Mississippi (and neighboring) Blues Festivals in 2007. This list is compiled by members of The Blues Highway Association, a group of volunteers who love and promote the Blues in the Delta. Every effort has been taken to make sure it's accurate, but it's best to check with the contact person, with Mississippi Tourism (1-866-see-miss), The Mississippi Delta Tourism Association (1-877-DELTA-MS), Roger Stolle at Cathead, or The Delta Center before making plans. Remember that definitions and expectations of "Blues" and "Festival" differ, so call the contact person to avoid disappointment! Please send any corrections, additions or deletions to The Delta Center.
Mississippi Blues Festivals in 2007 (updated August 17, 2007)
A full color, 18x24, poster that includes most of the events listed below will be available from The Delta Center very soon. Click here to see the poster for 2005. Click here to see the 2006 poster. And here is the poster for 2007! This year's background art is by Delta artist Carolyn Norris, and it's a bluesfull jook scene. Posters are available for $5 shipping and handling, from the Delta Center.
| NAME OF EVENT |
DATES |
LOCATION |
CONTACT | CONTACT NUMBER |
|
International Blues Challenge The Blues Foundation |
February 1-3 |
Memphis |
Joe Whitmer joe@blues.org |
901.527.2583 http://www.blues.org/index.php4 |
| Mississippi John Hurt Post-Valentine Gala |
February 24 |
Carrollton |
Mary Hurt-Wright |
http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com/ mfhurt_wright@yahoo.com |
| The Blues Today Living Blues Symposium |
February 15-17 |
Oxford |
Mary Beth Lasseter |
662.915.5814 marybet@olemiss.edu http://www.livingblues.com/symposium.php |
| The Millennium Blues Show | March 3 | Greenwood | station WGNL | 662-453-1646 |
| Highway 61 Blues Museum Benefit |
March 9 |
Walnut Street Blues Bar, Greenville | Billy Johnson |
662.686.7646 (HWY 61 Museum) 662-347-4223 (cell) |
| Port Gibson Main Street Heritage |
March 31 |
Port Gibson |
Al Hollingsworth |
601.437.4500 pgmainstreet@yahoo.com http://www.portgibsonmainstreet.com/ |
| The Crossroads Bikers and Blues Festival |
March 31 - April 2 |
Clarksdale |
Doc Bolm |
662.624.2288 www.crossroadsrally.com |
| Juke Joint Festival |
April 14 |
Clarksdale |
Roger Stolle |
662.624.5992 www.jukejointfestival.com |
| 27th Annual Alcorn State Univ. Jazz Festival |
April 14 |
Vicksburg |
Dr. David Miller |
http://www.alcorn.edu/academic/academ/fineart/jazz.htm 601.877.6602 davemilleralcorn@yahoo.com |
| Cat Head mini Blues Festival |
April 15 |
Clarksdale |
Roger Stolle |
662.624.5992 roger@cathead.biz |
| Vicksburg Riverfest |
April 20-21 |
Vicksburg |
http://www.riverfestms.com/ | |
|
Cotton District Arts Festival NEW LISTING |
April 21 | Starkville | Arma D. Salazar | asalazar@starkville.org |
| Natchez Bluff Blues Festival |
April 20-22 |
Natchez |
Eric Glatzer |
601.660.2792 eglatzer@aol.com |
| Crosstie Art And Jazz Festival |
April 21 |
Cleveland |
Mary Elizabeth Jeffries |
662.721.1235 info@crosstie-arts.org http://www.crosstie-arts.org/ |
| Lynch Street Festival |
April 27-28 |
Jackson |
Linda Carter |
601.352.6993 http://www.westjacksoncdc.org/specialprojects.htm |
| Double Decker Arts Festival |
April 28 |
Oxford |
Jennifer Downs |
800.758.9177 tourism@oxfordms.com www.doubledeckerfestival.com |
| 6th Annual Ponderosa Stomp |
May 2 |
New Orleans |
Andria Lisle |
alisle@midsouth.com; drike@knights-maumau.com www.ponderosastomp.com |
| Market Street Festival | May 4-5 | Columbus | Jan Miller |
662-328-6305 http://www.columbusmainstreet.com/marketstreet.html jmiller@columbusmainstreet.com |
| 16th Annual Leland Crawfish Festival |
May 5 |
Leland |
Billy Johnson |
662.686.7646 662-347-4223 |
| The Deep Delta Festival |
May 5 |
Rolling Fork |
Meg Cooper |
662-873-1685 megldp@bellsouth.net |
| Third Annual Robert Johnson Blues Festival |
May 5 |
Crystal Springs |
Steven Johnson |
601.892.1565 robertjohnsonblu@bellsouth.net http://www.robertjohnsonbluesfoundation.org/festival06.html |
| 28th Blues Music Awards |
May 10 |
Memphis |
Jay Sieleman |
901.527.2583 jay@blues.org http://www.blues.org/handys/ |
| Crossroads Blues and Heritage Festival |
May 12 |
Rosedale |
Bill Bateman Will Tierce |
662-759-3841 662-846-2601 |
| Clarksdale Caravan Music Fest |
May 12 NEW LISTING |
Clarksdale | Theo Dasbach | 901-605-8662 |
| Mother's Day Blues Festival |
May 13 |
Laurel |
John Reid |
601.649.3031 jtrproductions@sbcglobal.net |
| Down from the Hills Heritage Music and Folklife Festival |
May 19 |
New Albany |
Union County Heritage Museum |
662.538.0014 jill@ucheritagemuseum.com |
| Summerfest: Fun on 61 |
May 26 |
Hollandale |
662.827.5545 | |
| BB King Homecoming |
June 9, rescheduled from June 1. NOTE DATE CHANGED 3-7-07 |
Indianola |
Beth Lyon | 662.887.4454.or toll free 877.816.7581 |
| Tupelo Elvis Presley Festival |
June 1-3 |
Tupelo |
Debbie Brangenburg |
888.273.7798 http://www.tupeloelvisfestival.com/ |
| Highway 61 Blues Festival |
June 2 |
Leland |
Randy Magee |
mageerc@bellsouth.net http://www.highway61blues.com 662-686-7646 1-800-467-3582 |
| Holly Ridge Jam | June 3 | Holly Ridge | are you kidding? It's a jam | But it will be a good one. |
| Medgar Evers' Homecoming |
June 1-3 |
Pickens |
Renee Shakespeare |
601.201.1445 or WMPR 90.1FM @ 601.948.5835 |
| Bentonia Blues Festival |
June 9 |
Bentonia |
John L. Neidigh |
Bentoniablues.com john@bentoniablues.com |
| Juneteenth |
June 14-16 |
Columbus |
LeRoy Brooks |
662.329.5871 http://www.columbus-ms.org |
| Jubilee! Jam |
June 15-16 |
Jackson |
John Lawrence | 601.353.9800 |
| Music and the Mounds |
June 16 |
Winterville Mounds, Greenville |
Mark Howell | 662.334.4684 |
| Meridian Museum of Art Blues and Barbeque Festival |
June 23 |
Meridian | Terry Heder |
601.693.1501 MeridianMuseum@aol.com |
| North Mississippi Hill Country Blues Festival | June 29-30 | Potts Camp | Sara Davis |
662-801-7272 sarad@olemiss.edu http://www.nmshillcountrypicnic.com/ |
| Historic Mobile Street Renaissance Festival |
June 30 |
Hattiesburg |
Pattie Hall |
Hattiesburg Arts Council council@hattiesburgms.com |
| Delta Yazoo Blues Festival |
July 1 |
Summerfest Park, Yazoo County |
Joseph Thomas |
662-571-1603 662-746-1815, 1-800-381-0662 (Yazoo County Convention and Visitors Bureau) |
| Duck Hill Grassroots Blues Festival |
July 712 noon |
Duck Hill |
Al White |
www.grassrootsblues.com
acwpro@yahoo.com 662 809-7002 662 565-2478 |
| Claiborne County Blues & Cruise Thru History |
July 7 |
Port Gibson |
Edward Carter, Sr. |
601.415.5077 http://www.portgibsononthemississippi.com/welcome.html ejlcsr@yahoo.com |
| Founder's Day | July 12 | Mound Bayou | Mamie Tate | (662) 741.2244 |
| Mississippi John Hurt Gospel & Blues Fest |
July 3-4 |
Avalon |
Mary Hurt-Wright |
http://www.msjohnhurtmuseum.com/ mfhurt_wright@yahoo.com |
| Club Ebony Boozenblues Festival | July 19-22 | Indianola |
Andre Laberge
|
http://www.boozenblues.com/ andre@boozenblues.com |
| Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival |
August 10-12 |
Clarksdale |
Panny Mayfield |
662.624.5648 www.sunflowerfest.org |
|
Blues Bash Lauren Rogers Museum of Art |
August 10 | Laurel |
601 649-6374 www.lrma.org |
|
| Cat Head mini Blues Festival |
August 12 |
Clarksdale |
Roger Stolle | 662.624.5992 |
| Othar Turner Family Picnic |
August 24-25 |
Senatobia |
Betty Turner |
662 562 7606 info@othaturner.com http://www.othaturner.com/ |
| 12th Annual Howlin' Wolf Memorial Blues Festival |
August 31 |
West Point |
Richard Ramsey |
662.494.2921 rramsey@wpms.net http://www.wpnet.org/wolf_festival.htm |
| The Mississippi Jazz and Heritage Festival |
September 1 |
Greenville |
Dr. Ron Myers |
662.247.1471 MyersFound@aol.com |
| Browning Labor Day Festival |
September 1,2,3 -music on Sept. 3 |
Greenwood's Browning Community |
Claudine Brown | 662.453.2225 |
| Farrish Street Heritage Festival |
September 1 |
Jackson |
Alberta Ross-Gibson |
601.948.5667 http://www.farishstreetheritagefestival.com/Welcome.htm ARGIBSON20@aol.com |
| Mississippi Gulf Coast Blues and Heritage Festival |
September 6-8 |
Pascagoula |
Addie Brent | 228-497-5493 |
| Jazz Tribute to the Blues |
September 13 |
Greenville |
Charlotte Brothers | charlotte@thedelta.org |
| Nelson Street/Little Wynn Festival |
September 14 |
Greenville |
Charlotte Brothers | charlotte@thedelta.org |
|
Columbus Jazz and Blues Festival NEW LISTING |
September 28 (dinner gala) and 29 (festival day) | Columbus | Jan Swoope | (662) 328-2787, (662) 242-0860, (662) 549-1358 |
| Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage Festival |
September 15 |
Greenville |
MACE |
662.335.3523 http://www.deltablues.org/MACE/home.html |
| Wing Dang Doodle Festival |
September 29 Date Change |
Forest |
Mandi Arinder | 601-469-4332 |
| 22st Annual Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival |
October 4-6 |
Helena |
Rosie Swan |
870.338.8798 http://www.bluesandheritage.com/ bluesandheritage@sbcglobal.net |
| The Cotton Capital Blues Festival | October 6 | Greenwood | WGNL | 662-453-1646 |
| Cat Head mini Blues Festival |
October 7 |
Clarksdale |
Roger Stolle | 662.624.5992 |
| Pinetop Perkins Homecoming |
October 7 |
Clarksdale |
James Butler |
662.902.3866 http://www.pinetopperkins.com/ |
| Willie Dixon "Wang Dang Doodle" Blues Festival | October 13 | Vicksburg | Vicksburg Blues Society | vicksburgblues@yahoo.com www.digitalmantra.com/vicksburgblues |
| Tommy Johnson Blues Festival |
October 19-20 |
Crystal Springs |
http://www.tommyjohnsonblues.com/index.html | |
| 4th Annual Mississippi Delta Regional Blues Challenge |
November 3 |
Indianola Club Ebony |
Janet Webb | jmwebb@tecinfo.com |
| St. Gabriel Harvest Festival |
November 3
|
Mound Bayou
|
Sister Donald Mary Lynch | 662-741 3255 |