TICKETS
A three-day ticket to the 31st annual King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena-West Helena is $75. Single-day tickets are $30 apiece. Children under 6 get in free with a paying adult. Tickets are available via kingbiscuitfestival.com/tickets or at the festival.
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SCHEDULE
The festival starts with Warm-Up Wednesday, a Bobby Rush Appreciation Day and Slim Chickens Pickin' Party. The festivities are 2-4 p.m. at Southbound Pizza in downtown Helena-West Helena with a Rush meet-and-greet. The Michael Burks Memorial Jam will follow on the Main Stage from 3-7:30 p.m. Rush will perform on the Main Stage starting at 8 p.m.
Both single-day and three-day tickets include admission to Wednesday's music. Tickets for this event only are $10.
The music starts at noon Thursday with Mississippi Bigfoot on the Main Stage. Later, headliner Sonny Landreth and special guest Roy Rogers perform at 8:30 p.m. on the Main Stage. On Friday the music starts at 9 a.m. and headliner John Mayall performs at 8:30 p.m. on the Main Stage. The music begins again at 9 a.m. Saturday, with headliner Charlie Musselwhite taking the Main Stage at 8:30 p.m.
The three days of music includes more than 60 acts playing on five stages. Most of the music is free. Only the Main Stage performances require a ticket.
SHUTTLE SERVICE
Free shuttles will run from the Isle of Capri in Lula, Miss., to the festival from 6 p.m. to midnight Thursday, and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday.
BEYOND THE BLUES
The King Biscuit Blues Festival includes blues from Wednesday afternoon until late Saturday night, but the festival is not all about music.
The Flour Power Run in Memory of Kenneth Freemyer, held in honor of the race director of the run who was killed in a car wreck in 2000, is a 5K (with 10K option) that starts at 8 a.m. Saturday. The race, a benefit for Freeman Playground, is along the mighty Mississippi River and through historic downtown Helena-West Helena.
To register and for more information, visit kennethfreemyer.racesonline.com.
The King Biscuit Blues Festival presents its sixth annual "Call and Response, The Blues Symposium" at the Malco Theater on Cherry Street in downtown Helena-West Helena on Saturday. The event features blues artists talking about their craft.
Part One is 10:45-11:45 a.m. with moderator Roger Stolle, owner of Cat Head Delta Blues & Folk Art store in Clarksdale, Miss. Part Two is noon-1 p.m. with Don Wilcock, a blues journalist with nearly 50 years of experience.
BBQ & Blues on the Levee, a Kansas City Barbeque Society sponsored cook-off, is Saturday during the festival along two blocks of Walnut Street. The competition includes $6,000 in prizes in categories such as chicken, pork ribs and beef brisket. Some teams will take part in the People's Choice Contest.
Style on 10/02/2016