04/10/2026
This year the Juke Joint Festival is all about the power and excellence of Black Mississippi Delta culture at the Crossroads Cultural Arts Center stage!
Thursday thru Saturday events listed below!
Kicking off our related events on Thursday April 9th at 5:30PM, Delta native Kayla Turner Thomas screens and discusses her documentary Farming Freedom on one Black family's journey of land ownership in the Delta, revealing the determination and agency of Black families acquiring land in the MS Delta. FREE with free 🍿 popcorn.
On Friday April 10th at 7PM experience THE REAL BLUES, a cultural experience by Clarksdale native Marvin Reddick. Join Marvin Reddick, author of The Real Blues, and Real Blues community people for this immersive experience in true Mississippi Delta culture! FREE. Live band as well.
On Saturday at our official Juke Joint Festival stage, amidst numerous musical performances, join us for three powerful conversations on the continued presence.of African culture right here in the Delta: Blues IS Black History: We are still African!
At 11am Dr. Bernard Demzuk, retired professor of African American history at George Washington University presents Sinners: Uncovered.
At 1pm on Saturday join Dr. Adrienne Brooks, former Director of Advancement at the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, for Searching for New Africa: My Journey to the Mississippi Delta. Guided by the recordings of her great aunt Hattie Kendrick (born 1894), Dr. Brooks traces her roots to a settlement called New Africa just outside of Clarksdale.
At 3pm on Saturday join in discussion with Chandra Williams, Executive Director of Crossroads Cultural Arts Center for Sinners: Blues is Vibranium! A talk on African secrets of the music we call Blues and its power to heal! Explore how Blues IS Black History and how we are still so very African.
Throughout the week, enjoy or even take home a beautiful diddley bow handcrafted by Kwandarious "Kwanny Kash" of Greenvile, MS who was inspired intuitively to fashion handmade string instruments from available materials, just as our ancestors did upon arriving from Africa.
AT 8PM - WRISTBAND REQUIRED - enjoy the enchanted sounds of Robert Kimbrough Sr.
