Yesterday was the perfect day for the National Folk Festival. In my house, the whole gang went. We started at the Dominion Stage (overlooking the river) and heard a wee bit of bluegrass while we ate our lunch. Then we headed over to the children’s area to see some Indian Dance instruction, make cardboard wings and a beak for the parade (which we never made it to) and get some harmonica lessons. Phil Wiggins did a great job with the kids. As you can imagine handing out 100 harmonicas to anxious crowd would present it’s own problems, but instructing 100 kids on how to use the harmonica all at the same time was even harder. Eventually, believe it or now, he was able to get most of the 100 children to play together. (The children’s harmonica lesson is repeated today at 2:45 in the Children’s Area at the Parawing Stage up the hill, make sure you get there early to get one of the free 100 harmonicas).

One of the favorite bands that we saw was Vishten an Acadian band also incorporating Irish and Scottish styles. Parking was not a problem, and while there were lots of people there, it wasn’t a mob scene. Some advice: bring your own chair (we actually we sitting on the ground and had someone set up their chair directly in front of us so we couldn’t see!), find some shade, or bring a hat — it can get really hot in the sun, and dress in layers, because before you knew it we were cold again. Also, bring a picnic, or plenty of cash to buy some, because you will want to stay longer than you planned.

Although this is the last of 3 years for the National Folk Festival here in Richmond, the good news is that next year, Richmond will start its own similar festival, The Richmond Folk Festival.