The Upcoming Mississippi Blues Festivals in 2022
“I am fascinated by the places that music comes from…like fife-and-drum blues from southern Mississippi…I love that stuff. It’s like the beginning of rock and roll. Something comes up from the delta.”
– Robbie Robertson
Robbie says it best. There’s something special about Mississippi blues music straight from the blues singers of the delta area.
If your soul is hungry for some live blues music, then 2022 will not disappoint. Here are some of the hottest venues just in time for the end of summer.
Mississippi Delta Blues & Heritage Festival
Let’s start with the granddaddy of all blues festivals, the world’s longest continuously running festival, Mississippi Delta Blues and Heritage, which opens September 17 at the Washington County Convention Center Fairgrounds, just outside of Greenville, MS.
The 45th annual show will feature musical acts by Bobby Rush, Willie Clayton, Jaye Hammer, O. B. Buchana, Sweet Angel, and Nathaniel Kimble, Eric Huges, Keith Johnson, and others. The gates open at 10 AM but the festival doesn’t start until 12 PM. The festival has a nice mix of blues as well as gospel music.
Expect about 30,000 people, four stages, and over 40 food booths to keep you cool at the festival many consider to be “Home of the Blues.”
Appreciating True Mississippi Delta Blues
While there are always blues acts touring around the country at any given time, Mississippi delta blues holds a special place in our hearts. The “delta” area is the most fertile plain area between the Mississippi and Yazoo Rivers and that also happens to be the creatively fertile area that brought us many of the greatest blues performers of all time.
Early “Delta Blues” is where much of our modern music got its start, as it later influenced rock and roll, pop, rap, and other musical genres. Many say that touring the Mississippi delta area, and seeing the same sites and sounds that inspired many musicians of the old days, is inspiring.
You can read more about how the blues evolved from the pre-Civil War era to what we know today by reading the history of Mississippi Delta Blues music at Mississippi’s top tourist site.
Why not make your plans today to be part of the Mississippi blues music scene in 2022?
Other Mississippi Blues Fests
While Mississippi may be the home of the blues, blues music festivals are all over the national map. Blues Rock Review covers festivals all over the country, such as our recent Waterfront Blues Festival, and even the upcoming Mississippi Valley Blues Society event, Blues Fest 2022.
Blues Fest hits Davenport, Iowa on September 16th and 17th at the historic LeClaire Park. Musical acts include Joe Louis Walker, Sue Foley, Kevin Burt, and Big Medicine, and Billy Ranch and Sons of the Blues.
The Blues & Soul Super Bowl hits Natchez, MS on Friday the 7th, while the Mighty Roots Music Festival tours in Clarksdale, MS from September 23-25, and the Biloxi Bay BBQ & Blues Festival 2022 hits Biloxi Bay RV Resort and Marina on November 5th. The 11th Annual Oxford Blues Festival will be in Oxford, MS from October 6-9.
Deep Blues in October 2022
You don’t have to be deep in the delta to enjoy Mississippi blues – even though it helps! After all, that other “Big” Mississippi attraction this year is the Deep Blues Festival, held in Clarksdale, MS from October 13-16.
While most people will come to hear Jon Spencer & The HITmakers, we’re also going to be treated to some of the most brilliant new blues artists like Rachel Ammons, Robert Kimbrough Sr., the Wilkins Sisters, and Buffalo Nichols. Check out what people are saying about these new artists at the official Deep Blues website.