With sunshine and warm feelings, Folk Festival wraps up

Music was in the air, moving like a wave along downtown Richmond’s riverfront. It didn’t matter the style, just the beat that flowed from the musicians to the crowd.

Swaying hips, clapping hands and stamping feet — the final day of the Richmond Folk Festival was a moving event for the tens of thousands in attendance.

There was not a cloud in the sky as the sun beat down on the crowds gathered at various stages spread from Second Street to Brown’s Island and points in-between.

As the festival wound to a close this evening, organizers were pleased with the turnout at the three-day event that drew the largest crowd (more than 190,000) and most on-site donations ever (more than $72,000) at the three-year-old event and or the three-year National Folk Festival that preceded it.

Erin Waldoch was one of 1,300 volunteers assisting with the Folk Festival this year. As a member of the bucket brigade, which collects donations throughout the venue to keep the event free, Waldoch stopped briefly to enjoy the traditional Balkan string band music of tamburitza group Otrov, which means poison in English.

She danced along with the beat of songs the group played, all the while a hula-hoop spun around her body. Waldoch is a member of the local group RVA Hoop Lovers.

“We’re just a bunch of people that share the same common love for hula-hooping. We turned what used to be something we grew up with into a dance,” she said.

But as she was moved by the music, so too were others. Waldoch, who also collected donations Friday night, said she was impressed with the people that came out for the Folk Festival.

“The crowd had a lot of energy and the donations were great,” she said. “Everyone seemed to have an amazing attitude.”

If there was one thing present at a mid-afternoon performance by the Iranian group Ensemble Shanbehzadeh — a trio led by Saeid Shanbehzadeh — it was energy. Shanbehzadeh, who is a master of the neyanban, was joined on stage by his son, Naghid, on the tombak and Habib Meftah Boushehri on other percussion instruments.

“We’re pleased to give you the music of our people, not our government, and share our message of peace and love,” Saeid Shanbehzadeh said after the group’s electrifying 45-minute performance. “We love people all over the world.”

As he led the trio through the musical culture of his homeland Bushehr, in southwestern Iran, his energy bled over into the crowd. Traci Johnson of Richmond stood on a hill and danced along with the music. Others moved along with the beat as well.

It was Johnson’s second time listening to Ensemble Shanbehzadeh and she hoped to buy their CD afterward. After seeing the group Saturday, she just had to seem them again.

“I could feel his passion for the music and his suffering for the things going on in his country,” said Johnson, who attended all three days of the Folk Festival. “I love music. I love dance. Anything that inspires the soul and the spirit.”

Not all the action was on the six performance venues scattered throughout downtown Richmond. The Genworth Financial Family Area was a big draw for many with its offering of games and crafts.

John Radgowski and his wife, Jennifer, played the French activity game of graces — the object is to catch a wooden hoop that is sent flying into the air by two rods — with their two children, 5-year-old Emmett and 3-year-old Libbie. The second performance of the day by Otrov played in the background.

The Radgowskis have attended the Folk Festival since its inception and have plans to keep coming back.

“We spent a lot of time in the children area with the crafts,” said John Radgowski. “The fact there is something for [the children] to do as well is a big reason we come.”

Lance Barton was making his first visit to the folk festival, albeit as a vendor. Barton, of Deltaville, is an employee of Latell Sailmakers, a company that makes traditional and modern boat sails.

“The thing I like about down here, it’s not hardcore selling,” Barton said. “We’re down here to tell people about traditional sailmaking, which is very rare in the United States, let alone Virginia.”

But just because he’s informing the public about the company does not mean he’s stuck in the tent at all times. He had time to listen to different performances. His said his favorite group of the festival was Ensemble Shanbehzadeh.