RICHMOND, Va. — The Richmond Folk Festival returns to the riverfront for its 21st year, celebrating folk music and community over three days. This year there will be a special tribute to Justin Golden, a local folk musician recently diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer.
The Richmond Folk Festival is an extension of the National Folk Festival put on by the National Council for Traditional Arts, in operation since 1934, according to its website.
This year, the recently opened Allianz Amphitheater will be 1 of 6 stages hostin g performances.
One of the over 100 performances featured is the tribute RVA Jams for Justin Golden. Golden, who was diagnosed with cancer earlier this year, needs help with medical expenses. Golden performed at the Richmond Folk Festival in 2021 and 2024.
When he learned the festival was having a performance in his honor, Golden was excited but worried if he could be there.
“I was really, you know, moved, just touched that they took the time to put together such an awesome show and line up to celebrate me and to support me,” Golden said.
Golden hopes he will be able to perform at the festival, but said it depends on his health. Artists from Golden’s career and life, such as Devil's Coattails, The Come Up and The Hot Seats will perform.
Josh Bearman, band leader of The Hot Seats, first met Golden at a gig he booked him for at Hardywood Park Craft Brewery.
“It's just really great to see someone younger, like really tapping into traditional and blues music the way that Justin does and kind of making other people excited about it,” Bearman said.
Musicians will perform 10 to 15 minute sets that will include a song from Devil’s Coattails, Golden’s backing band, according to Bearman.
Golden’s bandmate Trey Burnart Hall organized the tribute with Jon Lohman, cofounder of the Center for Cultural Vibrancy, whose stage this year will be at the Allianz.
Golden has been a part of the Devil’s Coattails since 2021, when the band played with him at the Vocal Rest Fest and instantly clicked, Hall said.
“It's been a really challenging year for everyone in the band,” Hall said. “I mean, Justin obviously more so than anyone else, but it was a really big hit to our spirits and to our plans, and Justin.”
Hall hopes the tribute helps Golden with the funds he needs for his medical expenses and helps people understand how influential he is as a community member. People can visit Golden’s GoFundMe to support his treatment.
“To have some time to just kind of celebrate Justin's impact on the community, raise some money for him and just kind of play music with friends, that's kind of my favorite part,” Hall said.
Hall, an avid folk music fan, believes the Richmond Folk Festival helps keep the genre alive.
“The work that folk festivals are doing is preserving our future through highlighting our past, and combining it all to be in this kind of present art form,” Hall said. “We're just so lucky to have that in Richmond, I mean, it's one of the best folk festivals in the country.”
The event is also one of the state’s largest festivals. Almost 200,000 attendees can be expected over the weekend, according to Stephen Lecky, director of events for Venture Richmond, which manages the festival.
Lecky has worked for Venture Richmond since the Richmond Folk Festival’s creation, he said.
Venture Richmond takes a financial loss to host the free event, according to Lecky. The budget is approximately $1.9 million, with about 60% funded through corporate sponsors. Merchandise and alcohol sales, along with donations from attendees, help with remaining costs, according to Lecky.
The festival has no plans in the foreseeable future to start charging attendees, because it would lessen the value, according to Lecky.
In addition to the music, there will be demonstrations, exhibits and presentations in the Virginia Folklife Area. The theme this year is “Riverlore.”
Filmmaker Tom Hansell will give a multimedia presentation about the New River, which flows through North Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia. The presentation explores how water connects humans and is in collaboration with musicians Trevor McKenzie and Julie Shepherd-Powell, who will perform traditional Appalachian dancing.
“Water connects rich and poor, Black and white, different communities, different backgrounds, different educational levels,” Hansell said. “We all need clean water to live.”
It is Hansell’s first time at the festival and also doing the presentation in its entirety. He's nervous about how it’ll all come together, but excited to see what the festival has to offer.
The Richmond Folk Festival also picks a new artist to create its poster every year. Last year was the first time the featured artist, Robert Meganck, nominated someone to be the upcoming year’s graphic designer. Julie Wang, Meganck’s former student, designed the poster this year.
The poster took almost a year to complete because of all the research, Wang said. The poster includes animals and plants that are native or common in Richmond, and she has already received a lot of comments about it.
“A very interesting point I heard people say that is when they come closer, they find out more details and especially they say they cannot let their eye rest on one piece,” Wang said. “They can like kind of move around different area of the poster, and they found something new. That's exactly what I want my audience to see.”
Wang will sell prints of the poster and other art such as her jewelry at the festival.
The Richmond Folk Festival at Brown's Island kicks off Friday, Oct. 10 from 6:30-10 p.m. Saturday hours run from noon to 9:30 p.m. Sunday hours are from noon to 6 p.m.
More event details and a performance schedule can be found at https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org.
Capital News Service is a program of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Robertson School of Communication. Students in the program provide state government coverage for a variety of media outlets in Virginia.
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