Mary Barnett says, “I became a ‘Friend of the Festival’ without hesitation! I plan my whole year around the Richmond Folk Festival, and that is no kind of exaggeration. It truly is Richmond at its finest: people are happy, kind, patient, and having a great time!

We’re excited to have the incredible Richmond-based artist, Chris Visions, handling the illustration duties for this year’s Folk Festival poster. You may have seen the many gorgeous murals he’s been commissioned to paint around town. In 2023, he joins an esteemed group of artists that includes Wes Freed, The Night Owl, Chris Milk and Hamilton Glass.

We thought it would be great to ask Chris some questions to learn more about his background and process! This year’s poster will be unveiled

At the 2023 Virginia Folklife Area, all eyes and ears are on Bristol 

by Don Harrison

The Virginia Folklife Area at this year's Richmond Folk Festival will focus on the mountainous Southwestern border town of Bristol. That means fast cars, ingenious homemade wares, and sweet downhome music.

Andriy Milavsky likes to describe the music of his band, Cheres, as "Carpathian bluegrass."

"It's all from the Carpathian Mountains," says the multi-instrumentalist and bandleader who emigrated to the U.S. from Ukraine in 1991. "Our music is 75% Ukrainian, and we add some Romanian and Hungarian music. I compare it to American bluegrass, which I love, because it's really dusty, folky music."