Marcus Beavers, Contributing Writer
Recently, I found myself at Carytown’s Watermelon Festival. Shout out to Publix for their few stands of watermelon bowls and cups. However, while walking through the festival, I caught myself wondering, “Where is the rest of the watermelon?”
Each vendor had their own stand. There were some wind chimes, foliage from Celestial Gardens, a tent full of horror-themed collectables, a few rides for kids, musicians and the Carytown shops themselves. The rest was not as appealing. There they were: the largest insurance company in the U.S., dropshippers, food trucks with pictures of AI burgers and the “giveaway stands.”
Ah yes, the stands that need me to fill out my home address and a personal survey so I can win $250 off a carnival cruise. My absolute favorite stands in a festival celebrating a fruit! Yes, stands plural.
Now is the time to ask, “Are event planners becoming lazy and less involved? Why are they okay with feeding the Richmond community ‘slop?’”
The word “slop” has been consistently thrown around on social media for a little over a year now. Merriam-Webster named it “word of the year” in 2025. It refers to low-quality, mass-produced content that is meant to quickly earn clicks, views, engagement and attraction.
Considering the watermelon festival featured less than 20% watermelon, I deduce that this was indeed a ploy to bring slop to the community. There were no watermelon-themed rides or events advertised, like watermelon eating contests, watermelon carving or seed spitting. The “events” were mostly musicians on stages that were hidden away from everyone, too quiet to hear.
44 years ago, ‘Discover Carytown Day’ was created to bring attention to the shops along Cary Street. Two years later, it was renamed to celebrate watermelon while still supporting local businesses. With that history in mind, the lack of actual watermelon-themed activities today feels like a major shift from what the event was originally meant to be. The festival seems to have lost the mission of celebrating the fruit and supporting the local community.
This could have been a day to eat and play. Instead, vendors drop-shipped items from AliExpress, Amazon and Temu. We are at a point where working for ourselves is the most profitable, but really many are just turning themselves into small outlet stores. This endangers small Richmond businesses who actually curate their own products with care. For a festival that was one long strip, it was certainly a maze for my wallet and a time for me to question where our city events are heading.
This issue is becoming more widespread the more traction AI gains. Flyers are being made in seconds and if you do not have to put thought into a flyer, why put thought into an event?
7th Annual Crabs, Beer & Spirits by the James, Richmond Caribbean Wine Food & Music Festival, Margarita Fest RVA and many more events have all been taken over by slop. Costing anywhere from $25-50 for entry and $200+ to be a vendor, these events are using cheap labor and cheap alternatives for coordination, event planning, merchandise and food products, all while steadily increasing their price of entry for consumers and vendors each year.
We are in a day and age where people are staying inside and I do not blame them. Paying $50 to stand outside in 90-degree weather to eat a food truck’s “shareables” sounds miserable. We are seen as products and we are buying into it. This is what we need to worry about the most.
Masking the desire for profit with an image of community is prevalent and it is becoming clear who is responsible. This is one of the most important things changing in our community and the main way to stop it is to end the support of it.
If they lose their product, they lose their money.
We are people looking for a fun time and a moment to share. If event coordinating is too much of a chore, maybe plans should be reconsidered. We need to stop consuming the slop we are given and consider whether it is for us or solely for profit.