Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage

The Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage returns to the Allianz Amphitheater this year with another scintillating lineup celebrating the remarkable musical traditions, creative energy, and cultural connections that make Virginia such a vibrant place. This year, we’re especially proud to shine a bright light on our own backyard, with a host of artists who call Richmond and Virginia home—artists who carry our traditions forward while constantly finding new ways to make them their own.

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.

Artists performing on the Center for Cultural Vibrancy/Allianz Amphitheater Stage

Featured
Alexander Mack
Alexander Mack

Hip Hop and R&B 
Richmond, VA 

Alexander Mack is a Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, producer and performer from Richmond whose music bridges generations through soul, movement and storytelling. 

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Central Virginia Bluegrass Destroyers
Central Virginia Bluegrass Destroyers

Bluegrass
Charlottesville, VA

 The Bluegrass Destroyers story begins in 2018, when a group of ace musicians launched a weekly show at a restaurant in Charlottesville, VA. Adam Larrabee (banjo), Darrell Muller (bass), Jay Starling (dobro), and Andy Thacker (mandolin) are all members of Love Canon, the pathbreaking bluegrass interpreters of 1980s pop hits.

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Danny Knicely and the Melichenko Family
Danny Knicely and the Melichenko Family

Ukrainian/Appalachian
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

There are two things you can count on every year at the Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage: the Legendary Ingramettes will always bring the weekend to a rousing close on Sunday, and the stage will always showcase the latest musical collaboration from Virginia’s virtuosic musical mad scientist and multi-instrumentalist, Danny Knicely.

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Joe Troop’s Whirlwind
Joe Troop’s Whirlwind

Visionary Folk
Durham, North Carolina

Photo courtesy of artist

Multi-instrumentalist Joe Troop grew up in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and became immersed in bluegrass and old-time music. His path then took him abroad to Spain, Japan, and ultimately Buenos Aires, where he spent roughly a decade as a musician and teacher. In Argentina, he founded Che Apalache with three of his students, developing what became known as “Latingrass:” Latin American folk influences played through the instrumentation and vocabulary of an Appalachian string band.

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Legendary Ingramettes
Legendary Ingramettes

Gospel
Richmond, VA

Richmond, Virginia, has long been celebrated as a “Gospel town” for its legacy of vibrant Black gospel groups and choirs. Among the city’s generations of countless groups, the Legendary Ingramettes have become widely considered the city’s “First Family of Gospel,” uplifting audiences for more than six decades while becoming beloved cultural icons in the community. Music is one of many forms of ministry they have practiced, and the one they are most famous for. The storied group was originally formed by evangelist “Mama” Maggie Ingram, a single mother who steadfastly taught her five small children to accompany her as her “Ingramettes.”

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Soul of the City: Richmond Celebrates D’Angelo
Soul of the City: Richmond Celebrates D’Angelo

In 1974, Richmond gave the world a musical icon. Michael Eugene Archer, known to the world as D’Angelo, was raised in Richmond’s Southside in a deeply musical Pentecostal family surrounded by the rich cultural and musical landscape. Both his father and grandfather were preachers, and by the age of three, his extraordinary musical gifts were already apparent.

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Swanky Kitchen Band
Swanky Kitchen Band

Caymanian kitchen dance music
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands

Swanky Kitchen Band is on a quest to revive the traditional music of the Cayman Islands. Set amidst the blue waters of the Caribbean Sea, the three tiny islands are home to kitchen dance music, an infectiously danceable fiddle-driven style. The kitchen dance sound, created through a crossroads of European and African influences, nearly disappeared save for the efforts of Swanky Kitchen Band, the last of the Caymanian kitchen bands. “Swanky,” as the group is known to its fan base, was founded by fiddler Samuel Rose, at a time when development and societal change nearly ended the genre. The band adds a modern twist to their Caymanian heritage with more contemporary instruments, creating a 10-piece powerhouse dance band.

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Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage SCHEDULE

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 11

FAQs for the Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage at Allianz Amphitheater

The Center for Cultural Vibrancy (CCV) Stage remains at Allianz Amphitheater, where beer and wine will be sold at festival prices and may be carried in and out. A clear bag policy applies.

Entry

  • 5th Street and Brown's Island Way

NEW! Food and Drink

New this year: Food and beverages purchased elsewhere on the Richmond Folk Festival site can now be brought into Allianz Amphitheater.

  • Food and beverages purchased at the festival may be carried into and out of the amphitheater.

  • Beer and wine are also available for purchase inside the amphitheater for $10, consistent with pricing across the festival site.

  • Standard festival alcoholic beverage offerings are available, including beer, wine, and canned cocktails. No mixed drinks are sold.

Bag Policy (Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage at Allianz Amphitheater only)

  • Only clear plastic, vinyl, or PVC bags (maximum size 12" x 6" x 12") or small clutch bags that don't need to be clear (maximum size 6" x 9") are allowed. All bags are subject to search upon entry.

  • The festival will provide a very limited number of clear plastic bags for temporary use.

  • A bag check/valet option is available at each entry for those with full-size bags.

  • Bag check hours: Saturday, October 110, 11:30am–7:00pm, and Sunday, October 11, 11:30am–6:30pm.

Not Permitted

  • Lawn chairs (Center for Cultural Vibrancy Stage at Allianz Amphitheater only — use the 3,000+ GA amphitheater seats instead).

Permitted

  • Strollers

  • Small blankets or beach towels

ABOUT The Center for Cultural Vibrancy

The Center for Cultural Vibrancy creates and cultivates opportunities for cultural connections to support living traditions and energize communities. CCV contributes to a more empathetic world—one where people respect and celebrate one another’s cultural expressions—through sharing traditional arts, customs, and lore that promote cultural exchange, understanding, and honor artistic mastery. To learn more, visit CulturalVibrancy.org.

The Richmond Folk Festival Virginia Folklife Area is co-presented by the Virginia Folklife Program and the Center for Cultural Vibrancy