Bon Secours Training Center (Richmond, VA)
08/26/23 - 08/27/23
The city of Richmond was taken over with a lovely weekend of dreamy folk-pop music at Iron Blossom Festival. The inaugural event took place the weekend of August 26th and has left its mark as a truly impressive weekend with a stacked line up for both days, two stages, multiple food vendors, a ferris wheel, and more.
Day one kicked off with artists Mipso, Briscoe, and Rayland Baxter. With two stages – the Iron Stage and the Blossom Stage – the sets were back-to-back, with the crowd staying until the very last minute of one set, and then immediately running to the other side of the field. Josiah & The Bonnevilles swayed the crowd with his hit song, “Ghost,” which has 13 million streams on Spotify alone. His set was followed by Devon Gilfillian, a soulful blues-inspired artist, and Trousdale, a female folk trio who smiled all throughout their whole performance. Alternative-indie singer Faye Webster then took the stage to perform her sweet hits including “Kingston” and “I Know I’m Funny haha.” Colony House, Lord Huron, and Celisse put on great performances as the sun set until Noah Kahan closed out the night, marking his first ever headlining music festival.
The crowd was just as energized for the second day of the 2-day festival, ready to experience another day full of new music. Sunday’s lineup started with The Legendary Ingramettes, an African-American gospel quintet local to Richmond, followed by Angelica Garcia, last-minute addition Rett Madison, alternative-indie retro band The Heavy Heavy, and Matthew E White. Indie-rock singer, songwriter, and pianist Neal Francis took the stage, followed by Son Little. As the sun set, pop-country artist Elle King performed her hit songs like “Ex’s & Oh’s” from her 2015 album Love Stuff, followed by singer-songwriter Amythyst Kiah. Closing out the weekend was the beloved Hozier, who brought Noah Kahan back out to perform fan-favorite “Work Song” together for the crowd of over 12,000 people.
