Virginia’s inauguration festivities will be in full swing Saturday when Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger is sworn in as the commonwealth’s first woman governor.
The inauguration comes with a set of traditions to follow, from what attendees wear to the orientation of the outdoor ceremony. But the events also reflect the personality of the incoming governor. Outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin, for example, replaced the traditional inaugural ball with a “Spirit of Celebration” evening where guests were encouraged to dress “Youngkin casual,” incorporating patriotic colors or the governor’s signature red vest.
Red vests are out this year. Meanwhile a Made in Virginia market and pull-your-own tap wall featuring more than a dozen local beers and ciders from Virginia breweries are in.
Saturday’s inauguration ceremony, open to ticketed members of the public, will take place on the South Portico of the Virginia State Capitol Building in Richmond. The matter of whether to hold the ceremony on the south or north side of the Capitol has been a previous subject of debate. Charles Robb bucked tradition in 1982 by holding it for the first time on the north side.
Ahead of his 1942 inauguration, then Gov.-elect Colgate Darden asked to move the ceremony to the north side of the Capitol. No dice. The north side of the building was less desirable for weather conditions, wrote Colonel E. Griffith Dodson, Clerk of the House of Delegates, who had given the matter some considerable thought.
“Secondly, the ground between the driveway and the Capitol has recently been plowed up and sowed with grass and is very soft, and it would be very risky, aside from the damage to the grounds, for people to sit out doors with their feet on the ground,” he wrote to Darden.
“It is true that from the south portico some of the people may not be able to see the parade, but if the parade is reviewed after the main address and the benediction, the crowd would leave the portico and see the parade as easily as they could if the location of the inaugural ceremonies were on the north side of the building.”
Virginia inauguration tradition, established by the 1930s according to the Library of Virginia, dictates that the retiring governor drives to the governor-elect’s hotel and escorts them to Capitol Square.
Dodson had thoughts on this too:
“Four years ago, the inaugural committee accompanied Governor Peery with military escort to the Jefferson Hotel,” he wrote in the same letter to Darden. “As you know, our friend, Colonel Consolvo, operates the Jefferson Hotel. It might be better to start from the Jefferson Hotel to start from such a close point as the John Marshall.”
Eighty-four years later, Spanberger too will start her day at the Jefferson, though she will meet Youngkin at the Old Senate Chamber for the traditional key exchange, which takes place before the swearing-in. These days, traditional keys have been replaced by a keycard. When Gov. Ralph Northam handed off the keycard to Youngkin, it had been gnawed on by his dog Murphy.
The parade and ceremony
Then comes the ceremony itself. The Hampton University Concert Choir will perform the national anthem, and the ceremony’s invocation will be led by Father Jim Curran from the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk.
First the Attorney General-elect Jay Jones will be sworn in, then Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi, then Spanberger. Spanberger will be sworn in on her grandmother’s bible and then deliver the inaugural address.
For the inauguration, state protocol dictates male members of the General Assembly wear morning coats — formal garment that is short in front with a button at the waist and is long in back with tails. It’s a distinct outfit donned by previous male governors for the ceremony. Female members of the General Assembly wear dark suits for the occasion. There was no word from Spanberger’s camp on what she plans to wear.
Following the ceremony will be the inaugural parade through Capitol Square, open to those who watched the ceremony. Participants from Hampton Roads will include Virginia Professional Fire Fighters members from Virginia Beach, Norfolk police officers, representatives from the NASA Langley Research Center, mascots from Christopher Newport University and Old Dominion University. Norfolk State University’s Spartan “Legion” Marching Band will be closing out the parade.
A weekend of events
Saturday night is the Inaugural Ball. Spanberger will wear jewelry made by VCU Fashion adjunct professor Mallory Martin-Parker and feature a James River motif and the stone kyanite, of which Virginia is the sole producer in the United States. Food will include seafood from the Chesapeake Bay; classic Virginia foods including grits, biscuits and Brunswick stew; and Virginia peanut and chess pies. The ball will also feature Virginia wines, beer and cider, including from Smartmouth Brewing in Virginia Beach.
The celebration will continue Sunday with a breakfast hosted by the first gentleman Adam Spanberger at the Science Museum of Virginia and an open house tour of the executive mansion in the afternoon from 2 – 4 p.m. The open house is free and open to the public, but on a first-come first-served basis.
The mansion has been home to Virginia governors since 1813, making it the oldest continuously occupied governor’s residence in the United States.
New this year, the inaugural weekend also includes a Made in Virginia market Friday evening from 3 – 8 p.m. at the 17th Street Market in Richmond. Vendors from Hampton Roads include water ice business Icely + Friends from Chesapeake, Made in Norfolk apparel, Magnusson’s jellies and jams made in Williamsburg, and Overtime Creations clothing from Hampton.
“Governor-elect Spanberger’s inauguration is about the common goals that unite us and the people who shape Virginia,” a spokesperson for her inauguration committee said in a statement. “The businesses coming to the capital city from across the Commonwealth to showcase their talent, the Virginians joining the Inaugural Ceremony and Parade to help celebrate all that makes our Commonwealth strong, and the beauty of Virginia that threads through the weekend all illustrate the theme of this inauguration — ‘United for Virginia’s Future.’”
Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, [email protected]