Midsummers Charlottesville

Editor’s Note: This year’s Midsummers weekend is officially, err unofficially, July 10-12. You are invited to keep it off the radar.

Your Midsummers Charlottesville Survival Guide

Ah, Midsummers- the Easter’s of the post-80’s classes. A time for reunion, discovery, and some good-hearted debauchery, when the convenient parking spaces are all suddenly filled, and the corner bars come to life once again. Whether you’re an incoming first year, a returning student, seasoned veteran alum, a visitor for the 4th, or just new to Charlottesville, here’s how to make it through the weekend entertained and unscathed. 

Summer Bacchanal 

Midsummers (the weekend between UVA summer sessions, serving as an unofficially-official reunion weekend for students) arrives at the peak of a dry summer’s dog days.

Not wanting to stray too far, students generally stick to The Corner, where the action (and revelry) are most earnest. We’ll give you some heads-up on this, but also consider your return to Charlottesville as an opportunity to explore what true Charlottesvillians enjoy.

Returning Students

You probably have a plan for Midsummers, and a few brunch contingencies that will fizzle into your eating Bodos or, better yet, a Gus Burger at The White Spot.

For fuller insight on your options, see our overview of Corner eateries HERE. For more than 200 years, the UVA Corner has been serving-up the Sweetest hair of the dog you’ll ever taste!

Remember your lessons from last year, bring a phone charger, and don’t sing so hard you fall off a table at The Virginian.

This is a fabulous moment to connect with old friends, introduce home friends to Grounds, and play hometown host. Find the Barco Mega Margarita (classic), and try to refrain from bragging (complaining) about internships.

Especially if you have friends visiting town, don’t be shy about showing them great destinations beyond The Corner. These include the Downtown Mall, Ix Park and Belmont and Dairy Market. We predict you’ll like them lots and will want to return.

New Hoos

Midsummers is likely your first foray into UVA culture. There will be a lot of students sitting on roofs, singing, dancing, and sipping from cans; there will be a lot of UVA ambassadors (the people in the yellow neon vests) hanging around; there will be a lot of Charlottesville police officers trying to keep you from walking in the street. I know it’s tempting, but try not to walk in the street. 

Do: Go check out the parties at Wertland apartments; make friends, stay hydrated, and wear close-toed shoes. This is not the time for summer wedges or rainbows unless you want a beer pedicure and a guaranteed skinned knee.

Don’t: Do anything you don’t want to see on TikTok. Midsummers is a prime opportunity to embarrass yourself for the rest of college- try not to. 

Alums

Okay, this is where it gets interesting. Returning to Charlottesville with “adult money” is an opportunity to sample the good life! Charlottesville GUIDE was founded in 1984 by UVA students specifically for that purpose! Charlottesville is teaming with interesting people and places, many of whom are UVA graduates! Take your adult money, find those places, and splurge! It can be memorable!

Where to Stay

If you’re not crashing with that one friend that stayed in Charlottesville, make some hotel reservations now. The airbnbs are probably full. We recommend The Draftsman, if you can foot the bill, because it’s close, it’s swanky and it even has some local wahoo ownership. Additional options exist. Try the swanky Oakhurst Inn or Virginia Guest House, both nearby, or see fuller hotel list HERE. 

Go Afield

The busy weekend means: call ahead at wineries, watch out for Uber surge, and take the opportunity to check out one of the new brunch places on West Main, where you’ll have a quieter environment to catch up with old friends over bubbly and bloodies.

New Residents

If this is your first “big weekend,” stay calm. Traffic will be a little worse than usual, and avoid driving through grounds or the corner unless you absolutely have to. Do take the opportunity to grab a Lime around the corner or take a walk through grounds, though- UVA is part of Charlottesville, even if sometimes it seems like another world, and the camaraderie of Midsummers is totally infectious. Let some students teach you the Good Old Song, and relive your own college days with a beer from the balcony at Michael’s Bistro, errr make that Trinity…looking out over The Corner.