The Richmond Folk Festival is now going into its 13th year drawing in crowds of more than 125,000 people to downtown Richmond's riverfront to celebrate the roots, richness and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling and food.
It features more than 30 performing groups on seven live music stages with continuous music and dance performances, along with a Virginia Folklife demonstration area, children's activities, a folk arts marketplace, regional and ethnic foods and more. The FREE three-day festival is one of the largest events in Virginia, drawing visitors from across the country.
It was established by the hugely successful National Folk Festival in Richmond, Virginia, and has continued ever since with the support of Venture Richmond, The National Council for the Traditional Arts, City of Richmond, Virginia Foundation for the Humanities, the National Park Service, and the Children’s Museum of Richmond.
Jon Lohman, our Virginia State Folklorist, curates an impressive selection of music and craft demos in the folklife area each year. The theme of this year’s event is “Feed Your Soul” and will be featuring both food and music from around Virginia that literally and figuratively feed your soul. Presenters will include Southern Soul legend Big G, the Old Regular Baptist hymns of Frank Newsome, tortilla-making workshops with Luz Lopez, a soul food feast and singing with the Ingramettes, an oyster-shucking contest between sisters Clementine and Deborah and much much more.
The Richmond Folk Festival will be held from Oct 13-15, 2017. If you would like to volunteer in the folklife area, please contact Diane Muska at rffvafolklife@gmail.com to get started. Volunteer perks include free onsite parking, free t-shirt, coupon for discount on fest merchandise and an invite to the private VIP party at the hotel where you can meet all the performers and attend jam sessions.
Hope to see you there!
September 21, 2017