The Memphis Music & Heritage Festival happens Saturday and Sunday on the Main Street Mall between Union and Peabody Place. This is one of my favorite festivals of the year, with regional music from just about every genre that exists being performed on multiple stages. It is presented by the Center for Southern Folklore and there is more than just music. There is food, from food trucks and also from the Folklore Hall kitchen (recommendation: Ella Kizzie’s greens and hot water cornbread). Crafts vendors, storytelling, kids’ activities, dance, and drum lines are some of the other reasons to go. The activity starts around noon and keeps going until about 11 at night both days.
Needless to say, I will be at the festival both days, even foregoing the first Saturday of college football to be outside. Of course, one of my “Big Five,” the Blind Bear, is on the festival route, so there just may be a few stops.
Oh who am I kidding with that “may” comment. Of course there will be stops.
Memphis Oktoberfest returns October 3 and this year it will be at Station 3, the firehouse at Third and Dr. MLK Jr. Avenue. The event is presented by High Cotton Brewing Company. There will be Bavarian fare by Central BBQ and High Cotton beer. Live music will be provided by the Dead Soldiers.
I would really like to go to Oktoberfest, but regretfully I am going to have to miss it. That is the same day as Best Memphis Burger Fest at Tiger Lane, and the Moody Ques are first-year participants. I’ve been told by team leaders that the presence of “Mr. Load-in” is pretty much required.
Wine on the River is a new event coming to the Mud Island River Park Saturday, October 10 from 5 to 9 PM. There will be national and international vineyards. The international section will have an “Around the World” theme spotlighting the food and wine of cultural regions. Tickets are $45 in advance, $55 day-of, with proceeds benefitting Youth Villages. Live musicby Well Strung, Eric Hughes Band and Circle Music Player Piano, and lots of other fun. You get a souvenir beverage glass to keep. 21 and up with a valid ID, and children are not allowed.
City Market is not done expanding. The owners of the market say that Downtown and Cooper-Young are tight-knit communities, and they are looking for more such communities in which to expand. They listed High Point and the University of Memphis areas as neighborhoods they considered before choosing Cooper-Young.
Singer CharveyMac makes another rare Downtown appearance tonight. He will be at the Silly Goose from 10 to 1.
This is another of those “too much news to fit in a lunchtime post” days. Back about 5:30 with a second post.