Hey Richmond Citywide Scavenger Hunt Set for Nov. 7
By Channel RVA · September 9, 2026 · 4 min read read
Category: Local News
Channel RVA will stage the Hey Richmond Citywide Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, a one-day citywide event tying the Mayoral Action Plan to neighborhood stops reachable by bus, bike or on foot.
Channel RVA will stage the Hey Richmond Citywide Scavenger Hunt on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, a one-day event built to send residents across the city on foot, by bike and by bus.
The hunt is presented by Channel RVA and produced in partnership with the Mayor's Office, according to Channel RVA. Proceeds from sponsorships benefit Brown's Island. Volunteer organizing and technology support for the event are handled by AI Ready RVA, a local nonprofit.
Sign-ups are open now at channelrva.com/scavenger-hunt for players, sponsors, businesses that want to host a stop and volunteers. Players can register as individuals or as teams.
What Makes This More Than a Game
The hunt is organized around Richmond's Mayoral Action Plan, the city's stated set of priorities. Rather than treating the plan as a finished scorecard to celebrate, the route turns it into a conversation: at stops along the way, participants are asked to weigh in on MAP goals and give input tied to the neighborhood they are standing in.
That design puts residents' feedback in the same place as the work itself. A goal written in a planning document reads differently on the corner where it would land, and the hunt is built to collect reactions at that scale rather than in a meeting room.
Built So a Car Is Not Required
Stops are being placed to be reachable without a car. The route is being drawn against GRTC bus service, the Pulse bus rapid transit line and the region's walking and biking trails, including the Virginia Capital Trail and Cannon Creek Greenway, according to Channel RVA.
That constraint shapes the map. A citywide event that assumes every participant has a vehicle quietly excludes the households that do not, and the transit-first placement is meant to keep the hunt open to riders, walkers and cyclists on equal footing.
Two Tracks: Digital and Paper
The hunt will run on two parallel tracks so a smartphone is not the price of admission.
The digital track is web-based and phone-friendly, with no app download required. Participants use a browser, which avoids app store friction and the storage space an event-specific download would demand.
The non-digital track uses printed clue cards and staffed volunteer stations. Teams working from paper follow the same route and the same prompts, with volunteers on site to check progress and answer questions. Nobody is excluded for lack of a device.
The Coalition So Far
Three partners are confirmed, according to Channel RVA:
- Channel RVA — presenting producer and technology partner, building the platform the hunt runs on.
- Mayor's Office — participating in and promoting the event.
- AI Ready RVA — volunteer organizing, technology support and beneficiary of sponsorship proceeds.
Additional coalition partners have not been confirmed. Channel RVA is recruiting sponsors and host businesses now, and businesses that host an official stop see every team that passes through.
Where the Idea Came From
The format draws on a citywide scavenger hunt held in New York in August 2025 by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a large, well-attended event that demonstrated appetite for a civic game played at the scale of a whole city.
Richmond is a plausible place to test the same idea. The city is compact enough to cross in a day, its neighborhoods are distinct enough that a route can feel different block to block, and the Pulse and the trail network give participants real ways to move between stops.
How to Get Involved
Four sign-up paths are open at channelrva.com/scavenger-hunt:
- Play — register as an individual or assemble a team.
- Sponsor — back the hunt and put your name on the route.
- Host a stop — place your business or space on the map.
- Volunteer — work a start point, a stop or the scoring desk.
Route details, the full stop list and the finale plan are still being built against the Nov. 7 date. Channel RVA will publish updates as sponsors, stops and partners are confirmed.
Disclosure: Channel RVA is the presenting producer of the Hey Richmond Citywide Scavenger Hunt and is reporting on its own event.