50th Anniversary
Bentonia Blues Festival

Thursday – Friday – Saturday

June 16 – 18, 2022

Blue Front Cafe
107 E Railroad Ave
Bentonia, MS 39040

INfo

Bentonia Blues Festival 2022

June 16-18, 2022
Blue Front Cafe
107 E Railroad Avenue
Bentonia, Mississippi

Come celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Bentonia Blues Festival in 2022! Stay up-to-date with the latest announcements. “Like” the Bentonia Blues Festival page on Facebook!

The 2022 Bentonia Blues Festival will take place all day Saturday, June 18, at the historic Blue Front Cafe in Bentonia, Mississippi off Highway 49 North. The event will feature food and merchandise vendors, RV, and tent camping (fees may apply), live music, and more. The Bentonia Blues Festival is a unique down-home style festival that runs on juke joint time just like the historic and authentic oldest juke joint in daily operation, the Blue Front Cafe… In other words, times and order of performances are bound to change a bit. Relax and have a great time with us as we help to keep the Bentonia blues alive!

The 50th-anniversary Bentonia Blues Festival (2022) Line-Up
(Be sure to check Blue Front Cafe page on Facebook for updates.)

June 16th, 2022 starts @ 3pm
Red Meat Rhetoric
Shaun Marsh
Ryan Lee Crosby
Little Willie Farmer
R L Boyce

June 17th, 2022 starts @ 3pm
Little MS Soul
RL SuperBad
Randy “19th Street Red” Cohen
Terry “Harmonica” Bean
Ghalia Volt
Bobby Rush

June 18th, 2022 starts @ 2:30
Meagan May
Gordon Licciardi
Groove Johnson
Libby Rae Watson/Musician
Jesse Cotton Stone
MZ Pleshette
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes will be playing every night!

About the Bentonia Blues Festival
The Bentonia Blues Festival began in 1972 on a farm just up the road from the world-famous Blue Front Cafe on land owned by the Holmes family. It was a tiny event, with only one D.J. and Walter “Big Daddy” Hood (“500 lbs. of Blues”) performing a capella. The location of the festival was moved to downtown Bentonia, Mississippi in 2006. Since that time, the festival has grown from an attendance of a couple hundred to ten thousand in recent years, prompting the festival to be moved back to the original location on the Holmes farm from time to time. The festival has attracted blues performers and fans from far and wide.
“When I started this festival in 1972, it was to help preserve the Bentonia style of blues, which is unique to this area. I knew then that it would be a great event, but I never knew it would be as big as it is now,” says Jimmy “Duck” Holmes, owner of the Blue Front Cafe and creator of the Bentonia Blues Festival. “The fact that so many people have become aware of this music and want to celebrate it every year with us here in Bentonia really warms my heart. Every year we have people here from a different country or state that’s never been before. The Bentonia blues is still alive, and it’s right here.”

Join us for the Bentonia Blues Festival and related events in Bentonia, Mississippi!
Sponsors
Yazoo County Convention & Visitors Bureau (Visit Yazoo)

Blues Festival Guide

Event Location

Blue Front Cafe, 107 E Railroad Avenue, Bentonia, MS 39040

Join Us

ADMISSION IS FREE

DONATIONS ARE WELCOME AND APPRECIATED

For most of its 50 year history, the Bentonia Blues Festival has remained a grassroots effort, coordinated and paid for by Mr. Jimmy “Duck” Holmes and friends. Admission is free to this outdoor event. Donations are appreciated. Contact the Blue Front Cafe on Facebook to ask how you can help keep the Bentonia blues alive.