King Biscuit’s 35th Blues Festival In Helena, AR

King Biscuit’s 35th Blues Festival In Helena, AR

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The 2021 King Biscuit Blues Festival is an opportunity to come home and connect to tradition, history and community through storied acts and stirring and uplifting performances of the blues. Held in early fall, this outdoor, multi-stage event features four days of continuous music and festivities promoting local and well-known blues artists and historic Helena, Arkansas. The event celebrates coming together and connecting while being taken away by the music in a city steeped in deep Blues roots and history.

The King Biscuit Blues Festival is celebrating its 35th year of showcasing the blues along the banks of the Mississippi River with live performances, events, contests, vendors, and food. The festival was founded in 1986 on the traditions and ideals of the Helena “King Biscuit Time” blues radio show which first broadcasted in 1941. The show featured early blues artists who performed live every weekday, causing the blues to become a way of life and a part of the community in Helena. Many of the Delta musicians at the time chose to come home to Helena for the first festival, and that ideal still lives on today as artists come back to celebrate Helena’s musical roots. Today, the festival draws thousands of blues enthusiasts to Helena for an unforgettable weekend each year.

The King Biscuit Blues Festival allows both devoted blues fans and newcomers to celebrate the American art form and support over 100 artists over the four day event. Each year Helena welcomes some of the most lauded blues artists, including Mavis Staples, The Allman Betts Band, Billy Branch & the Sons of Blues with Bobby Rush, and The Fabulous Thunderbirds at the 35th annual festival. The lineup this year also includes many blues masters who hail from around Arkansas, such as Lonnie Shields, The C.W. Gatlin Band, and the Phillip Stackhouse Band. You can see live performances starting on Wednesday, October 6th at 5:00 pm until Saturday evening on October 9th and get a taste for both festival legacies and newcomers.

The festival kicks off at the Main Stage with a tribute to Kim Wilson hosted by Don Wilcock, but there are plenty more events to look forward to along with the music. You can ride the Tour da Delta Bike Ride or run in the Flour Power 5K Run, check out the Blues Symposium, or participate in the Kansas City sanctioned BBQ contest. The King Biscuit Blues Festival also features Tent City, a unique, on-site camping experience full of personality and culture, food and arts/crafts vendors, and shopping in the eclectic shops and boutiques of Helena’s historic downtown. There will be lots to eat, drink, see, and hear, so be ready for four days of excitement and community.

The 2021 King Biscuit Blues Festival will run from Wednesday, October 6th to Saturday, October 9th in Downtown Helena near Helena River Park. The festival requires the purchase of tickets, ranging from general admission single day passes to VIP packages. Through July 14th you can purchase 3-day Early Bird tickets at the price of 70 dollars, but from then on the ticket price will rise until the festival where you can buy 3-day general admission tickets for 100 dollars or single day tickets for 60 dollars. Additionally, the festival offers a free shuttle to and from Isle of Capri, handicapped accessible parking and stage areas, weekend camping, festival merch for sale, and the opportunity to enter into raffles to win a custom painted guitar, overnight stays sponsored by the Peabody Hotel in Memphis, and a signed King Biscuit Blues Festival poster.