The Blue Ridge Institute & Farm Museum, the official State Center for Blue Ridge Folklore, highlights the folk traditions of western Virginia, old and new. The Blue Ridge Institute & Museum was created in 1973 by Ferrum College to document, interpret, and present the folk heritage of the Blue Ridge region. The BRIM galleries explore folklife’s many facets – music, crafts, foodways, decorative arts and more – through rotating exhibitions. The Institute’s Blue Ridge Farm Museum re-creates life on a Virginia-German farmstead in the year 1800 with costumed interpretation, heirloom gardens, historic breeds of livestock, and unique hands-on activities. The museum store offers hard-to-find authentic folk crafts from Virginia and Appalachia. Some 40,000 people look forward every year to the fourth Saturday in October when the Blue Ridge Folklife Festival puts authentic craft, music, and events like draft horse working and coon-dog racing on display.
Hours: Monday-Saturday 10:00 am-4:00 pm
