{"id":110299,"date":"2021-04-08T06:42:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-08T11:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/?p=110299"},"modified":"2021-04-07T22:00:06","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T03:00:06","slug":"mississippi-juke-joint-festival-returns-to-clarksdale","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/mississippi-juke-joint-festival-returns-to-clarksdale\/","title":{"rendered":"Mississippi\u2019s Juke Joint Festival Returns to Clarksdale April 15\u201318"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While most other music festivals in Mississippi<\/strong>, Arkansas<\/strong>, Tennessee<\/strong>, and Louisiana<\/strong> have cancelled for spring or moved to fall, Clarksdale\u2019s \u201cpandemic-ly modified\u201d Juke Joint Festival<\/strong> remains ready to rock the weekend of April 17, 2021<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJuke Joint Festival is back, y\u2019all\u2014a little smaller and a little more outdoors,\u201d according to Roger Stolle,<\/strong> Juke Joint Festival co-founder. \u201cGot Mask? Then, Clarksdale\u2019s Juke Joint Festival is on! Check it out at jukejointfestival.com<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the nonprofit event\u2019s organizers, hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars have been spent to create a fun weekend that keeps everyone\u2019s health in mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThanks to our loyal music fans, Clarksdale has kept live blues going on a daily basis throughout the pandemic \u2014 sometimes in-person, always online,\u201d said Stolle. \u201cHow do we do this? We clean up, mask up, and socially distance. We do events outdoors when we can and take precautions indoors when we can\u2019t. And we use live-streaming to fill in the blanks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the global pandemic struck last spring, the 2020 Juke Joint Festival quickly switched gears and moved online with a then-unprecedented 9-hour 27-act live-stream labeled the \u201cVirtual Juke Joint Festival Celebration.\u201d It featured blues acts performing in front of laptops and smartphones, from the town of Clarksdale to the country of Colombia.
This year? Organizers knew it was time to go public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFolks are tired of staying home. They want to see some live music and experience our little historic downtown,\u201d explained Nan Hughes<\/strong>, another festival organizer. \u201cWe\u2019re just asking for their help to make this a super-positive weekend that puts business back into the businesses, safely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This year\u2019s Juke Joint Festival & Related Events run Thursday through Sunday, April 15\u201318, with the main activities on Saturday. The festival is letting potential attendees know up front that organizers (with support of the City, Tourism, and Chamber) expect masking, social distancing and other health and safety protocols to be followed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a reward, organizers are offering an ambitious, long weekend of music, food, arts and crafts, and even animals.
\u201cWhen we started our festival almost two decades ago, we decided it would be \u2018half blues festival, half small-town fair, and all about the Delta,\u2019\u201d explained Hughes. \u201cFamily-friendly outdoor events like racing pigs and monkeys riding dogs help keep JJF about music and much more. There is literally something for everyone of all ages.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Select events will be streamed via LiveFromClarksdale.org<\/a>, and additional visitor information is available at VisitClarksdale.com<\/a>. More information can be found online at jukejointfestival.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The festival wishes to thank all of its attendees, performers and volunteers as well as major sponsors and partners like Visit Clarksdale<\/strong>, Crossroads Economic Partnership<\/strong>, Visit Mississippi<\/strong>, Isle of Capri<\/strong>, Southern Bancorp<\/strong>, and The Walton Family Foundation<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A sampling of the long weekend\u2019s highlights includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n