For all of its indigenous charm and distinctive homegrown traditions, the Virginia Folklife stage, and its accompanying local crafts and demonstrations area, have for 20 years been shunted off to the side of Richmond’s Folk Festival.

But this year, it’s going big time.

“It’s a huge change for us,” says Jon Lohman, executive director for the Center For Cultural Vibrancy, which sponsors the Virginia-centric stage, slated to be set up this year in the new Allianz Amphitheater at Riverfront. “We’ve always been this sort of cozy, intimate space, and we’ve been moved around a lot. But now, I mean, the Allianz stage alone is bigger than what our entire tent used to be.”

In a way, the change is only right. The open air 7,500-seat Allianz opened in June and was built along Historic Tredegar near Brown’s Island largely because the folk festival had seeded the once desolate area for music and people, often attracting more than 200,000 music loving patrons annually.

Co-owned and maintained by Live Nation, which operates nearly 400 venues worldwide, the state-of-the-art Allianz has already hosted the likes of Neil Young, Dave Matthews, Alison Krauss, Widespread Panic and Boys II Men. But on the Saturday and Sunday of the 2025 festival, which starts Friday, the venue will showcase local performers trafficking in a myriad of indigenous musical styles, from Piedmont blues to Richmond gospel to Puerto Rican bomba.

But this is new territory in more ways than one. There will be different rules at Allianz than at the other festival stages.

“That stage will run very much like it runs for the Amphitheater’s normal shows,” says Stephen Lecky, director of events at Venture Richmond, which presents the annual folk festival. “You will not be able to bring alcohol in or out because they have alcohol for sale there. Most importantly, they will have a clear bag rule, so if you have a hand bag, it has to be clear.”

Lecky says that Venture is taking proactive steps to help attendees unfamiliar with what is being referred to as “the bag situation” — there will be a convenient bag check at the entrance, and a limited number of complimentary clear bags will be available for patrons.

The other part of Virginia Folklife, the Virginia Humanities-sponsored crafts and demonstrations area, overseen by Virginia State Folklorist Katy Clune, will be in the canal section off of 5th street, near the entrance to the amphitheater. This year’s theme, fittingly, is “Riverlore.” There’s no big change in location there, but the amphitheater is something else entirely. Lohman, the former state folklorist who has programmed the stage for much of the festival’s existence, knows full well that Virginia Folklife is the guinea pig here. “We’re just trying to embrace it as an opportunity for some of Virginia’s best performers to be featured on that big stage,” he says.

To help Richmonders ease into the new setup, Lohman has programmed a schedule of performers deeply connected to the RVA scene, such as No BS Brass Band, Petersburg soul singer Rodney Stith, Chesterfield bomba and plena specialists Kadencia, and, of course, the Legendary Ingramettes, who traditionally close the folklife stage down with a fiery gospel performance on Sunday.  “I tried to lean in a little more on performers that are really familiar,” he says. “And we are trying to take advantage of the bigger space and sound by featuring some of these larger groups, like No BS and Kadencia.”

Virginia bluegrass traditions

Virginia’s vaunted bluegrass traditions will be explored by the wildly popular Lonesome River Band from Meadows of Dan, Virginia, while the Alum Ridge Boys and Ashlee, from Floyd County, will feature an infectious meld of bluegrass and classic hillbilly country. With her rootsy original songs, Asheville, North Carolina’s Anya Hinkle will show off the elasticity of Appalachian folk music.

Some stage traditions endure. On Saturday, Virginia Folklife’s favorite musical chameleon, the Rockingham County multi-instrumentalist Danny Nicely, will perform with two virtuoso Brazilian guitarists, Cesar Garabini and Fernanda Bravo. “Literally, almost every year for 20 years, we’ve had Danny come with whatever mad scientist thing he’s got going on,” says Lohman. “And it’s always different and it’s always awesome.”

The big emotional charge of the weekend will surely be Sunday afternoon’s “RVA Jams For Justin Golden” performance, featuring a host of area blues and country artists paying tribute to the beloved Richmond bluesman and conservationist, who is suffering from health issues. The show will feature members of Justin’s bands The Come Up and Devil’s Coattails, as well as special guests The Crooked Creek Misfits, The Hot Seats, Andrew Alli and Josh Small, and Eliza Mose and Ryan Stephens. “This is going to be really special,” Lohman says. “Obviously, it’s about a beloved local artist, but also kind of a celebration of this musical community.”

“The Justin Golden performances are going to be absolutely ridiculous,” Lecky says in agreement. “I think there’s 17 or 18 musicians tied to that event, some of the best of the best. And obviously, Justin’s played the festival numerous times, so it’s good to be able to do something like this.”

Virginia Folklife’s move to Allianz is the biggest change in this year’s RFF schedule, Lecky adds. But in its community outreach, the event is expanding. This week, selected main stage performers will once again go into Richmond Public Schools to perform for students, and other shows have been added for the first time at the Children’s Hospital on Broad Street (South Indian dancer Yamini Kalluri) and at Westminster Canterbury retirement home (country singer-songwriter Melissa Carper).

Lohman stresses that, even with the always-changing festival site layout and the impending shadow of development around Tredegar, the Richmond Folk Festival is more important now than ever: “We’re celebrating the richness and diversity of these communities and what they bring to the table.” It’s something that is important to acknowledge at this juncture in history, he adds. “The sharing of the arts and culture is a very positive and essential piece in increasing understanding and empathy.”

The Richmond Folk Festival runs Oct. 10-12 along the Richmond waterfront. Admission is free. For a complete list of this year’s performers, go here.  For a complete schedule: https://www.richmondfolkfestival.org/schedule. (Disclosure: The author is a volunteer member of the Richmond Folk Festival local programming committee)