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Delta Blues Save the Date & Press Release

August 2, 2012

Delta Blues Museum to Host Free Events for the 25th Annual Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival

Newest exhibits unveiled, panel discussions and performances held August 8 - 12, 2012

Thursday, December 14, 2017 from 5:00pm - 7:00pm

Free and open to the public

CLARKSDALE, MS (August 2, 2012) - The Delta Blues Museum will offer a full calendar of free events for this year's 25th Annual Sunflower Blues & Gospel Festival. While museum admission fees will apply during regular hours, a variety of activities held after-hours are free and open to the public.

Wednesday, August 8th

5:30 pm - "True Delta" Screening at Delta Cinema, 11 Third Street, followed by panel discussion of "State of the Blues," moderated by Living Blues magazine co-founder Jim O'Neal. "True Delta" is a cinematic snapshot of the blues tradition in and around Clarksdale.

7:00 pm - 9:00 pm - Reception for "True Delta" photography exhibit at Delta Blues Museum, featuring photographs by Michael Scanlan taken from the film.

On display - "Celebrating 25 Years of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival," a new exhibit, DBM galleries.

Thursday, August 9th

1:00 pm - Panel discussion: "25 Years of the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival," in the museum classroom. The panel will be moderated by Mississippi Blues Trail Historian Jim O'Neal, festival co-founder, and features Patty Johnson, festival co-founder; Catherine Clark, festival treasurer and volunteer since the beginning; and Melville Tillis, who co-founded the Gospel Festival with the late James Julius Guy. This is the inaugural program in the museum's "From theArchive" series and is financially assisted by the National Endowment for the Humanities through the Mississippi Humanities Council. It is also generously made possible by the Mississippi Arts Commission, Micheal Loyd Young and the Friends of the DBM.

Two kids in the foreground are holding guitars, five adults are behind a sign reading delta blues museum band.

6:00 pm Grits & Greens Party for VIP Festival Patrons, on DBM grounds
Friday, August 10th
10:00 am - Mississippi Blues Trail Marker dedication for the Sunflower River Blues & Gospel Festival, on DBM grounds
4:00 pm Sunflower River Blues Festival begins
Saturday, August 11th
9:00 am - Sunflower Festival performances begin
Sunday, August 12th
Noon - 5:00 pm - DBM open, special hours for Sunflower Festival Weekend ($7 admission)
2:00 pm - Fundraiser for the DBM Arts & Education Program, featuring Charlie Musselwhite, Lightnin' Malcolm and others at the Juke Joint Chapel, Shack Up Inn [donation required].
5:00 pm - Gospel Festival begins, on the DBM stage

About the Delta Blues Museum

Established in 1979 by the Carnegie Public Library Board of Trustees and re-organized as a stand-alone museum in 1999, the Delta Blues Museum is Mississippi's oldest music museum and the nation's first museum dedicated to the American art form known as the Blues. A 2013 recipient of the IMLS National Medal for Museum and Library Services - the nation's highest honor for museum and library service to the community - and a 2014 winner of the National Arts & Humanities Youth Program Award, the Delta Blues Museum is dedicated to creating a welcoming place where visitors find meaning, value and perspective by exploring the history and heritage of the unique American musical art form, the Blues. The Museum is honored to be a Great River Road Interpretive Center.

The "Delta Blues Foundation" is a qualified 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization that supports the work of Delta Blues Museum. All funds solicited through the Delta Blues Foundation are raised to benefit the Delta Blues Museum. On-line tax deductible contributions to the Delta Blues Foundation include the Deeper Roots program and the General Fund (a monetarily unrestricted contribution made to the foundation in support of the museum). Memberships and the Buy a Brick program are funded directly to the Delta Blues Museum and are not considered tax deductible.

For more information on events or programs, please call (662) 627-6820, or visit the Museum web site at www.deltabluesmuseum.org.

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Shelly Ritter, Director

This newsletter is supported in part by funding from the Mississippi Arts Commission, a state agency, and, in part, from the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

This site is made possible throught support from the Mississippi Arts Commission, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rock River Foundation.

DELTA BLUES MUSEUM HIGHLIGHTS
Exhibits, Events and More!

This site made possible through the support of Mississippi Arts Commission, National Endowment for the Humanities and the Rock River Foundation.

Support for the Delta Blues Foudation, Inc has been provided by explore.org, a direct charitable activity of the Annenberg Foundation.

Museum Links

Museum Contact information

Click here for directions
#1 Blues Alley Lane
Clarksdale, MS 38614
Phone: 662-627-6820
Email: info@deltabluesmuseum.org

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