What’s better than spending a few hours enjoying musical entertainment on a group trip? Spending a few days enjoying some of the best performers in the world at a music festival.
North America is full of musical destinations. Travelers regularly enjoy the blues in Memphis, Tennessee, country music in Appalachia, musical revues in Branson, Missouri, and an eclectic variety of live performers in Austin, Texas. And while each of these areas has music to offer most any time of year, they all amp up their offerings during annual music festivals.
For groups, these festivals offer great opportunities to enjoy headline performers, absorb the destination’s culture and rub elbows with the locals. Music festivals can serve as destinations in themselves or make for a fun single-day inclusion as part of a larger tour.
However you plan them, visits to any of the following music events will be sure to please the concert junkies in your travel group.
Beale Street Music Festival
Memphis, Tennessee
Musical roots run deep in Memphis, a city that claims to be the birthplace of the blues and the home of rock ’n’ roll. Performers from W.C. Handy to Elvis Presley have made history in the city. Today, the Beale Street Music Festival seeks to honor that history and the culture that it helped create.
“Beale Street Music Festival is a tip of the hat to Memphis’ musical heritage,” said Randy Blevins, vice president of programming for the festival’s parent organization, Memphis in May. “It’s a celebration of American culture. It has grown from being a small festival held in the different clubs on Beale Street to now being held in a large park at the foot of Beale on the banks of the Mississippi River.”
The three-day festival takes place each year on the first weekend in May and has become one of the most famous music events in the country, attracting some 35,000 to 40,000 attendees per day. It brings in some of the nation’s most notable performers from a variety of musical genres. The 2014 edition featured Kid Rock, the Alabama Shakes, Foster the People and Patti LaBelle, among many others.
Festival organizers place a premium on highlighting local music, and each year, about one-third of the performers come from Memphis and the surrounding area. The event is also known for its excellent blues lineup.
“We have three main stages, as well as a blues tent,” Blevins said. “The blues lineup alone is worth the price of the ticket. It represents some of the best blues around. We have people that come to the festival and only go to the blues tent.”
In addition to the blues tent, the festival also features a “blues shack” — designed to be reminiscent of front porches and juke joints around the Mississippi River Delta, where blues music first developed — where young performers play solo or in duos.
The Beale Street Music Festival is part of the larger Memphis in May, a monthlong celebration that also includes an international festival and a world-championship barbecue competition.
Craven Country Jamboree
Craven, Saskatchewan
If you’ve never heard of Craven, Saskatchewan, don’t feel bad — the tiny town is located about 20 miles from Regina, the capital of one of Canada’s least-populated central provinces. Most people have little reason to go there, save for the annual Craven Country Jamboree.
The music festival takes place over the second weekend in July and attracts some big names to the small town.
“We’ve had artists like Kenny Chesney, Luke Bryan, Jason Aldean, Reba, and Alan Jackson,” said Kim Blevins, director of marketing at the festival. “We also like to bring back some of the retro acts such as the Charlie Daniels Band and the Oak Ridge Boys.”
Live music events began at the festival site in 1983 and drifted through a number of genres. The current organizers took it over in 2005, when it had become a struggling rock festival, and returned the event to its country roots. The 2015 event will mark the 10th anniversary of the reboot.
During the festival, attendees can see about 20 major headlining acts, as well as a number of up-and-coming and local performers. The first opportunity to hear live music is on Thursday night.
“The first day actually takes place in our Beer Gardens,” Blevins said. “The Beer Gardens hold upward of 10,000 people, and we have about that many people at the Thursday night show.”
The main stage of the festival is located on the infield of an old racetrack, and all seating in the grandstands is first come, first served. Behind the bleachers is the Main Street area of vendors and entertainment.
“It looks like an Old West town,” Blevins said. “We have different food and merchandise vendors, and we set up interactive displays there.”
In addition to the music and vendors, visitors can check out a junior bull-riding competition that takes place on Saturday and Sunday. Other entertainment options are a songwriters circle and hypnotist shows.
