Richmond Folk Festival 2024

“We couldn’t be more excited and proud to celebrate 20 years of the Folk Festival along the Richmond waterfront. We truly believe this is Richmond at its best and we love seeing the sense of pride this event inspires in so many people in our community,” said Venture Richmond Event Director Stephen Lecky.

“It’s going to be a gigantic celebration,” Lecky said.

This year, the Richmond Folk Festival is being held two weeks earlier to avoid the Yom Kippur holiday.

The Richmond Folk Festival typically draws around 200,000 people to the Richmond waterfront for three days of free music on six stages from more than 30 musicians from around the world. The wide range of genres makes the festival a great place for people to find new music, and for musicians to find new fans.

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Folk Fest is bringing back fan favorites like Tuareg singer-songwriter/guitarist Bombino, blues artist Eddie Cotton Jr., Washington, D.C. band Trouble Funk and legendary Richmond gospel band the Ingramettes.

“Being invited to share our traditional gospel music in such a culturally diverse setting as the Richmond Folk Festival was a turning point in our music ministry,” said Pastor Almeta Ingram-Miller of the Legendary Ingramettes.

The Legendary Ingramettes have been a part of the Richmond Folk Festival since 2008. Under the leadership of their mother, the group performed as Evangelist Maggie Ingram & The Ingramettes. After Evangelist Maggie Ingram’s death in 2015, the group changed its name to The Legendary Ingramettes.

“In previous years, before we sang at the festival, our audience was primarily African-American church congregations. The Richmond Folk Festival provided a venue that took our music to another level. Our music extended beyond the walls of the African-American church, allowing us to share our traditional artistic heritage with people of all ethnic backgrounds around the world.”

In 2022, the legendary Ingramette siblings were named National Heritage Fellows by the National Endowment for the Arts, the nation’s highest honor in the field of folk and traditional arts.

The legendary Ingramettes will close out the festival on Sunday, as they do every year, becoming crowd favorites.

The festival will begin Friday at 6:30 p.m. on Brown’s Island. On Saturday at 5:15 p.m. there will be a parade featuring the Tremé Brass Band in honor of the festival’s 20th anniversary. The parade will begin at approximately 5:30 p.m., after a short performance in front of the American Civil War Museum on Tredegar Street.

Due to the construction of a new waterfront amphitheater, two stages will be in new locations. The festival’s newest field, at the corner of 2nd and Byrd Streets, will include the CarMax stage, Family Area, Crafts Marketplace and Performance Food Group Food Court.

The Virginia Folklife Area and Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage returns to its familiar venue tucked away among the historic cobblestones on Tredegar Street near 5th Street.

The Dominion Energy Dance Pavilion and the CoStar Group stage will continue to be located on Brown’s Island, while the Altria stage will be located on the sloping Tredegar Green site.

New this year, due to the size of the facility, Venture Richmond will offer free shuttle buses on site. Two pick-up/drop-off points will be located at 2nd & Byrd, the other on Tredegar between 5th & 7th Street.