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KING BISCUIT BLUES FESTIVAL AN ANNUAL EVENT IN HELENA

by Jim Taylor, travel writer
AR Department of Parks and Tourism

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HELENA – Each October, the King Biscuit Blues Festival brings to downtown Helena wailing guitars and heartfelt vocals, the smell and taste of barbecue and fried catfish, and a gathering of hard-core devotees and casual fans who’ve come to see the blues performed in a Mississippi River port instrumental in the music’s development.

The festival annually marks its October anniversary with Delta blues legends such as Robert Lockwood Jr. and Pinetop Perkins, contemporary stars and up-and-coming blues artists. Notable Blues Acts have have been well represented including such familar performers as Bobby Rush, New Orleans' Snooks Eaglin, former Handy Award winner and Grammy nominee Marcia Ball, Anson and the Rockets with Sam Myers, Arkansas natives Levon Helm and Larry McCray, and John Weston.

It also features another musical form prominent in Arkansas's Delta region - Gospel Music. The festival’s Gospel Stage in the restored Malco Theater at 424 Cherry Street, often hosts up to 13 Gospel acts including familiar names such as the Apostolic Church Choir, Dixie Wonders, New Life Singers and Queen Elizabeth & the Christian Harmonizers.

In recent years, the festival – the largest free blues event in the U.S. – has annually drawn as many 100,000 attendees from coast to coast, Europe and Japan. Festivals.com recently included the King Biscuit on its list of the world's Top 10 music festivals.

Cherry Street is the festival’s “main drag.” All stages are located along or near the street. A variety of food vendors and festival information booths are located there. There are also a number of vendors to be found in the street’s King Biscuit Marketplace offering such goods as fine art, arts and crafts, jewelry, antiques and collectibles. Other festival events include a barbecue cook-off and a 5-K run.

Complementing the festival's activities each day, late-night performances are presented at Sonny Boy’s Music Hall at 301 Cherry Street. The non-profit Sonny Boy Blues Society of Helena, which is now producing the King Biscuit, operates the hall and charges a cover for the shows.

The King Biscuit debuted in 1986 after a group of local blues fans seeking to honor Helena’s heritage as a blues haven enlisted the help of MainStreet Helena, a downtown revitalization organization. It is named after the “King Biscuit Time” radio program, which began in 1941 on Helena station KFFA and is now the longest-running blues radio show in the world.

While there, we recommend that you take time to visit the Delta Cultural Center (DCC) located at 141 Cherry and check out their blues collection. For more information, phone the DCC at 870-338-4350.

The festival website at www.kingbiscuitfest.org contains a festival map and schedule as well as information on lodging and restaurants in the Helena area. For more festival information, phone (870) 338-8798. Additional Helena information is available from MainStreet Helena by phone at (870) 338-9144.

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Article reprinted here with permission - All rights reserved. Jim Taylor, travel writer
Department of Parks and Tourism One Capitol Mall, Little Rock, AR 72201