Photo Credit: Marv Watson

Returning for its 40th consecutive year, as one of the high points of the Memphis in May International Festival, is the Beale Street Music Festival, which according to Consequence of Sound, announced its official artist line-up for the upcoming music festival taking place at the historic Tom Lee Park in Memphis, Tennessee. The newly released bill has revealed a mix-and-mash of both big star performers who will play along side local musical acts. Taking place from April 29th through May 1st, the Beale Street line-up has musicians who have performed on its legendary stages in the past, as well as new artist who have not yet gotten the privilege to entertain the festival attendees until this upcoming Spring festivities.

Beginning with the birth of Memphis in May Festival, Beale Street Music Festival has traces going back a couple of centuries, when African-American musicians from down South would travel all the way to Beale Street just to perform. Overlooking the grand Mississippi River, at a gorgeous 25 acre riverfront park at the foot of the legendary Street is where the festivities take place, during the first weekend in May when spring is just coming around the corner. Normally hosting up to 100,000+ attendees for all three days it is a mob of people everywhere, typically reaching its highest attendance on the final day, this event is the launch off of the Memphis in May celebrations. Since its creation the music festival has brought over 1.1 million music fans together for this three-day multi stage extravaganza, and is best know for its across the board mix of contemporary rock, blues, funk, sould and other talent for its musically inspiring setting.

This year will be a bench mark year for the Beale Street Music Festival, 2016 marks the festival’s 40th anniversary and will be attracting music lovers from all over the continent, as well as many foreign countries all the way to this legendary city where rock & roll, and the blues, all began. In the past the music festival has hosted an eclectic assortment of artists and musical talent that are headlining shows just on their own and have come together to perform on these stages, acts like: The Black Keys, the Dave Matthews Band, John Mellencamp, Van Morrison, Ed Sheeran, Flaming Lips, Foo Fighters, The Avett Brothers, Bob Dylan, Kid Rock, John Mayer, Lenny Kravitz, MGMT, Santana, Cee Lo Green plus many others.

This year the festival organizers did not fail to stack the bill with a diverse group of acts to attract fans from all walks of the musical spectrum, bringing in artists such as Beck, Neil Young + Promise of the Real, Paul Simon, Weezer, Modest Mouse , plus Zedd, Bastille, Cypress Hill, Barenaked Ladies, Violent Femmes, Lucinda Williams, Meghan Trainor, Panic! at the Disco and plenty plenty more.

With musical acts, local artists, food vendors, and characters from all walks of life, it seems that Beale Street Music Festival will continue their 40 year old streak of consistent success as one of the larger festivals.

GA & VIP 3-day and single-day tickets are now available.

Update (03/23/2016): According to Consequence of Sound, Mavis Staples, American blues and gospel singer who is known for her civil activism as well as her acting career, has been added to the Beale Street Music Festival Lineup.

Beale Street Music Festival 2016 Lineup:
Neil Young + Promise of the Real
Beck
Paul Simon
Weezer
Zedd
Meghan Trainor
Train
Jason Derulo
Modest Mouse
Panic! At the Disco
Yo Gotti
Grace Porter
Young The Giant
Cold War Kids
Cypress Hill
Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
Barenaked Ladies
The Arcs
Bastille
Violent Femmes
Courtney Barnett
Jonny Lang
Gin Blossoms
Trampled By Turtles
Moontaxi
Lucinda Williams
Better Than Ezra
Houndmouth
Los Lobos
The Joy Formidable
Indigo Girls
Blackberry Smoke
The Front Bottoms
The Struts
The Lone Bellow
Lunchmoney Lewis
Coleman Hell
Julien Baker
Walter Trout
Ana Popovic
Bernard Allison
Luther Dickinson
Doyle Bramhall
Those Pretty Wrongs
Amasa Hines
Will Tucker
Escondido
Alex Da Ponte
John Nemeth
Magic Dick and Shun NG
Charles Wilson
Jack Semple
Larry Mccray
John Primer
Brandon Santini
Ghost Town Blues Band
Barbra Blue
Duwayne Burnside
Jimmy “Duck” Holmes
Terry “Harmoniga” Bean
Blind Mississippi Morris
Larry Long & Reverend Robert Rev
Leo Bud Welch
Bill Abel