Richmond Folk Festival Kicks Off Tonight

The Richmond Folk Festival turns on the amps tonight at 6:30 PM. The party continues Saturday, noon-9:30 PM and wraps up Sunday, noon-6 PM.

Check out this full list of artists complete with samples so you can plan your festivaling. This is a crucial step so you don’t miss out on a “must-see” performance.

The next step is to check out the schedule to plan your path over three days. When you get to the site you’ll grab a pocket guide and adjust on the fly.

This map will come in handy. Veteran festival-goers will notice that the 7th Street bridge isn’t on the map. At one point it was going to be closed for maintenance but rumor has it that the bridge will be open.

If you’ve got kids or a kid at heart check out the Family area and don’t sleep on the Folklife demonstrations, you’ll learn something and it can be a nice breather from massive crowds and dancing.

Your food options are quite varied with over 30 options and I’ll make my yearly suggestion to go visit the Pie Guy.

I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your adult beverage situation. The official beer this year is Festbier by Hardywood which is an excellent Oktoberfest-style beverage. There are five beer/wine stations scattered around the festival with local brews from Brown’s Distributing. Don’t forget that you need to purchase tickets and have a wristband.

An important detail when buying anything. There are NO CASH SALES on site for beer, sodas, or festival merchandise. Debit and Credit cards are accepted.

Photos from previous Richmond Folk Festivals

FAQs:
Admission: FREE, enjoy the performances, the Virginia Folk Life Area & Stage, and the Family Area at no cost. Food, drink, and merchandise are available for sale.

Transportation: Consider GRTC buses, rideshares, like Uber or Lyft, or carpooling with friends!

Parking: New this year there is satellite parking and shuttle from Dogwood Dell, Saturday and Sunday ONLY. $5 per adult roundtrip. Debit/Credit only. There are also many parking lots and decks downtown and in Manchester. Brand new for those on Southside is a new parking lot for us across the river.

• 901 Semmes Ave., CoStar Group parking lot in Manchester: FREE for Folk Festival parking ONLY.

  • October 13:          5:30 pm -11 pm

  • October 14:          10 am -10:30 pm

  • October 15:          10 am – 7 pm

Payment for beverage and merch sales: Debit and credit cards are accepted, no cash sales. Food vendors do accept cash and credit cards.

NO PETS: Do not bring pets other than service animals to the festival. We expect very large crowds and your pets will be more comfortable at home.