The community celebrates each spring with a Dogwood Festival and each New Year's Eve with First Night Virginia fireworks and entertainment. Steeplechase fans tailgate at the Foxfield Races and the Montpelier Hunt Cup Races and, every spring, runners in the Charlottesville Ten-Miler rush through town toward the finish line at University Hall. Nearby is the historic Downtown Mall, a pedestrian thoroughfare and cultural center. On the outskirts of Charlottesville in Albemarle County are even more restaurants, stores, movie theaters and other businesses that provide Charlottesville with an array of products and services. In addition, the University boasts a full range of modern recreational facilities , including tennis, racquetball, golf, squash, basketball, swimming and weight training.
Organized teams exist for almost every imaginable sport.
Opportunities for recreation abound within the immediate area and in nearby cities and parks. Snow and water skiing, hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, rowing, spelunking, camping and myriad other outdoor activities abound in the city and county parks, nearby Shenandoah National Park and various national forests . A few hours drive away is the Chesapeake Bay, truly a sportsman's paradise, and a little further on is Virginia's Eastern Shore and the Atlantic Ocean beaches. Cultural opportunities are also plentiful in Charlottesville and the surrounding area, both on and off grounds. Numerous museums and galleries display the works of contemporary artists and established masters.