\u201cMy dad started this blues festival to honor the old-timers, to bring them their flowers while they\u2019re still living,\u201d said Orlando Paden<\/strong>, Red\u2019s son and festival organizer. \u201cHe asked me to keep his juke joint running and to grow his festival, so that\u2019s just what I\u2019m doing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The annual music event is held on the large, permanent stage in the Martin Luther King Jr. Park<\/strong> that overlooks the scenic Sunflower River, less than a block from world-famous Red\u2019s Lounge<\/strong>. The park also includes a playground for kids. Attendees are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs. There will be a large tent on-site to provide extra shade plus portalets nearby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In addition to a full day of free live music on the stage, the festival will again host its annual BBQ competition. And food trucks will be on hand. The BBQ competition starts at 10 am. The music starts at 11 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s event is dedicated to both festival-founder Red Paden and one of his favorite old-time bluesmen\u2014\u201cCadillac\u201d John Nolden<\/strong>\u2014who passed away recently at 98 years old. \u201cDad loved the old-timers,\u201d the younger Paden noted. \u201cAnd if you add up everyone\u2019s age on this year\u2019s roster, it adds up to about 500 years of blues experience.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Headliner Charlie Musselwhite<\/strong> expressed excitement over performing at the festival. \u201cRed lives on in our hearts, and I\u2019m proud to be part of this festival that carries on Red\u2019s spirit,\u201d he said. \u201cHe was one of the coolest guys ever.\u201d Musselwhite and the rest of the veteran lineup are expected to draw blues fans from both the region and the world. In addition to the festival\u2019s MLK Stage music, Red\u2019s classic juke joint at 398 Sunflower Avenue will run nightly with even more live blues (cover charge applies):<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more information, go to www.RedPaden.com<\/a> or find the festival on Facebook<\/a>. Search lodging options at www.VisitClarksdale.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Labor Day Weekend Festival Founded in 2018 by Juke Joint Legend Red Paden The eighth year of Red\u2019s<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":238,"featured_media":151327,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25295],"tags":[25564,3470,5,21985,32468,9679,32467],"class_list":["post-151325","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-festivals","tag-charlie-musselwhite","tag-clarksdale","tag-mississippi","tag-orlando-paden","tag-red-paden","tag-reds-lounge","tag-reds-old-timers-blues-festival"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Red-Paden-Old-Timer-Fest.png?fit=730%2C466&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151325","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/238"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151325"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151325\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":151330,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151325\/revisions\/151330"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151325"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151325"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151325"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}RED\u2019S OLD-TIMERS BLUES FEST LINEUP:<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Eighty-one-year-old Mississippi-native Musselwhite definitely qualifies as a blues \u201cold-timer.\u201d He released his first album, Stand Back!<\/em><\/strong>, in 1966 and his newest one, Look Out Highway<\/em><\/strong>, in May.<\/p>\n<\/div>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thelocalvoice.net\/oxford\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CM-Look-Out-online-3000px-1536x1536-1-1024x1024.jpg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=1\")
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\u201cWe loved Red and appreciated all of his efforts to keep the blues alive,\u201d said Visit Clarksdale<\/strong> tourism director Bubba O\u2019Keefe<\/strong>. \u201cWe\u2019re proud to help support the festival and give blues fans around the globe one more reason to come to the blues mecca.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
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