Porretta Soul Festival

The Porretta Soul Festival is a soul music festival that usually takes place in the third week of July in Rufus Thomas Park in Porretta Terme, in the province of Bologna.

History

The festival was started on December 10, 1987 by Graziano Uliani, a passionate soul music fan, who, after attending the events in Macon, Georgia commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the death of Otis Redding, decided to dedicate a festival in his honour.

Thanks to some fortunate encounters, Uliani has been able to bring to Porretta most of the major soul band in the world. Porretta now has a street dedicated to Otis Redding and the park where the Porretta Soul Festival is held is named Rufus Thomas. After more than 20 years, the Porretta Soul Festival is now part of the geography of soul music and is considered the European showcase of the Memphis Sound. The festival is associated with the Stax Museum of American Soul Music in Memphis and the Center For Southern Folklore in Memphis.

Acts that have played the festival

Rufus & Carla Thomas, Solomon Burke, Howard Tate, Isaac Hayes, Wilson Pickett, Percy Sledge, Sam Moore, Irma Thomas, The Memphis Horns, LaVern Baker, Millie Jackson, Otis Clay, Ann Peebles, Mavis Staples, Booker T. & the M.G.s, The Neville Brothers, Chaka Khan, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Joe Simon, Mable John, Bar-Kays, Harvey Scales, The Bo-Keys, Betty Harris.

References

• Official website
• An Interview with Graziano Uliani in July 2013 at Soul Express