered Sites list. The goal is to raise awareness of the significance of these sites – and to promote options to save them from demolition. One of the 2026 endangered sites is Ole Monterey golf course, now closed for what’s called maintenance and renovations. Its also where Revolutionary era Patriot Colonel William Fleming and his wife Nancy are buried. An 1827 log house is in near ruin according to the Foundation. Besides Ole Monterey, the Butts House in Salem near Roanoke College – proposed for demolition – is on that endangered sites list, as is an 1873 rock bridge in Salem built for a rail road line that never came. More from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

June is Gun Violence Awareness Month, and to observe the occasion the local group “Fed Up” will hold an event next Friday that puts a face on the victims of fatal shootings – to humanize them. Families Expecting Deliverance Using Prayer – Fed Up – has collected 80 photos of people who have lost a love one or loves ones to gun violence, and next Friday at 7pm on the Martin Luther King Jr bridge downtown they will be part of a temporary installation on the bridge, where a short “Mindful Remembrance Walk,” will also take place. Renae Taylor lost a brother AND father to gun violence. Those who take part in the They Had Dreams event next Friday at the MLK bridge are also encouraged to wear orange – as is the larger community – the color associated with the movement to end gun violence and fatal shootings. More on “They Had Dreams,” from WFIR’s Gene Marrano:

It was talked about for almost two decades – the need for the Presbyterian Community Center in Southeast Roanoke to build a larger, more modern building that would better enable PCC to expand its afterschool Pathways program, financial aid services and food pantry capacity. Today they cut a ribbon on the brand new 15,000 square foot building. Through grants and donations the Presbyterian Community Center on Jamison Avenue has already raised 6 millions dollars towards the final target on 6.5 million, which will allow PCC to add a second story. Nicole Jennings is the executive director: