The idea of creating a museum of folk culture in the Belgorod region, known for its singing and folklore traditions and having preserved examples of traditional clothing, belongs to Andrey Vladimirovich Kulabukhov, who led the regional culture department for over 20 years.

In April 1997, at the suggestion of the regional culture department, a team was formed to create a new museum, the Museum of Folk Culture of the Belgorod Center for Folk Art. For this purpose, in May 1996, a building of the former club "Stroitel" was allocated.

The premises were in disrepair and required significant investment for reconstruction. All available financial instruments at that time were used to pay for repair work and create the exhibition: mutual offsets, promissory notes, and support from local residents.

Alongside the building reconstruction, active scientific and research work was underway. The collections of traditional peasant clothing gathered by the Belgorod State Center for Folk Art were insufficient for a full exhibition. Exhibits reflecting the entire history of folk culture were needed. The regional administration allocated funds for business trips and expeditions to purchase both antique items and works by contemporary masters of decorative and applied arts.

The first director of the museum was Nadezhda Ivanovna Shaternikova, a Honored Worker of Culture. In 1998, Moscow artists and designers were invited to design the exhibition, and together with the museum's scientific staff, they completed the work in record time, working 20 hours a day.

The grand opening of the museum took place on May 29, 1999. In the following years, work was actively carried out to replenish the collection of folk culture items, and now the fund includes over 23,000 items.

On November 19, 2004, a resolution by the Belgorod regional government was adopted to establish the Belgorod State Museum of Folk Culture.

In 2010, the museum received a new building for operational management, a monument of architecture located at 61 Grazhdansky Avenue. In 2015, by the decision of the Governor of Belgorod region, restoration work began.

The history of this building is closely linked to culture and art. It housed one of the first cinemas, "Orion," a city theater, a cultural education institution, and an art museum. The hall remembers the first film screenings, gymnasium balls, charity evenings, and revolutionary-agitation performances. Great Russian actors such as Igor Ilyinsky, Vera Maretskaya, Rina Zelena, Alla Tarasova, Klavdiya Shulzhenko, and others performed here.

In January 2015, Elena Viktorovna Spiridonova became the director of the museum, marking the beginning of a new stage in the institution's life. Work was to be done to create an exhibition in the new building. Artists from St. Petersburg, Oleg Nikolaev and Maria Korosteleva, were invited to develop the artistic project. The project, executed by the "ArtTerra" bureau, was approved in 2016, and meticulous work began on the installation of the exhibition on two floors of the building.

At the same time, work was underway to relocate the museum to the new building. First, the museum's collections were moved, and then the staff began to explore the new territories.

Due to the specifics of the exhibition layout, the opening took place in two stages. In December 2018, the third floor was opened with sections "Street of the County Town" and "House in Old Belgorod." In 2019, the presentation of the new exhibition "World of Folk Culture" took place on the second floor.