Second round of artists announced for talent-packed 2017 Richmond Folk Festival

After releasing an initial list of performers earlier in the summer, Venture Richmond announced a full roster of additional artists scheduled to make an appearance at the 2017 Richmond Folk Festival, which will take place on the Downtown Richmond riverfront October 13th through the 15th.

One of the largest events of the year in Richmond, the festival brings together artists both local and from across the nation from a variety of backgrounds. The artist mix is orchestrated by a programming committee that is guided by the National Council for Traditional Arts and the National Folk Festival, as well as the National Endowment for the Arts.

An eclectic mix of musicians, artisans, dancers, and more from all over the world bring their unique cultural traditions to Richmond; nine of these traditions have never before been presented at the festival, the largest folk festival of its kind in the nation. Despite record amounts of rain from Tropical Storm Matthew in 2016, more than 125,000 people came out to experience one of Richmond’s most beloved traditions.

Artists taking the stage in 2017 include:

• Be’la Dona (go-go)
  The DMV
• Betsayda Machado y La Parranda El Clavo (Afro-Venezuelan parranda)
  El Clavo and Caracas, Venezuela
• Bitori feat. Chando Graciosa (Cabo Verdean funaná)
  Praia, Santiago Island, Cabo Verde
• C.J. Chenier & the Red Hot Louisiana Band (zydeco)
  Houston, Texas
• Corazón de Granada: Flamenco Joven y Jondo (flamenco)
  Granada, Spain
• Crooked Road Ramblers (old-time)
  southwest Virginia
• Dale Ann Bradley (bluegrass)
  Middlesboro, Kentucky
• Don Bryant (Memphis soul)
  Memphis, Tennessee
• Eddie Cotton, Jr. (soul blues)
  Clinton, Mississippi
• Grand Master Seiichi Tanaka & the San Francisco Taiko Dojo (Japanese taiko drumming)
  San Francisco, California
• The Green Fields of America (Irish)
  East Coast of the U.S.
• Hot Club of Cowtown (western swing and hot jazz)
  Austin, Texas
• Innov Gnawa (Moroccan Gnawa)
  Brooklyn, New York
• Jan Knutson (jazz guitar)
  Berwyn Heights, Maryland
• Los Wembler’s (cumbia amazonica)
  Iquitos, Peru
• Nicolae Feraru (Romanian cimbalom)
  Chicago, Illinois
• Patti Kustorok (Métis fiddle and dance)
  Winnipeg, Manitoba
• Paulin Brothers’ Brass Band (New Orleans brass band)
  New Orleans, Louisiana
• Sahba Motallebi (Persian tar)
  Los Angeles, California
• Spencer Taylor & the Highway QCs (gospel)
  Washington, D.C.
• A Step Ahead (Virginia step show competition)
  central Virginia
• The U.S. Army Blues (classic big band jazz)
  Washington, D.C.
• Wayne Hancock (honky-tonk)
  Denton, Texas