HENDERSON, Ky. − It’s time for a summer fixture in downtown Henderson: The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival.
What is this event, you ask? Henderson’s volunteer-run music festival has grown through the years into one of the largest “free blues festivals in the country.” Here are six things to know about it.
Where and when does Henderson's Handy Fest take place?
Main festival days in 2024 are June 12-15, although some auxiliary events take place out in the community in the days leading up to it.
The main stage for the W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival is in Audubon Mill Park (not to be confused with John James Audubon State Park) on the downtown Henderson riverfront. The park is located at the foot of Second Street adjacent to the Ohio River Boat Ramp. Water Street from First Street to Third Street and a half block of Second Street are closed for festival infrastructure.
Parking is available along any of the adjacent streets and in many surface parking lots during the evening hours. Special festival handicapped parking spaces are located at the foot of First Street across from the Henderson Post Office.
There’s music on the main stage at the following times: Wednesday, June 12, starting at 5 p.m.; Thursday, June 13, starting at 5:30 p.m.; Friday, June 14, starting at noon; and Saturday, June 15, starting at noon.
Where do I get my tickets for Handy Fest?
You don’t need one. The festival is free, just like it’s been for 33 years.
This volunteer-run festival is funded through sponsorships from local businesses, sales of merchandise, soft drinks, java shakes, a half-pot, bucket shakes, a beer garden and the popular Zydeco Night food concessions.
Donations to keep this festival free also are welcome and accepted on the non-profits Facebook page, facebook.com/handyblues.
Who will I be able to hear at Handy Fest in 2024?
Once the main stage lineup starts rolling, it will remain red-hot through late Saturday night.
Here’s what’s on tap: Wednesday – Grainne Duffy (5 p.m.), John Primer & The Real Deal Blues Band (7 p.m.), Vanessa Collier (9 p.m.); Thursday – Dewayne Dopsie & the Zydeco Hellraisers (5:30 p.m.), Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band (8 p.m.); Friday – Blues 4U (Noon), Boscoe France (1:30 p.m.), Piper & The Hard Times (3 p.m.), Robert Jon & the Wreck (5 p.m.), Danielle Nicole Band (7 p.m.), Big Head Todd and the Monsters (9 p.m.); Saturday, Doug MacLeod (Noon), Tyron Benoit (1:30 p.m.), Tad Robinson Band (3 p.m.), The Cold Stares (5 p.m.), Desoto Tiger featuring Damon Fowler, Jason Ricci and Boogie Long (7 p.m.), Mr. Sipp (9 p.m.) In addition to main stage music, some downtown restaurants offer “Handy Lunch Break” and “Handy Happy Hour” mini-concerts during festival week.
What can I eat at Handy Fest?
Festival food will be available on Wednesday night next to Audubon Mill Park and on Friday and Saturday starting at 11 a.m. on Second Street.
You can expect barbecue, ribs, burgers, gyros, fries, lemon shakeups, pork chop sandwiches and all the favorite festival foods.
Thursday night food options include Zydeco Night fare served from a tent operated by the Handy Festival or food from one of the nine restaurants located within a block of the festival site.
What is the Street Strut?
The William Branaman Street Strut Peoples Parade, an exuberant gathering of strutters dressed in New Orleans Dixieland jazz attire and sporting decorated umbrellas, has been part of the festival since the beginning.
It takes place on Saturday, June 15, and starts with a HandyFest Creation Station/Street Strut Workshop at 8 a.m., First and Water streets. Participants can decorate an umbrella or create costume pieces if they didn’t come already prepared to strut.
The Street Strut Parade begins at 10 a.m. from that corner and will be led by the Grand Ooh-Pee-Doo selected at the conclusion of last year’s parade and a live band.
Prizes will be awarded for: 2024 Grand Ooh-Pee-Doo, Best Decorated/Creative Umbrella, Most Spirited Strutter, Best Group, Best Decorated Bicycle, Best Decorated Baby Stroller, Best Decorated Wagon, Best Decorated Golf Cart and Most Spirited Pet.
Why Handy in Henderson?
The “Father of the Blues” William Christopher Handy spent about 10 years living in Henderson from roughly 1893-1903. Born in Alabama, he ended up in this area after traveling with a band to perform at the 1892 World’s Fair in Chicago. Part of his employment while he lived in this area was playing music for barbecues, parties, banquets and other events.
It was in Henderson that he met his first wife, Elizabeth Price Handy. with their growing family, they made Henderson their “home base” as Handy gained fame in the music world penning such hits as “St. Louis Blues,” “Memphis Blues,” “Mr. Crump,” “Yellow Dog Blues” and many others. He was also a composer of many spirituals and eventually founded the Handy Brothers Music Company in New York City.
Handy returned to Henderson in 1953 to be honored and attend a fundraiser for building a community swimming pool that bore his name.
That pool went out of service in the early 1980s. Handy used the experiences and songs he heard in his travels for inspiration in writing and codifying the music that would eventually become a whole new genre: The blues.
About Henderson’s impact on that, Handy once told a Louisville newspaper writer: “I didn't write any songs in Henderson, but it was there I realized that experiences I had had, things I had seen and heard, could be set down in a kind of music characteristic of my race. There I learned to appreciate the music of my people."
Extras: A few fun facts about Handy Fest
- Mark your calendar: The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival always takes place the week before Father’s Day to honor the musician/composer’s designation as “Father of the Blues.”
- W.C. Handy’s “Memphis Blues” is considered to be the first composition from the Blues genre.
- Tri-State favorite Blues 4U is the only band to play for every year of the festival.
- The first headliner for the festival was Metropolitan Blues All-Stars in 1991. The band never took the stage because of a big storm that rolled up the Ohio River and rained out the festival. Despite fears from the volunteer organizers, that deluge didn’t drown out Year 2. The only thing to halt the festival to date was Covid 19 in 2020.
- For about a decade, the festival included a Memphis-In-May sanctioned barbecue competition. A team called Ole 97 won the first sanctioned barbecue contest.
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