| Location(s) | Memphis, Tennessee |
|---|---|
| Years active | 1977-Present |
| Founded by | Memphis In May Events Committee |
| Date(s) | May 4-6, 2012 Beale Street Music Festival; May 7-12, 2012 International Week; May 17-19, 2012 World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest; May 26, 2012 Sunset Symphony |
| Genre | All |
| Website | http://memphisinmay.org |
Memphis in May is a month long festival held in Memphis, Tennessee. The festival itself is split into four main events: The Beale Street Music Festival, the kick-off event which showcases a mix of local and national music acts, International Week, a group of events dedicated to the country that is sponsored that year, The World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, one of the most popular barbecue contests in the country, and the Sunset Symphony, a night of classical music. This event will mark its 36th anniversary in May 2012.
Contents |
The Beale Street Music Festival is a three day music festival that has both a mix of big-name stars performing side by side with local musical acts. Held during the first weekend of May in the city's Tom Lee Park at the foot of Beale Street, it is considered to be the kick-off event of the entire Memphis in May celebration. It typically hosts 100,000+ people for each of the first two nights of the event, and usually quite large crowds for the ending big-name finales on Sunday night. The festival was added a year after Memphis in May was created. Its history can be traced back to the 1800s, when African-American musicians throughout the South would come to Beale Street and perform.
Yo Gotti, Puddle of Mudd, Seether, Colbie Caillat, Jerry Lee Lewis, Hall & Oates, Michael McDonald, Bobby Blue Bland, Elmwood, North Mississippi Allstars, Drive-By Truckers, Gov't Mule , Joan Red, The Constellations, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Blind Mississippi Morris, Ruthie Foster, Savoy Brown, Walter Trout & Band, Dragon Balti
Earth, Wind & Fire, Boys Like Girls, Five Finger Death Punch, Chevelle, Rock Sugar, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Sore Eyes, Truth & Salvage, Band of Horses, Robert Wolfman Belfour, Hubert Sumlin, Sonny Landreth & Band, Janiva Magness, Leon Russell & Band, Vince Neil
Al Green, Korn, George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic, John Lee Hooker, Jr., Shinedown, Elvis Costello, The Roots, Curtis Sagaldo, Saving Abel, Los Lobos, Michael Burks, The Bar-Kays, Thriving Ivory, Susan Tedeschi, Julian Marley, Cedric Burnside & Lightin' Malcolm, Chancho en Piedra, Muck Sticky, Green River Ordinance, Hubert Sumlin, Billy Gibson Band, Shane Dwight, Jump Back Jake
James Taylor, 311, Fall Out Boy, John Mayall & The Bluesbreakers, Hinder, Bonnie Raitt, Snoop Dogg, Guitar Shorty, Theory of a Deadman, Jerry Lee Lewis, Three 6 Mafia, Sherman Robertson, Chancho en Piedra, Amos Lee, Prosevere, Damon Fowler, Dead Confederate, Reba Russell Band
Santana, Disturbed, Matisyahu, Bettye LaVette, Richard Johnston, Lou Reed, Seether, The John Butler Trio, Pinetop Perkins & Hubert Sumlin with Billy Gibson, Blind Mississippi Morris, Buddy Guy, Simple Plan, Arrested Development, Watermelon Slim, Cat Power, The Whigs, Colbie Caillat, Back Door Slam, Duman, Saving Abel, Tegan and Sara, Kenny Neal, Muck Sticky, Oracle and the Mountain, Al Kapone, Preston Shannon, Eli "Paperboy" Reed
Fergie, Michael McDonald, The Black Crowes, Doyle Bramhall, Richard Johnston, Finger Eleven, Aretha Franklin, O.A.R., Magic Slim & the Teardrops, Robert "Wolfman" Belfour, Gavin DeGraw, Jerry Lee Lewis, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Nick Moss & The Flip Tops, Rue Melo, Duman, Umphrey's McGee, Samuel James Carney, Billy Lee Riley, Pete Francis, Calvin Cooke
Steely Dan, Hawthorne Heights, Godsmack, George Thorogood, Bobby "Blue" Bland, The Bar-Kays, Wolfmother, The Ohio Players, Walter Trout & The Radicals, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Taking Back Sunday, Taj Mahal, Ryan Shaw, Kelley Hunt, Old Crow Medicine Show, Jack's Mannequin, The John Butler Trio, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Keller Williams, Eddie Floyd, One Less Reason, The Duhks, Daddy Mack Blues Band
Counting Crows, John Legend, Hinder, Elvin Bishop, Barenaked Ladies, Corinne Bailey Rae, Daughtry (band), Tab Benoit, Guster, Edwin McCain, Project Pat, Backdoor Slam, Umphrey's McGee, Ann Peebles, Papa Roach, Watermelon Slim, Billy Lee Riley, Egypt Central, The Lee Boys, James "Super Chikan" Johnson
Cake, Huey Lewis and the News, George Clinton & Parliament/Funkadelic, Shemekia Copeland, Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, Three Days Grace, Bruce Hornsby, Eric Sardinas, John Lee Hooker, Jr., Romantics, Bo Diddley, Bar-Kays, Gin Blossoms, Gomez, Al Kapone w/ Bo Keys, Big Jack Johnson, Malpais, Richard Johnston & Jessie Mae Hemphill, Slightly Stoopid, NEEDTOBREATHE, Honeytribe with Devon Allman, Yonder Mountain String Band, Lazy Lester
Staind, Blues Traveler, James Brown, Johnny Winter, Chicago, Yellowcard, Shinedown, Saffire - The Uppity Blues Women, Trapt, Booker T. & the M.G.'s, Gov't Mule, Hubert Sumlin with G. E. Smith, Galactic, Paul Thorn, 10 Years, Robert "Wolfman" Belfour, Malpais, Billy Lee Riley, Janiva Magness, Eisley
Nelly, The Killers, Los Lonely Boys, Guitar Shorty, Jonny Lang, Jerry Lee Lewis, John Mooney, Collective Soul, Tesla, K.C. & the Sunshine Band, Crossfade, Al Kapone, North Mississippi Allstars, Spin Doctors, Alvin Youngblood Hart's Muscle Theory, Hubert Sumlin & Willie Big Eyes Smith, Little Feat, Ricky Warwick, Nigel Mooney, Todd Snider, Particle, Pinetop Perkins & Willie Big Eyes Smith, Robert Belfour, Will Graves, Breaking Point
Sarah McLachlan, The Black Crowes, The Roots, Johnny Winter, Billy Idol, Robert Randolph and the Family Band, Elvis Costello, War, James Cotton Blues Band, Lisa Marie Presley, Chevelle, Medeski Martin & Wood, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Ike Turner & The Kings of Rhythm, Bloodthirsty Lovers, E. G. Kight, Ben Kweller, Kenny Brown, Reliant K, Billy Lee Riley
The Gamble Brothers Band, Buddy Guy & Double Trouble, Yonder Mountain String Band, Indigo Girls, Collective Soul, Journey, Porch Ghouls, Shinedown, Switchfoot, Fuel, Sister Hazel, Puddle of Mudd, Lucero, Paul Thorn, Robert Earl Keen, Jerry Lee Lewis, Doug E. Fresh, Anthony Hamilton, Zac Harmon & Mid-South Blues Revue, Delta Moon, Robert Belfour, Renee Austin, Ellis Hooks, Eric Sardinas, Bernard Allison
Free Sol, The Wailers, Bar-Kays, Live, Foo Fighters, Sonny Burgess & The Pacers, Drive-By Truckers, Charlie Daniels Band, Little Milton, Steve Miller Band, Josh Kelley, Bela Fleck & the Flecktones, Gov't Mule, O.A.R., Tone Loc, Three 6 Mafia, Super Chikan & The Fighting Cocks, Richard Johnston, Tinsley Ellis, Otis Taylor, Anson Funderburgh & The Rockets with Sam Myers
3 Doors Down, Jerry Lee Lewis, Willie Nelson, Sheryl Crow, Steve Winwood, Pinetop Perkins, Evanescence, Richard Johnston, Susan Tedeschi, Ben Harper, Gap Band, Popa Chubby, Koko Taylor, Jack Johnson, RatDog, Anthony Gomes, Cory Branan, Ingram Hill, Little Milton, Mok-kyung Kim with Blind Mississippi Morris, Graham Colton, Gomez, Donna the Buffalo, Robert Belfour, Bob Cheevers, Lucero
ZZ Top, Default, LL Cool J, Jimmy Thackery, Hubert Sumlin, North Mississippi Allstars, The B-52's, The Barkays, Robert Randolph & The Family Band, Jim Dickinson, T Model Ford, Nickel Creek, Cross Canadian Ragweed, Don Nix & Larry Raspberry, Mok-kyung Kim with Blind Mississippi Morris, Precious Bryant, Billy Lee Riley, Matt Nathanson, Michelle Penn, Gamble Brothers Band
Every year the festival sets its theme around a different country. A week of events and publicity, starting the day after the music fest, is dedicated to this country and it showcases the local foods and entertainment of that location. While International Week provides a learning experience for the community at large, the core is a comprehensive educational program for area youth in public and private schools and home-schooled students throughout Memphis and Shelby County. The goal of International Week is for area students, by the time they graduate from high school, to have had the opportunity to experience the customs and cultures of twelve different countries from around the world. Two countries — Japan and The Netherlands — have been featured twice.
Countries previously honored:
Although the WCBCC had a small start in 1978, with only 26 teams, it rapidly grew. The contest drew 50 teams in 1979, 80 in 1980, and 180 teams from nine states in 1981. It has now grown to be the largest pork barbecue competition in the world.[1] More than 250 teams from 20+ states and several countries compete, and an estimated 90,000 people attend the competition. Media from around the world, including the BBC and The Food Network, come to the city to cover the event.
Credit for the original idea of a barbecue contest goes to Rodney Baber, chairman of the Memphis In May events committee in 1977, and his co-worker Jack Powell, Tennessee's reigning chili champ at the time.
The original champion at the first competition was Bessie Louise Cathey, who won a $500 prize, a sizable return for her $12 entry fee. Today, the prizes for each event range from $300 to $10,000 for the main cooking competition, and from $1,000 to $7,000 for the ancillary contests. Today's entry fees range from $700 to $2,600 just for renting the necessary booth space, and an extra $60 per competition entry. Some teams regularly budget amounts in excess of $15,000 just for the competition and booth. [2]
Because of this, most teams are regularly sponsored by corporations. In 1984, Schering-Plough HealthCare began sponsoring teams for Tennessee's leading politicians. Al Gore attended the competition several times when he was a senator and once as vice president. Other sponsors include local automotive dealer Gwatney Motors, who has their own regular barbecue team, and the Terex corporation.
In 1989, when MIM officials discovered that there was a feast in Honolulu which earned the title of "largest barbecue" in the Guinness Book of Records, they calculated the amount of food prepared at the WCBCC. The total was 55297 pounds of pork, and thus earned the WCBCC a record in the 1990 edition.[3]
Beyond the WCBCC, some contests outside of Memphis — such as the barbecue contest in nearby Tunica, Mississippi during its annual Rivergate Festival — are now designated as official preliminary events.
The competition has three official meat categories: pork ribs, pork shoulder, and whole hog. There is also the "Patio Porkers" competition, which encourages up to 40 new teams (who have not previously competed in the WCBCC) to enter.[4]
There are ancillary food contests, including:
Only wood and charcoal cooking is allowed at the event, no gas or any other sort of heat system is allowed to be used.[4]
The Sunset Symphony is usually a free or low-priced event held on a single stage at Tom Lee Park, during the Saturday evening of the last full weekend in May. The concert is the largest annual performance event of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, and serves as a closing event for the MIM festivities. The symphony performs a variety of classical works as well as music of the year's honored country.
Featured guest performers have been included in recent years, including Stax recording artists- the Barkays in 2011 and Mavis Staples during the thirtieth anniversary event in 2006, The Temptations in 2007, and The Four Tops in 2008. Sponsorship of the concert varies from year to year as well, with past sponsors including SunTrust Banks, Regions Financial Corporation, and Memphis-based AutoZone.
Since 2007, additions to the festival finale have included an air show with historic aircraft from the Commemorative Air Force, and a fireworks show.