peter mcelhinney

The Richmond Folk Festival is the city’s largest music event, typically drawing 200,000 attendees over its Friday night to Sunday sundown run. This year’s edition features over 30 performers on six stages spread out along and up the hill from the James River. Here are some tips for the newbies out there: Telling people where to go is like suggesting where to start at a massive self-serve smorgasbord. It depends on your taste, and there are no inherently bad choices.

Every October since 2005, the city has become a crossroads for global musical traditions. During the Richmond Folk Festival, Oct. 9-11, more than 30 performing groups will take the spotlight on six stages, surrounded by craft marketplaces, family activities, food trucks and craft beer vendors. “The lineup this year is outrageously good,” says Stephen Lecky, director of events for festival organizer Venture Richmond.

Hometown music legend Lonnie Liston Smith, a keyboardist who has performed with all-time jazz greats such as Pharoah Sanders and Miles Davis, is being honored in two very different Richmond concerts this week. On Thursday, Sept. 10, the Richmond Symphony’s Sound of the City Gala celebrates him in context with a broad view of the city’s music ranging from swing to funk. Then on Sunday, Sept.