Clarksdale Juke Joint Festival
Clarksdale Mississippi holds the Juke Joint Festival every year in April.
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Our first stop was the B. B. King Museum, in Indianola, Mississippi. Plan on spending at least two hours in the museum.
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The next stop was the Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi. From the Blues Trail Marke (slight rewrite on my part)r:
The Blue Front Café opened in 1948 under the ownership of Carey and Mary Holmes, an African American couple from Bentonia. The Blue Front was famed for its buffalo fish, blues, and moonshine whiskey in its heyday. One of the couple’s sons, Jimmy Holmes, took over the café in 1970 and continued to operate it as an informal, down-home blues venue that gained international fame among blues enthusiasts.
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Clarksdale Juke Joint Festival was held in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on April 21 - 24, 2022. This was the first blues festival we have been able to attend since the COVID-19 pandemic occurred.
Time is Relative
What would be a long wait for service in other parts of the country, especially on either the East or West coast, is the standard time in the south and, more specifically, Mississippi. Relax. Take your time. If you are in a hurry, then show up early or chain fast food.
April 21, 2022 (Thursday)
The main festival starts on Saturday, so we used Thursday to explore Clarksdale, MS.
- We had breakfast at Grandma's House of Pancakes in Clarksdale. We had great service, and the food was excellent.
- Clarksdale Juke Joint Street Scenes - 04.21.2022
- Clarksdale Juke Joint Street Musicians - 04.21.2022
- We went to the Delta Blues Museum and plan on spending at least two hours here. No photographs are allowed inside the
- We had lunch at Ground Zero Blues Club in Clarksdale.
- Later we had dinner at Levon's Bar and Grill.
April 22, 2022 (Friday)
We took a day trip on Friday to areas around Clarksdale.
- B. B. King Museum - April 2022
- We were looking for someplace for lunch and decided to ask the B. B. King Museum staff what they recommended. They sent us to Betty's Place. A wonderful dinner in Indianola, which is very close to the museum. Outside was a large smoker that was full of meat being smoked. The menu was down-home southern cooking, and it was excellent.
- Blue Front Cafe - 04.23.2022
- Emmett Till Memorial
April 23, 2022 (Saturday)
Juke Joint Festival day! There are many street stages set up in downtown Clarksdale. Most of the musicians have one-hour sets.
- James "Super Chikan" Johnson
- Garry Burnside - 04.23.2021
- Duwayne Burnside - 04.23.2022
- Jimmy "Duck" Holmes - 04.23.2022
- Watermelon Slim and the Truckers - 04.23.2022
April 24, 2022 (Sunday)
We went back for one last day of music and visiting Clarksdale.
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One of the great things about a festival like the Clarksdale Juke Joint Festival is the street musicians.
