The RiffRaff Arts Collective

12/18/2025

Ring in the New Year on Mercer Street 🎉

Seven live music venues. One walkable downtown. Music everywhere you go. 🎶

From high-energy performances to that unbeatable street vibe, Downtown Countdown is where you want to be this New Year’s Eve. Walk from show to show and welcome 2026 with unforgettable energy and live music all night long. 👟✨

Check out the full event details at www.downtowncountdown.org and make your plans!

12/17/2025

This is how we do New Year’s Eve. ✨

Live music pouring out of doorways 🎶
Kids laughing. Friends wandering.
Fireworks at midnight 🎆

Downtown Countdown on Mercer Street.
Princeton, WV.

We’d love to share it with you.

🔗 downtowncountdown.org

12/05/2025

Welcome to Candy Cane Lane! 🎄🍬✨

Experience the magic of the City of Princeton's Christmas Parade live on Mercer Street, where floats roll, lights glow, and the whole community comes alive in holiday spirit — or enjoy it from the comfort of your living room! This special broadcast brings all the sparkle, music, and hometown joy of this spectacular parade straight to your screen. Grab a cozy blanket, settle in, and enjoy the parade just as if you were standing right downtown — all streaming here on Facebook.

Monday, December 8th at 7pm! 🎬

12/01/2025

✨ Missed Small Business Weekend? No worries.
The season is just beginning — and so is our neighborhood holiday tradition.🎄

We’re extending our Limited-Edition Mercer Street Ornament through the end of the year (or until they’re gone). 🎁

Spend $50 total at 2+ Mercer St. businesses, bring your receipts to RiffRaff, and we’ll gift you this year’s keepsake — featuring an original winter photograph by Robert Blankenship. ❄️

Because we believe in keeping creativity flowing, lights glowing, and this community rising. ✨

Prefer to purchase one directly? You’re welcome to buy this year’s ornament at the gallery — and last year’s too, if you’d like to complete the collection. 🎄💛

11/26/2025

Enjoy this holiday sparkle from our corner of Mercer Street…🎄

💛 Come stroll with us. Magic lives here!
✨ Support the dreamers. Share the love. Shop local this season.

11/25/2025

🎄𝑨 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒔 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝑭𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒂𝒚 & 𝑺𝒎𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝑺𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒂𝒚!

This year’s limited-edition holiday ornament is a showstopper! Featuring a breathtaking snowy scene of Mercer Street captured by Robert Blankenship, it’s a true piece of homegrown holiday magic. ❄️✨

🎄 Want one? Here’s how to claim yours:
Spend a total of $50 or more at two or more Mercer Street businesses, then bring your receipts to redeem your prize:

📍 Black Friday – Redeem at RiffRaff
📍 Small Business Saturday – Redeem at Town Square booth

✨ 𝑷𝑳𝑼𝑺: 𝑾𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝑴𝒆𝒓𝒄𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒕 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒔𝒆, 𝒚𝒐𝒖’𝒍𝒍 𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒆𝒊𝒗𝒆 𝒂 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝑮𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒔𝒓𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝑫𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒄𝒕 𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒐 𝒓𝒆𝒑 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒗𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒍𝒐𝒄𝒂𝒍 💛

These ornaments are limited-run and always go fast — don’t miss your chance to take home a piece of the magic.

🌀 Brought to you with love by RiffRaff Arts Collective 💛
Because we believe in keeping creativity flowing, lights glowing, and this community rising.

The ornament is printed right here in the District at Jo-Lene's Mystique Creations.

11/12/2025

🧟‍♀️ What a night! We love coming together with the community to celebrate Mercer Monster Mash, one of our favorite annual traditions on Mercer Street!

Huge thanks to everyone who made it spectacular — the sponsors, participating businesses and organizations, the artists, our MCs, and every single person who showed up with your epic costumes! 🧙‍♀️✨

And big shoutout to Eric Proffit for capturing the magic in this fantastic video recap. 🎥🧡

11/04/2025

🎬✨ There’s movie magic brewing in our neck of the woods...

11/03/2025

11/02/2025

✨ Last week was something else.
We’re still buzzing from 🧛‍♀️ Mercer Monster Mash; huge thanks to everyone who helped bring the street to life once again! 💀🎶

And as we await those spectacular photos, we’re also glowing from the ⭐ Create Your State Convening , which wrapped up one week ago today. Creatives from across West Virginia + beyond came together to explore, connect, and dream about how creativity can transform our communities.

We’re so grateful for this growing community of visionaries and changemakers across Appalachia, and excited to keep learning and growing together. 🌈

📸 Thank you to Eric Proffit for capturing these beautiful moments from the convening with inspiration flowing.

✨ Moments from the Create Your State Convening (Oct. 24–26), where creatives from across West Virginia + beyond gathered to connect, learn, and dream about transforming communities through creativity. 🌈

📸 Photos by Eric Proffit

10/31/2025

🧟‍♂️ Happy Halloween, friends!
Since 2013, Mercer Monster Mash has been raising Mercer Street from the dead — and we’re at it again tonight!

𝐖𝐞’𝐫𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞:

🧡 Princeton Community Hospital * Xfinity * Conn-Weld Industries * Martin Dental Associates * City of Princeton * Public Works * and Participating Grassroots District Businesses 🙏

🙌 𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨’𝐯𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭:

Princeton Rescue Squad, Princeton Fire & Police Departments, Valkyries Ladies Club, New River Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, Optimum, Mythical Collector’s Unauthorized Vehicle Collection, STAR 95-9, WildKat’s Herbal Oasis , The Gaia Den, and Trophies & More.

𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐞:

🎃 6–8 PM — Trick-or-Treat on Mercer Street

🕺 6–8 PM — Mystic Dance Party Monarch, 801 Mercer Street (New River UU + DJ Terpsacore)

🔮 6–8 PM — Tarot & Astrology Readings @ The Listening Room, 867 Mercer (The Gaia Den)

🪦 6–11 PM — Paranormal Investigation @ The Renaissance Theater (Appalachian Ghost Tours)

🔥 6–9 PM — Cirque Performances with Fluidity (fire spinning and more)

🎃 6–8:30 PM — Performance Pumpkin Carving by Shannon Gerasimchik

🧛‍♀️ 8–9:30 PM — Costume Contest @ Town Square Stage (prizes for kids and adults)

🚧 Mercer Street is closed to traffic between Bee and 5th Streets for a safe, walkable Trick-or-Treat experience.

Come take it all in — the costumes, the lights, the music, the mischief — and celebrate Halloween, Grassroots style.

🧟‍♀️ 𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭… 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐀𝐥𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐢𝐯𝐞!