Folk Fest fires up friends, family, festival-goers

The scents and sounds of fried food and world music filled the air at the Richmond Folk Festival this weekend. Music lovers packed the area between the James River and Second Street for three days of sun, socializing and sophisticated song.

This year marked the return of the Richmond Folk Festival following the departure of the National Folk Festival, which settles in one city for a three-year span. Along with co-producers Venture Richmond, the National Folk Festival shared the goals of greatly enriching Richmond’s cultural reputation and “enhancing community vitality,” according to the official festival guide.

Featuring 40 performers and seven stages, the festival provided free admission and a wide array of crafts and music from Appalachia and Mexico to Mali and Ireland.

Nukariik performed a mesmerizing set of Inuit throat singing. Using a complex breathing method coupled with rhythmic noises and tones, the two Canadian sisters engaged in a call in response that imitated the sounds of nature, from chirping crickets and buzzing mosquitoes to harmonious winds and rivers.

Kellie Brown, a psychology major, enjoyed the exchange between the sisters.

“I love this,” Brown said. “You can tell they have a tight, sisterly bond.”

Philadelphia native Howard Tate brought his rugged, soulful style of R&B to various stages Friday and Saturday. Jazz studies alumni Rick Rieger on baritone saxophone and Reginald Pace on trombone formed part of Tate’s funky horn section. Tate’s songs were laden with burning spirituality-a clear effect of the tragedies that have driven him to become the fiery performer he is today.

Malian blues guitarist Vieux Farka Touré stirred the souls of his listeners with the tradition and technique of his late legendary father, Ali Farka Tour