Richmond Folk Festival – A Virtual Celebration! Announcing MORE Artists and Activities

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October 9-11, 2020

RICHMOND, VA – The Richmond Folk Festival is excited to announce additional details about the virtual event that will take place the weekend of October 9-11, bringing together the community through a special television program, radio broadcasts and online streaming.

Venture Richmond Events, in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), the Virginia Folklife Program and the Children’s Museum will present new musical performances that are exclusive to this festival, highlights of favorite artists from past festivals, cooking demonstrations, a crafts marketplace and an official festival poster! The show will go on—a virtual event celebrating the roots, richness, and variety of American culture.

Additional artists to be featured in new musical performances include:

  • Eileen Ivers (Irish fiddle)
    Bronx, New York

  • Jason Samuels Smith & the Winard Harper Trio (tap dance)  
    New York, New York

  • Martha & Emily Spencer (old-time)
    Whitetop, Virginia

  • Mythili Prakash Dance Ensemble (Bharata Natyam)
    Los Angeles, California

  • Pedrito Martinez (Afro-Cuban)
    New York, New York

Click here for extended artist bios, plus audio and video samples on our website.

Cooking Demonstrations

Each year at the Richmond Folk Festival the Virginia Folklife Stage showcases some of Virginia’s finest performers, artisans and chefs. Join us as we take a look back at a few of our favorite cooking demonstrations and learn from some of the best!

Join Frances Davis as she teaches how to make delicious fried dried apple pies. Like seafood? Learn from one of the best as Mary Stewart shares her Tangier Island crab bisque recipe. We also will revisit one of our favorite festival memories ever when sisters Clementine Macon and Deborah Pratt of Middlesex County, Virginia, renew their rivalry in the fourth year of the Oyster Shucking Smackdown series!

And in case that isn’t enough food for your plate, learn how to make traditional baklava with Sondus Moussa, and make Ghana's most popular street food snack, a kelewele medley by RVA’s own Chef Ida MaMusu. All of your foodie favorites will be featured over the course of the virtual Folk Festival weekend. 

Official Festival Poster

Fredericksburg native and VCU graduate Shannon Wright joins a talented collection of artists commissioned to design posters for the Richmond Folk Festival. Wright has been awarded prizes for illustration and editorial cartooning by the Virginia Press Association and the Society of Professional Journalists. Shannon says that her inspiration for the Folk Festival poster was the happiness and togetherness that music brings us even when we’re miles and miles apart. To watch a live unveiling of the official poster art, tune in to the Richmond Folk Festival’s Facebook page on Wednesday, September 23 from 5:00-6:00pm.

Craft Marketplace

The festival’s Craft Marketplace features artisans selling handcrafted and traditional items ranging from jewelry, specialty goods and original artwork. This year, although we won’t be live on the Riverfront, at Tredegar, you can still enjoy shopping from over 25 of your favorite festival merchants.

Click here to shop online.

Ways to watch and listen to this year’s virtual festival

This year’s virtual festival is a great opportunity for families to plan gatherings and watch parties at home in a safe, fun and responsible way. (Hours listed below comprise planned blocks of time encompassing television, live streaming and radio. Specific schedules for each platform will be released later in September.)

Friday, October 9 from 6:00-10:00pm
Saturday, October 10 from 12:00-8:00pm
Sunday, October 11 from 12:00-8:00pm

More artist announcements and additional details about the Richmond Folk Festival virtual celebration will be released later in September. Folk Fest Insider enewsletter subscribers will be among the first to receive updates and breaking news about the festival.

For more information about the Richmond Folk Festival, visit www.richmondfolkfestival.org. #RVAFolkFest  -  Text to Give! Text FOLK to 44321

Many thanks to our sponsors:

Altria, City of Richmond, Dominion Energy, WestRock, Capital One, Community Foundation, CarMax, NBC12 & CW Richmond, Richmond Times-Dispatch, VPM, SummitMedia, National Park Service, Plan 9 Music, House of Hayes, Tonal Park Studios, Spacebomb Studios

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About the Richmond Folk Festival

The Richmond Folk Festival is one of Virginia's largest events, drawing visitors from all over the country to downtown Richmond's historic riverfront. The Festival is a FREE three-day event that got its start as the National Council for the Traditional Arts’ National Folk Festival, held in Richmond from 2005-2007. In the tradition of “The National," the Richmond Folk Festival features excellent performing groups representing a diverse array of cultural traditions on seven stages. The festival includes continuous music and dance performances, a Virginia Folklife Area featuring ongoing demonstrations, an interactive Family Area produced by the Children's Museum, a folk art marketplace, regional and ethnic foods, festival merchandise and more. Additional information is available at www.richmondfolkfestival.org.

About Venture Richmond

Venture Richmond, Inc., is a non-profit organization formed to engage business and community leaders in partnering with the City to enhance the vitality of the community, particularly Downtown, through economic development, marketing, promotion, advocacy and events. Venture Richmond provides enhanced property management services for both the Downtown and Riverfront including; the Clean & Safe program, beautification and landscaping projects and management and maintenance of Brown's Island, the Canal Walk and Belle Isle parking lot.

Venture Richmond Events, LLC, produces Friday Cheers, the 2nd Street Festival, the Richmond Folk Festival, and partners with Sports Backers to produce Dominion Energy Riverrock.

Riverfront Canal Cruises, LLC, operates historically narrated boat tours and private charters of the James River and Kanawha Canal.

Both Venture Richmond Events, LLC, and Riverfront Canal Cruises, LLC, are subsidiaries of Venture Richmond, Inc. For more information visit www.venturerichmond.com.

About the National Council for the Traditional Arts

A leading non-profit in the field, the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA) is dedicated to the presentation and documentation of folk and traditional arts in the U.S. Stressing excellence and authenticity, the NCTA presents the nation’s finest traditional artists in major festivals, tours, concerts, workshops, demonstrations, exhibitions, media productions, school programs, cross-cultural exchanges, and other activities. It works in partnership with American communities to establish new, sustainable traditional arts events that deliver lasting social, cultural, and economic benefits. Over 7,000 hours of the NCTA’s archival audio recordings dating from the 1930s are permanently housed at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress. The NCTA champions the interests of folk and traditional artists and organizations in the arena of public policy. For more about the NCTA, visit http://ncta-usa.org/.