Tom Tom Festival 2025

If you have never been in your local jail, now is the time. This tour, led by Col Martin Kumer, superintendent of the jail, will offer a glimpse at conditions in the jail. The Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail was built in 1974 and currently houses about 230 people who are awaiting trial or serving sentences not long enough for a larger prison. This eye opening tour and discussion of mental health, rehabilitation, and re-entry will help local residents aiming to increase empathy and understanding for those returning to society.

Following the tour, Central Virginia Community Justice will facilitate a reflection on the experience, and an introduction to how CVCJ is offering restorative justice as an alternative to incarceration.

There will be three sessions:

• Morning Session: 9:30 am – 11:30 am 
• Afternoon Session: 12:30 pm – 2:30 pm
• Evening Session: 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
  
  
  

Each jail tour is limited to 8 participants and registration is required. To register for the Jail Tour, please go to this SignUpGenius page.

Ballerinas pirouette into the Central Library for a special interactive reading and dance class. We’ll be reading the story of The Firebird: This enchanting tale weaves together all the elements of a great story: a dashing prince, a beautiful princess, an evil sorcerer, and a magical bird. Filled with romance and adventure, The Firebird is sure to enchant adults and children of all ages!

Join us for an interactive dance class and a special Meet & Greet event with the professional dancers of Charlottesville Ballet. For boys and girls ages 3-8.

Pre-registration is required for this FREE event. Visit www.CharlottesvilleBallet.org/Storytime

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If you plan to attend only free events at Tom Tom and would still like to build your schedule here on Sched, please register for a Free "Create Your Schedule" Ticket. You’ll then receive an email from Sched prompting you to build your schedule.

Never been to Decades Arcade? Come get a teaser by playing one of the free-play games in Decades Arcade’s Party Room!

That’s right - the coveted Party Room space at Decades will be open to the public, for free, for a taste of what it’s like to play video games over and over without ever having to use quarters. Play one of our three 1960s pinball machines in the front window, the fast-drawing game Qix, the classic Arkanoid, one of the 8 Williams games on the MultWilliams (including Joust and Defender!), Atari’s Turbo driving game, or play against your friends on the 4-player basketball game Fast Break or the 2-player multi-game Sega Blast City!

If you like what you found, head to the front desk and purchase a pass to access the whole arcade. Inside you’ll find 125 games from over 8 decades, including 37 pinball machines, 2 skeeballs, a full-size air hockey table, and over 80 arcade cabinets - even the first Mario, first Donkey Kong, and the original Star Wars game! At only $12 for a 2-hour pass, you’ll never want to put quarters or dollars in a video game again. Bet you can’t play all the games in this huge arcade in 2 hours!

The 12th Annual Crowdfunded Pitch Night showcases 10 aspiring entrepreneurs to the Charlottesville community, who will vote with their dollars. Flash pitches will share the contestant's vision with the community and inspire the crowd to action! The evening will conclude with a round of crowd voting -- YOU get to be involved! -- in support of the idea the crowd feels is most likely to be successful. The pool of money goes to the winner. This event connects culturally diverse and innovative members of the Charlottesville community to showcase Charlottesville as a hub for unity and opportunity.

Each finalist has the opportunity to raise funds both before and during the pitch night. ALL donations intended for a startup or project will go to that startup! Before the pitch night, there will be a donation portal open to contribute toward a project, and at the pitch night, the audience can purchase votes to support the projects that most inspire them. ALL monies intended for a startup will go to that startup.

In addition to the crowdfunded support, the Community Investment Collaborate (CIC) is sponsoring a grand prize winner to receive a max $5,000. A winner will be selected by a panel of judges. Additional prizes and support services from CIC and other local business owners may also be awarded.

This event is free to attend and open to the public! 

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If you plan to attend only free events at Tom Tom and would still like to build your schedule here on Sched, please go to Eventbrite and select the free ticket labeled “Create Your Personal Schedule”. Once you complete the ticketing process, you’ll receive an email from Sched prompting you to create an account and then build your schedule.