Beale Street Music Festival lineup drops soon: What we know about this year's fest
The full lineup for Memphis in May's Beale Street Music Festival will be announced Monday.
Set for May 5-7, the event will mark the festival's return to its historic home, Tom Lee Park, for the first time since 2019. The 2020 and 2021 festivals were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while last year's event was held at the Fairgrounds at Liberty Park, while the Downtown riverfront park underwent redesign and reconstruction.
The redesign already has necessitated or at least inspired one significant change. The three main music stages will remain, but the traditional Tom Lee "Blues Tent" is no more. Instead, blues acts will perform in the outdoor Handy Park amphitheater, in what has been dubbed the "Blues Stage on Beale." Admission to the Blues Stage is free, but a section with seating will be reserved for music festival ticket-holders.
Beale Street Music Festival lineup
Memphis in May officials will not confirm the names of the acts they have booked for 2023, but they have been offering festival passes as prizes via guess-the-artist "Song of the Day" contests on the Beale Street Music Festival's Facebook page. Since there is little challenge to guessing the identities of the well-known artists whose videos and pictures appear on the page, the contest seems to be a coy way of announcing the scheduled artists in advance.
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If that is the case, expect a traditional lineup that mixes established veterans with younger rap and rock acts. Artists teased on the Facebook page so far include the England-meets-Illinois duo of Robert Plant and Alison Krauss; roots rock star Lucinda Williams; the transcendent R&B hit-makers Earth, Wind & Fire; local heroes turned international festival favorites, the North Mississippi Allstars; punk-and-beyond icons the Pretenders; blues innovator Gary Clark Jr.; Nebraska rockers 311; five-times Grammy-winning bluesman Keb' Mo'; International Blues Challenge winner Selwyn Birchwood; progressive hard rockers Greta Van Fleet; neo-soul chanteuse Jazmine Sullivan; and Memphis rappers GloRilla and Finesse2Tymes.
Beale Street Music Festival tickets
Three-day passes and "VIP Experience" passes are now on sale.
Three-day passes currently are on sale for $205. When those sell out, three-day passes will cost $225.
VIP 3-Day Passes are available for $995. These include a designated viewing area at each stage on a raised, covered platform; access to air-conditioned restrooms and Xfinity charging stations; VIP-only entry lanes and bars; and more.
To purchase or for more information, visit memphisinmay.org.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Beale Street Music Festival: Lineup, tickets, return to Tom Lee Park
