Richmond Folk Festival

richmondfolkfestival.org

Second Place: Fall Line Fest

Third Place: Dominion Riverrock

It’s tough to mess with the Richmond Folk Festival. Even when the weather is cold and rainy, like at last year’s 10th anniversary fest, more than 125,000 people showed up. They also donated $86,000 in a show of appreciation for the diverse sounds by the river. Last year, they also had to learn the new layout of the stages, but not many seemed to mind. Don’t underestimate all the great food vendors at the festival either, who make it easy to stick around all day and night. A relative newcomer, the Fall Line Fest is a volunteer-run, two-day festival that showcases local bands alongside up-and-coming touring acts. This festival keeps spreading out to new local venues, and thankfully, it’s moving dates to Nov. 6 and 7 so it won’t have to compete with larger music festivals (see our editorial pick). Dominion Riverrock, a three-day sports and music festival on Brown’s Island, set a record attendance of 100,000 last year. This year’s festival recently wrapped, with Venture Richmond’s Lisa Sims citing work with Art on Wheels as a high note, as hosts of a wheels trike track. And sponsor Sierra Nevada had its solar-powered truck onsite. And you can’t forget how much families love to line up to watch those doggies jump in the water.