The W.C. Handy Blues and Barbecue Festival is free to the public and supported entirely by donors and volunteers.

This year’s presenting sponsor is Field & Main Bank.

The W.C. Handy Blues & Barbecue Festival has become one of the largest free music festivals in the nation, drawing attendees from just about every state and many countries. The festival is a celebration of the life and legacy of Henderson resident and “Father of the Blues,” William Christopher Handy. According to legend, the Alabama born composer and his band were traveling home from the postponed Chicago World’s Fair in 1892 when they ran out of money in St. Louis. Work was scarce there, so Handy left the rest of the band and headed to Evansville, Indiana.

WEDNESDAY JUNE 14  

5pm End of the Line 

7pm Ally Venable 

9pm Southern Avenue

THURSDAY JUNE 15

5:30 Dewayne Dopsie

8pm Chubby Carrier & The Bayou Swamp Band

FRIDAY JUNE 16 

12pm Blues 4U

1:30pm - Tinsley Ellis- Acoustic Songs & Stories 

3pm - Al Green & The Hard Times 

5pm King Solomon Hicks 

7pm Bywater Call

9pm Tommy Castro & The Painkillers w/ Tinsley Ellis as special guest

SATURDAY JUNE 17

12pm - David Jacobs-Strain & Bob Beach

1:30pm Ghalia Volt

3pm-JD Simo

5pm Matt Schofield

7pm Shemekia Copeland 

9pm The War & Treaty 

Festival Dates June 14 – 17, 2023

Location: Downtown riverside parks

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