The Beale Street Music Festival - Beale Street Memphis

It's the Mardi Gras of the Mid-South!

Just look what CNN Says about it! "Take Memphis' Beale Street Music Festival. It was in Memphis in 1901 that musician W.C. Handy wrote the first blues song. Some 40 years later, an aspiring young musician by the name of Elvis Presley spent his teenage years at the blues bars dotting Beale Street, soaking in the unmistakable tunes of the city.

Today, the festival that celebrates the legacy of its home city has metamorphosed into one of the country's premier blues fests. The Beale Street Music Festival packs more talent into three days than many of us could otherwise see in a lifetime."

Over 60 acts on 4 stages in scenic Tom Lee Park

Past performers include these legends: Iggy & The Stooges, Jerry Lee Lewis, Daughtry, B.B. King, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Ray Charles, Beck, Van Morrison, ZZ Top, Al Green, Dave Matthew's Band, John Lee Hooker, Sammy Haggar, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Styx, Charlie Daniels, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Kansas, Cheap Trick, Creed, Collective Soul, Peter Frampton, Sheryl Crow, Booker T & the MG's, Ablert King, Widespread Panic, Etta James, Bob Dylan, James Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Wilson Pickett, Hootie and the Blowfish, James Cotton, Blues Traveler, Bobby Blue Bland, Black Crowes, Ziggy Marley, the Allman Brothers Band, The Offspring, Saliva, Puddle Of Mud, Tom Petty and many more.

The Beale Street Music Festival has grown into one of the largest parties in the United States, drawing people from all over the country to come experience a celebration of the birth of an expressive art form that materialised as the music known as the Blues. Gritty, raw, and full of emotion; Beale Street symbolises everything that the Blues was born from. Like a mother rearing its young, the Blues took shape from its surroundings and became one of the most expressive musical outlets today. You cannot appreciate music without understanding the roots of the Blues, and you cannot appreciate the Blues without visiting the place where it was born: Beale Street, Memphis.

Visiting Beale Street during this exciting celebration is a way to both rejoice and enjoy music. The festival features dozens of A-List musical acts who perform over the course of three days on four different stages at Tom Lee park. Unlike most concerts, you can come and go as you please after entering so that you can enjoy the music of the festival and the party that takes place on Beale Street without worrying about not being readmitted. If you want to experience the local talent of Memphis, you can see many performers up and down Beale Street who put on wonderful shows for the price of a mere dollar or two in tips from the spectators. Many of the eating and drinking establishments along Beale Street feature local musical acts as well to entertain guests as they dine and drink.

Speaking of the food at Beale Street, you can hardly find any better anywhere else. Pig on Beale offers genuine Memphis BBQ, which is unlike anything you've ever tasted before. Smokey and delicious, seasoned and spicy; Memphis BBQ is unique, tender, and mouth-watering. The World Championship BBQ Cook-off is held in Memphis every year for one reason: no one does BBQ like Memphians. The World Famous Dyer's Burgers is also on Beale Street, where you can get your daily dose of vitamin "G" with their scrumptious fried burgers. The secret to the flavor of their food lies in the grease they cook with, which is the very same grease they've had since the restaurant was founded in 1912. Strained daily, the frying grease holds in the flavor of the meat and passes it along to every burger made. If you savor more sophisticated fare, try Texas De Brazil just off of Beale where you can enjoy an endless array of delicious meats that are served to your table by the "Gauchos" who will not stop until you beg for mercy. Anything you may desire can be found on Beale Street during the festival, so your discerning palate will never go wanting.

The drinks on Beale Street are in excess and available right on the sidewalk during the Music Festival. Syringes of Jello Shooters are hawked every few feet by beautiful girls, and Beale Street's "Big Ass Beers" are everywhere. Silky O' Sullivan's is a popular spot, featuring their massive drink called "The Diver" which is served in a bucket with an abundance of straws so that everyone in your party can enjoy the potent brew. The name comes from a famous Silky O' Sullivan saying: "If you drink one, you're guaranteed to go down!" Wet Willy's lies at the far end of Beale next to Dyer's Burgers, where you can buy any frozen concoction that you can imagine to help fend away the early summer heat. I suggest a beverage called the "Call a Cab", which is one of the more delicious (and potent) drinks you can buy on Beale.

When you visit, prepare yourself for a variety of outlandish characters that you'll run across on your trips up and down Beale Street. The party seems to bring out the loud and proud from every nook and cranny, and you'll see them all in their sublime glory along the street. Perhaps it is a desire to make themselves the center of attention, or merely a means to spend one weekend out of the year in joyous celebration. Whatever the case may be, these individuals appear in droves and contribute their own specialized form of celebration. Fixtures that seem to show every year include the charismatic "Pimp Daddy" who poses for every photo opportunity that comes his way, especially if it involves the ladies. Maybe you'll see the young man who hands out "Free Advice", which is usually fairly good. Athletic men flipping down Beale Street in acrobatic displays of skill and leprechauns dressed in green dot the thoroughfare. Jugglers, singers, and bead-throwers all join the mix to form a motley crew of joyful partiers.
Perhaps you'll even find a way to stand out from the crowd next year! Don't be afraid! It's Beale Street, where (almost) anything goes!

Check out the 2009 Beale Street Music Festival schedule for the list of live entertainment, events and Acts performing at The Beale Street Music Festival in 2009.

You Haven't Been To Beale Street, Till You've been To The Beale Street Music Festival!

WHY WAIT? GET YOUR BEALE STREET T-SHIRTS NOW!

BEALE STREET DRINKING TEAM	.......	BEALE STREET MEMPHIS T-SHIRT	........	BEALE STREET BLUES	........	I PARTIED ON BEALE STREET	........	BEALE STREET BLUES N BOOZE
BLUES & BREWS BEALE STREET		I GOT MUGGED BEALE STREET		I GOT BEALE FACED ON SHIT STREET		I LOVE THE BLUES BEALE STREET		BEALE STREET SMOKING TEAM
WASTED ON BEALE		BEALE STREET WASTED YEARS		BEALE STREET WHERE JIMMY BLUES MET JOHNNY ROCK!		THE BLUES BEALE STREET		RHYTHM & BOOZE BEALE STREET