This April 13^th through 15^th, the 9^th annual Juke Joint Festival will be held in Clarksdale, MS. What is the Juke Joint Festival? It’s a positive event for everyone in Clarksdale. It’s good for families, businesses, musicians and tourists alike. The festival itself combines an international “blues festival” with a community-minded “small-town fair,” creating a strong and memorable event like no other in the universe. It’s organized by the Clarksdale Downtown Development Association (CDDA) and staffed by enthusiastic volunteers. This “half small-town fair, half blues festival” does more than simply entertain attendees -- though it definitely does that, too! It aims to educate and enlighten native Deltans and blues tourists alike through a series of performances, exhibits, and presentations involving music, art, storytelling, film, and children’s events. The event mixes visitors with locals and showcases the economic power of cultural tourism, turning average Deltans into ambassadors for the region. 

Clarksdale is just 90 minutes south of the Memphis International Airport and was once home to such blues greats as: Son House, John Lee Hooker, Junior Parker, Ike Turner, Muddy Waters, Pinetop Perkins, Earl Hooker, Lil Green, Big Jack Johnson and many many others.  This year’s festival is dedicated to Delta blues legend David "Honeyboy" Edwards was a regular performer at Juke Joint Festival.  He passed away on August 29, 2011 at 96 years old.

A family-friendly event, the festival also provides a bus service at night to discourage drinking and driving between music venues. All daytime Saturday events are all FREE while nighttime Saturday events all come for the price of a cheap, $15 wristband (which gets you unlimited rides on the blues shuttle bus and entry to almost 20 nighttime 'juke joint' venues). For more information, event listing and pictures from past festivals go to www.jukejointfestival.com

Or go to http://visitclarksdale.com/ for more information on Clarksdale itself.