The Library of Virginia and the Virginia Folklife Program of Virginia Humanities will present a free two-day celebration featuring documentary screenings, live music and more to highlight Virginia’s diverse and evolving folklife heritage. “A Celebration of Virginia Folklife” will take place July 7 and 8 at the library as part of its yearlong 200th anniversary celebration.

Artists to be honored are:

• Joshua Purnell of Norfolk, who is working to revive Tidewater’s tradition of community Blues Dancing;

• D. Brad Hatch, who has trained fellow Patawomeck tribal members David Onks IV and Reagan Andersen to weave eel pots in Fredericksburg;

• Kazem Davoudian and Alexander Sabet, whose Washington, D.C.-based apprenticeship centered on the tar, an Iranian long-necked string instrument;

• Isha M. Renta Lopez of Fredericksburg, who trained with one of the leaders in Bomba dance, Margarita Tata Cepeda of San Juan, Puerto Rico;

• Bernadette “B.J.” Lark of Roanoke, who is mentoring Alanjha Harris in the Gullah Geechee gospel traditions;

The celebration begins Friday, July 7, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., with a reception, short screenings of apprenticeship documentaries and a stage program honoring teams in the Virginia Folklife Program’s 2022-2023 apprenticeship program.

Registration is required for Friday’s event at https://lva-virginia.libcal.com/event/10720875.

The celebration continues Saturday, July 8, from noon to 4 p.m. with performances, displays and family activities highlighting old and new Virginia musical traditions, including blues, fid- dling, shape-note singing and more. Performers include Kandencia, a Richmond-based Bomba and Plena band dedicated to playing, promoting and preserving Afro-Puerto Rican music (and featuring 2023-2024 Folklife Apprentice Maurice Sanabria); Eddie Bond, an old-time fiddler from Fries, Va., and a 2018 National Endowment for the Arts. National Heritage Fellow; and The Richmond Shape-Note Singers, a group of community members who gather to sing early

American music in the shape-note tradition. The library will also display rare items from its music collections and documentary films featuring Virginia Folklife Apprenticeship teams. Children’s activities will include drawing and coloring projects based on musical themes, crafting with quilt squares, and building a didley bow (a simple, one-stringed instrument).

Kids will also enjoy an instrument petting zoo where they can experience everything from ukuleles to mountain dulcimers.

Free limited parking is available in the library’s garage, which can be accessed from 8th and 9th streets. For more information, visit lva.virginia.gov/200