The Richmond Folk Festival returns October 13-15, 2023, and celebrates its 19th anniversary, having become one of Virginia’s largest events. The beloved festival draws fans each year to downtown Richmond’s riverfront to celebrate the roots, richness, and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling, and food.
The free, three-day event hosts 200,000 people over the weekend and is presented by Venture Richmond Events in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), Virginia Humanities, the Center for Cultural Vibrancy, the Children’s Museum, and the City of Richmond.
Featuring six stages and showcasing music and dance from more than 30 performing groups from around the nation and the world, the Richmond Folk Festival today announces 10 artists of what will once again be a culturally diverse and dynamic, inspiring program. Of the artists announced for the festival to date, seven cultural traditions have never before been presented at the festival.
“Once again, the Richmond Folk Festival offers something for everyone, from acclaimed and groundbreaking bluegrass, New Orleans funk, and classical Indian artists to downhome gospel and blues performers deserving of wider acclaim,” said Blaine Waide, associate director of the National Council for the Traditional Arts. “Artists featured in this year’s program hail from Richmond and across the country, and as far away as Burkina Faso and isolated Indigenous communities in the Philippines. It’s free, and it’s all excellent.”
Additional artists to be featured at the 2023 Richmond Folk Festival include:
Annie & the Caldwell Singers (gospel)
West Point, MississippiCheres (Ukrainian)
New York, New YorkChris Thomas & His Smoke Dancers (Haudenosaunee social dance)
Onondaga Nation, New YorkCyril Neville with Omari Neville & the Fuel (New Orleans funk and R&B)
New Orleans, LouisianaGrupo Mono Blanco (son jarocho)
Veracruz, MexicoHelobung (traditional Tboli music and dance)
Lake Sebu, PhilippinesLutchinha (Cabo Verdean)
Brockton, MassachusettsNathan & the Zydeco Cha Chas (zydeco)
Lafayette, LouisianaStanley & the Ten Sleepless Knights (quelbe music)
St. Croix, U.S. Virgin IslandsState of the Ozarks String Band (Ozark old-time)
Springfield, Missouri
Click here for extended artist bios, plus audio and video samples on our website.
The Richmond Folk Festival Needs YOU!
The Richmond Folk Festival offers a variety of exciting volunteer opportunities. With over 800 volunteers each year, we can't do it without you! The festival is a wonderful place for civic, school, church and office organizations to volunteer, or simply sign up with your best friend to spend a day together at the festival! In 2022, Style Weekly recognized the Richmond Folk Festival’s volunteers as “Richmonders of the Year!”
Benefits of being a festival volunteer include a free t-shirt, free parking and discounts on festival merchandise.
Encore Performances on VPM
Every Saturday at 5:00pm, catch Virginia Public Media (VPM) broadcasts of favorite performances from the 2022 Richmond Folk Festival. Tune in to Richmond public radio VPM stations 107.3 FM & 93.1 FM for great musical memories. Add these shows to your calendar today:
8/19 – Jesse Daniel – honky-tonk country
8/26 – 79rs Gang – Black Masking Carnival music from New Orleans
9/2 – The Legendary Ingramettes – gospel from Richmond
9/9 – Fran Grace – sacred steel guitar from Ohio
9/16 – Black Umfolosi – Imbube singing from Zimbabwe
9/23 – Isokratisses – polyphonic singing from Epirus/Albania/Greece
9/30 – Sideline – bluegrass from Raleigh
10/7 – Son Rompe Pera – Mexican marimba with cumbia and punk energy
Festival Hours
Friday, October 13 — 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Saturday, October 14 — 12:00pm - 9:30pm
Sunday, October 15 — 12:00pm - 6:00pm
More information on the festival and additional artists performing will follow later this summer.
For more information about the Richmond Folk Festival, visit RichmondFolkFestival.org. #RVAFolkFest - Text to Give! Text FOLK to 44321
The Richmond Folk Festival is sponsored by: Altria, Dominion Energy, CoStar Group, CarMax, Pauley Family Foundation, NewMarket Corp., City of Richmond, Brown Distributing, Community Foundation, Atlantic Union Bank, WNRN, Richmond Times-Dispatch, SummitMedia, NBC12, National Endowment for the Arts, National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), National Treasures: A Program of the NCTA, Clean Virginia, Virginia Humanities, Center for Cultural Vibrancy, Children’s Museum, University of Richmond, Fralin Pickup, American Civil War Museum, National Park Service, VPM, JAMinc., Plan 9 Music, RMC Events, Virginia Housing, House of Hayes, TNT Auto Rental, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and Virginia War Memorial.
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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 when Richmond hosted 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 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 a portion of Manchetster. Services provided include 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 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 ncta-usa.org.
Venture Richmond, 200 S. Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219