Join Our Folklife Apprenticeship Program
We provide funding for an artist who is considered a master of a tradition to train an apprentice of their choosing. Projects span music, dance, crafts, community storytelling, foodways, and more.

News and Events

Music from the Crooked Road
Join us in celebrating the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Crooked Road, southwest Virginia’s “heritage music trail.”

VPM History Streams Virginia Folklife Films
Starting on October 16, 2023, the new VPM History channel on YouTube began hosting Virginia Folklife Program content. Eight short documentaries produced by Virginia Folklife that profile Apprenticeship Teams will …

Bringing Bristol to the 2023 Richmond Folk Festival
Bristol, Virginia, was in lights this weekend in the Virginia Folklife Area of the 2023 Richmond Folk Festival.

Whether sung or told, hand-crafted or performed, Virginia’s rich folklife refers to the “arts of everyday life” that reflect a sense of traditional knowledge and connection to community.
Virginia’s folkways are rich with traditions that have been rooted in the Commonwealth for centuries, as well as those that more recently have been carried here and nourished by Virginia’s diverse immigrant communities.