The Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage returns to the Allianz Amphitheater with a weekend celebrating remarkable musical traditions, creative energy and cultural connections from Virginia and beyond. This year’s lineup puts a special spotlight on Richmond and Virginia artists, alongside visiting performers and one-of-a-kind collaborations, including a Richmond tribute to the life and legacy of D’Angelo. Festivalgoers will also have several opportunities to experience artists from this year’s “Dance Revolution” program on the stage and join in the dancing.
Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage SCHEDULE at the Richmond Folk Festival
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10
- 12:45-1:45 Swanky Kitchen Band (Caymanian kitchen dance music))
- 2:00-2:45 Danny Knicely and the Melichenko Family (Appalachian/Ukrainian)
- 3:15-4:15 Alexander Mack (Hip hop, R&B)
- 4:15-5:00 Positive Force Line Steppaz: Soul Line Dancing on Patio
- 5:00-6:30 Soul of the City: Richmond Celebrates D’Angelo
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11
- 12:30-1:30 Virginia Folklife Program “Dance Revolution” Showcase
- 1:45 -2:45 Central Viriginia Bluegrass Destroyers (bluegrass)
- 3:00-4:00 Joe Troop’s Whirlwind (visionary folk)
- 4:00-4:45 The Mustard Cutters (square dance) on Patio
- 5:00- 6:00 Legendary Ingramettes (gospel)
CCV Stage Artists
Before a weekend highlighted by artists from Virginia and close surroundings, we welcome the festival debut of the Swanky Kitchen Band of the Cayman Islands. The Center for Cultural Vibrancy has been collaborating with Swanky for a number of years, exposing US audiences to this most unique Caribbean fiddle music tradition, and supporting apprenticeships in Cayman to help keep this and other of the country’s folk traditions going for future generations.
This year’s lineup includes a remarkable collaboration by our old friend, multi-instrumentalist Danny Knicely joined by the Melichenko Family, Ukrainian musical virtuosos who have made a new home in the Shenandoah Valley after fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. We’ll also welcome Charlottesville’s Central Virginia Bluegrass Destroyers, a rotating cast of some of the Commonwealth’s finest pickers, whose blazing musicianship have made their weekly Charlottesville performances a beloved local institution. And Richmond’s own Alexander Mack, a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, producer, and performer, will bring his soulful blend of R&B, hip-hop, jazz, and dance to the stage.
We’re equally excited to welcome back to Virginia one of our favorite musical explorers, Joe Troop, whose new project, Whirlwind, takes the banjo in wonderfully unexpected directions. Drawing on bluegrass, Latin jazz, R&B, candombe, samba, classical music, and rock and roll, Troop’s electric jazz banjo and adventurous ensemble embody the spirit of musical curiosity and cross-cultural exchange that lies at the heart of the Cultural Vibrancy Stage.
And, of course, no Cultural Vibrancy Stage weekend would be complete without our beloved Sunday closers, Richmond’s own Legendary Ingramettes. For more than six decades, the Ingramettes have carried the gospel tradition of the “First Family of Gospel” from Richmond to audiences around the world, and we are honored to welcome them home once again.
And this year, we’re proud and excited to pay tribute and celebrate the legacy of one of Richmond’s most extraordinary artists: D’Angelo. Soul of the City: Richmond Celebrates D’Angelo will include a host of artists who influenced him, worked alongside him, and were influenced by his groundbreaking music. Led by Randall Cort and Kia Bennett and featuring a remarkable roster of Richmond musicians, the tribute will celebrate both the global impact of D’Angelo’s music and the Richmond community that helped shape the artist he became.
Virginia Folklife Area
This year’s Virginia Folklife Area presents “Dance Revolution,” bringing together community dance groups from across the Commonwealth to share the traditions, stories and cultural connections that keep Virginia moving. Through performances and hands-on workshops, experience everything from Intertribal Native American dance and Puerto Rican bomba and plena to flatfooting, Soul line dance, Bharatanatyam and more. Learn more here>>
The Virginia Folklife Area and Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage are co-presented by the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy.
