Get ready for the Richmond Folk Festival

There's no escaping it. In less than a week, you'll be faced with the problem of trying to decide which of the Richmond Folk Festival's 23 performance groups to hear - and still have time for attending workshops, watching demonstrations, shopping, playing in the family area, and, of course, eating.

When all the choices are so enticing, sometimes you can only spin the wheel and let fortune fall where it may. In the case of the folk festival, it's truly a wheel of good fortune, and anything you land on is going to be a winner.

However, we've sorted your options into various categories - think of them as prize packages - to give you a place to start. Hey, we'll even give you all the vowels.

Dance

Sooner or later, your spin will land you here. "You always have a rockin' dance tent," said Josh Kohn said of the Richmond Folk Festival. Kohn, programming manager at the National Council for the Traditional Arts, worked with the local committee to select and book performers. "This year, it's off the charts," he said, adding that the three most "intense" acts are Boukman Eksperyans, Rare Essence and La Excelencia.

Boukman Eksperyans: This band is the cornerstone of Haitian roots music, using elements of rock, reggae and West African drumming. At a programming meeting in January right after the earthquake in Haiti, Richmond festival planners told Kohn they wanted to have a group from Haiti on the schedule. Boukman Eksperyans fits the bill in an epic way.

Rare Essence: Not every city can handle the big rhythms of go-go music. Richmond has proved its groove, and as a reward, this year we get one of the legends of the genre from Washington. "They're playing better than ever," Kohn said.

La Excelencia: This salsa dura band from New York - wait, you need a translation of salsa dura? That would be "hard-core salsa." And that translates into brass with an attitude, beats with muscle, and lyrics that don't back away from social issues. La Excelencia "is probably one of the best live groups in the country right now," Kohn said.

Los Texmaniacs: This ensemble raises serious questions, such as, "How do I dance without spilling my drink?" and "How did that armadillo get here?" Prepare to feel like a Texan from the first strains of the button accordion and 12-stringed bajo sexto to the last endearing vocal harmonies. Leader Max Baca has appeared frequently on national television and participated in numerous Grammy-winning albums.

BonSoir, Catin: When a band gets its start around an all-night campfire, you know it's going to be dedicated to making the good times roll. And when the accordion player is also an archivist and folklorist from Louisiana, you know the Cajun music is the real deal.

Lil' Ed & The Blues Imperials: If I told you that Lil' Ed has albums titled "Get Wild!" "Roughhousin'" and "Full Tilt," would you believe me when I say you will not be able to sit still when you hear his band?

Travel

All right, so these performers have traveled across the world to see you, not the other way around. But that's much easier than sending 175,000 Virginians to, say, Siberia.

Sibirskaya Vechora: If you attend this performance, you will be one of the relatively few English-speakers who know that the hurdy-gurdy is actually a type of fiddle, not an organ-in-a-box. You'll probably learn many other things, but mostly you'll fall in love with the wildly gorgeous music of this ensemble from Siberia.

Lúnasa: No matter where in the world Lúnasa plays - and it has played nearly everywhere - audiences begin fantasizing about booking a trip to the Emerald Isle, and not the one in North Carolina. Its focus on the underlying rhythms of the music distinguishes this band from other Irish acoustic groups, yet melodically it's top-notch too.

Ensemble Shanbehzadeh: When you hear the neyanban, an Iranian bagpipe, and the drums, flute and unrestrained voices of Ensemble Shanbehzadeh, it's as if you're standing by the water in the city of Bushehr, feeling the wind from the Persian Gulf, which over the centuries has brought musicians from India, Africa and the Arab Peninsula. These musical influences, combined with Sufi traditions, create a sound unique to that spot in the world.

Benedicte Maurseth: With four or five extra strings for resonance, the Hardanger fiddle has a bright, wild sound even on slow melodies. Maurseth, Norway's 2007 Young Folk Musician of the Year, channels the fjords and forests of her home.

Andes Manta: So you've heard the Andean panpipe, but have you heard the 6-foot-long panpipe and 34 other traditional South American instruments? The four Lopez brothers will make sure you have.

Otrov: When traditional tamburitza string band music from the Balkans migrates to the American Upper Midwest and then is played by a bunch of guys who met in Pittsburgh, you get Otrov. And a sudden urge to kick up your heels.

Zakir Hussain: The world's most famous tabla player will realign your understanding of the drum as a percussion instrument. Under Zakir's hands, the North Indian double drum is both melodic and rhythmic. Note: Zakir Hussain performs Friday night only.

Relax

Nobody ever said that going to the folk festival would be relaxing. There's no music that can really be called mellow. But now and then, it's good to sit back and simply absorb the skill and passion of the performers.

Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band: For 45 years, Peter Rowan has been invoking that high lonesome state of mind with the likes of Bill Monroe and Jerry Garcia. Let the pure mountain sound wash you clean.

Tony Rice: The flatpicker extraordinaire brings his guitar for some solo work, and he'll also team up with Peter Rowan for some sets.

Donald Harrison & The Congo Square Nation: Congo Square, a New Orleans landmark where enslaved people would gather to make music and to dance, represents the coming together of many cultural traditions. Likewise, Donald Harrison skips across the boundaries of jazz, swing, R&B and hip-hop.

Capoeira Luanda: With roots in Afro-Brazilian history, Capoeira Luanda fuses acrobatics, dance and martial arts. Its practitioners say they "play Capoeira," which is a clue to the corporeal joy you'll sense when you watch the New York-based Capoeira Luanda.

No BS! Brass Band: Think about the word "brazen" for a moment. Then think about a brass band that calls itself No BS! Part two of your etymology lesson will be delivered live at the festival by Richmond's shiniest, most audacious brass band.

Dr. Harold Lilly: As moving as gospel music is, somehow the addition of a Hammond B-3 organ makes it even more thrilling. Some Richmonders have always known that organist Dr. Lilly is a city treasure; now thousands more will experience the glory.

Explore

Kohn, of the National Council for the Traditional Arts, says the Richmond Folk Festival always includes several deep American traditions. "This year, it's going even deeper than in the past" to explore old-time music, he said. Come along and make some discoveries.

Fiddle Journeys: 400 Years of Tune Migration: Four of the nation's finest fiddlers track songs across the Atlantic Ocean from their European beginnings to incarnations in Appalachia, the Midwest, Texas and elsewhere.

Sand Mountain Sacred Harp Singers: This group from northeastern Alabama has "a long line of continuity" in the Southern shape-note singing tradition, said Kohn. Besides stage performances, the group will lead open sings, with extra "Sacred Harp" hymnals available for anyone who wants to join in.

Deke Dickerson & The Ecco-fonics with Daryl Davis: Head straight down Rock Road, turn left on Blues Boulevard (you'll pass a jazz joint), take a right on Soul Street, and you'll arrive at this performance. Dickerson is a master guitarist and roots music historian; Davis, who has toured with Chuck Berry, plays piano like nobody's business.

Virginia Rocks! Billed as a "Rockabilly Reunion" featuring Deke Dickerson, The Dazzlers and other guests, this act comes in two forms. One is performance-centered, and the other will include stories and demonstrations from the musicians.

Angela Lehman-Rios can be contacted at angelalehmanrios@yahoo.com.