RICHMOND, VA: The Richmond Folk Festival returns September 27-29, celebrating its 20th anniversary!
Over the past twenty years, the Richmond Folk Festival has become one of Virginia’s largest and most cherished events. It draws fans to Downtown Richmond’s riverfront each year to celebrate the roots, richness, and variety of American culture through music, dance, traditional crafts, storytelling, and food. Over the past two decades, the event's success has transformed the riverfront's popularity and growth.
The Richmond Folk Festival, a free event that welcomes 200,000 people over a three-day weekend, is a testament to the power of diversity and inclusivity. With six stages and over 30 performing groups from around the nation and worldwide, the festival is a vibrant tapestry of cultures and traditions. This year, in honor of the festival’s 20th anniversary, we are bringing back several favorites from past years.
Not only is the Richmond Folk Festival taking place earlier than usual this fall to avoid falling on Yom Kippur, but there are also changes to the festival site. Due to exciting developments underway, two of the six stages will be in new locations. The updated festival site map will be available on our website soon and in the pocket guides distributed at the festival.
“The festival site on Downtown’s riverfront is an ever-changing one, as we see its growth and progress lead to a number of modifications," said Stephen Lecky, director of events at Venture Richmond. “You’ll still find all your favorite things to see and do, but this year, you may need to look at the festival map to chart your course. We’ll provide you with everything you need to find what you’re looking for!”
The Richmond Folk Festival is presented by Venture Richmond Events in partnership with the National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), Virginia Humanities, Center for Cultural Vibrancy, Children’s Museum and the City of Richmond.
Artists to be featured at the 2024 Richmond Folk Festival include:
(*favorites from past years are indicated with an asterisk)
*Canzoniere Grecanico Salentino (Southern Italian pizzica tarantata)
Salento, Italy
*John Doyle & the Irish American Music Masters (Irish)
Chicago; Brooklyn; Bristol, Vermont; Asheville, North Carolina; and County Louth, Ireland
*Junior Sisk Band (bluegrass)
Ferrum, Virginia
Lonnie Holley (Afro-futuristic jazz, funk, and soul)
Atlanta, Georgia
Mis Blandine (Congolese soukous)
Toronto, Ontario
Peni Candra Rini (Javanese sindhen)
Tulungagung, East Java, Indonesia
Rancho Aparte (Colombian chirimía music)
Quibdó, Colombia
*Trouble Funk (go-go)
Washington, D.C
Click here for extended artist bios, plus audio and video samples on our website.
Friends of the Festival
Become a Friend of the Festival to help sustain the Richmond Folk Festival for many years to come! Gifts from our Friends ensure the consistency and future of the performances and programs that we all enjoy. Your support is invaluable to us as we work to sustain one of Virginia's largest artistic and cultural gatherings and the largest folk festival of its kind in the country.
Benefits of being a Friend of the Festival include two weekend parking passes to the 2024 Richmond Folk Festival, your name/company on four Thank You banners located at the festival, your name/company on our sponsors webpage, a commemorative RFF Friends enameled pin and a limited-edition screen print version of the official festival poster hand-signed and numbered by the artist.
Learn more and sign up here! https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org/donations
Festival Hours
Friday, September 27 — 6:30pm - 10:00pm
Saturday, September 28 — 12:00pm - 9:30pm
Sunday, September 29 — 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 www.richmondfolkfestival.org. #RVAFolkFest - Text to Give! Text FOLK to 44321
The Richmond Folk Festival is sponsored in part by: Altria, Dominion Energy, CoStar Group, CarMax, Pauley Family Foundation, NewMarket Corp., City of Richmond, Brown Distributing, Community Foundation, Atlantic Union Bank, VPM, 12OnYourSide, Richmond Times-Dispatch, National Council for the Traditional Arts (NCTA), Virginia Humanities, Center for Cultural Vibrancy, Children’s Museum, American Civil War Museum, National Park Service, National Endowment for the Arts, Virginia is For Lovers, Capital Vacations, JAMinc, Plan 9 Music, RMC Events, Virginia Housing, House of Hayes, TNT Auto Rental, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond and the 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 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 Downtown, Manchester and the Riverfront including the Clean & Safe program, beautification and landscaping projects, and management and maintenance of Brown's Island, the Canal Walk and the Belle Isle parking lot.
Venture Richmond Events, LLC, produces Friday Cheers, the 2nd Street Festival, and 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 traditionality, 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/.
Venture Richmond, 200 S. Third Street, Richmond, VA 23219