Crowds gathered to celebrate Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, on Sunday, Oct. 27, 2024 at BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Newport News. Attendees said the holiday is about honoring the gods, starting the new year and spending time with family.
A child reaches for a fallen cherry blossom while another watches March 29, 2025 in Virginia Beach. The Cherry Blossom Festival in Red Wing Park invites visitors to experience the blooming of 150 Yoshino cherry trees each year. Similar festivals the world over usher in spring and celebrate the fleeting nature of the flowers.
Richard E. Harris, Jr., left, sings a verse from “Twelfth Night,” accompanied by Ruth Acuff on harp August 23, 2021 in Columbia, Missouri. Harris’s voice filled the outdoor performance space, a natural acoustic shell formed by a lake and dense tree line.
The USS Truman is greeted by a Navy band June 1, 2025 at Naval Station Norfolk after an eight-month deployment.
Visitors to Red Wing Park relax and play catch in the shade of the cherry trees March 29, 2025 in Virginia Beach.
Abi opens the window to let in the spring breeze April 26, 2021 in St. Louis, Missouri. Abi nannies for Everett, 10, left, and Brandeis, 8, right, while the siblings attend remote classes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Women dressed for Diwali arrive at the celebration Oct. 27, 2024 at the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir in Newport News. Shoes collected at each entrance to the Hindu temple as people removed them before going inside.
Chloe Chamberlain studies her reflection in a three-way mirror April 19, 2025 in Norfolk. Volunteers transformed a vacated J. Jill in the MacArthur Center mall into a vintage boutique for students to find outfits and make alterations ahead of Rainbow Prom.
A Koinobori, or carp streamer, flutters in the breeze during a martial arts demonstration March 29, 2025 in Virginia Beach.
Ava Dirr, center, prepares an iced strawberry matcha latte at the Strawberry Festival at the Beach on May 17, 2025 in Virginia Beach. The rural district Pungo historically hosted a strawberry festival in the spring, a tradition ended by the COVID-19 pandemic. Resort-area businesses revived the fest in 2025.
Artist Concetta Morales holds one of her mosaics to catch the light Nov. 23, 2022 in Virginia Beach.
Cody Finley works on a tattoo June 23, 2021 in Ashland, MO. Finley’s shops is one of several new businesses that opened on Ashland’s revitalized main street that summer.
Tom the turkey stands sentinel at the Moyock Farm Market on Nov. 26, 2024 in Moyock, North Carolina. He came to live at the farm market when he was about 8 months old. Now 2, Tom has been greeting customers ever since.
An in-camera double exposure shows Margaret Hiatt and the fireworks she is watching July 4, 2021 in Columbia, Missouri.