You need a break, and so do I

This weekend, the Cracker can recommend one of the city's finest annual moments, the Center for Southern Folklore's Memphis Music & Heritage Festival.

It takes place this Saturday & Sunday from 11 AM-Midnight on South Main between Gayoso and Peabody Place, with four stages, food demonstrations, dance, area craftspeople and storytellers, and great food.

The cost for the music, dance, food demonstrations, stories?

NOTHING. NADA. ZERO. ZILCH.

Parking can be had at PARKING CAN BE FUN on Union (only $2 for the WHOLE DAY), the TOWER GARAGEon Peabody Place (slightly higher).

You can find the Cracker at the corner of Main and Peabody Place, where I will be managing the Verizon Stage. Look for the fat guy at the side of the stage!

I believe that the Beale Street Music Festival is for the tourists, but this festival is for US. If you are having visitors for the next few months, this might be a nice relief for them (and you). Please come on down and have a good time. Here is the schedule:

Center for Southern Folklore’s
18th ANNUAL MEMPHIS MUSIC & HERITAGE FESTIVAL
September 3rd & 4th 2005

Saturday, September 3rd

Verizon Wireless Stage @ Main & Peabody Place
12:30 Freeworld featuring. Herman Green
1:30 Don McMinn Blues Trio
2:30 Kula Celtic
3:30 Jumpin’ ChiChi’s Jazz
4:30 New Travelling Harmonizers Gospel
5:30 Billy Gibson/David Bowen Blues Band
6:30 MouseRocket Rock
7:30 Kattawar Bros. Boogie Woogie
8:30 Iron Mic Coalition Rap
9:30 Kavious Rap
10:30 Exodus Reggae

Folklore Store @The Peabody Place Trolley Stop
12:15 Poet IQ & Sfumato. Spoken Word
1:15 Jake Fussell Folk Blues
2:15 Nancy Apple Country
3:15 Roy Harper Country
4:15 William Lee Ellis Blues
5:15 Goin’ Home Bluegrass
6:15 The Wright Brothers Gospel
7:15 Smooch & Hooch Rockabilly
8:15 Super Chickan Blues
9:15 John Kilzer Rock

Folklore Hall SunTrust Stage (Inside the Center @119 S. Main)
12:45 Greg Hisky and his Dixie Whisky Flyers Country
1:45 Michaelyn Oby and OBI Jazz
2:45 Chinese Dance/ Vocals
3:45 Jackie Johnson Soul/R&B
4:45 Eddie Bond Country Show
5:45 South Soul Rhythm Section
6:45 Kelly Hurt with Chris Parker Jazz
7:45 Sensational Six Gospel
8:45 Joyce Cobb Trio featuring Roy Brewer
10:00 Daddy Mack Blues Band

Trolley Stop Stage @ Peabody Place Trolley Stop
12:00 Randall Morton Bluegrass bango
1:00 Joe Scott/ Negro League Baseball Tales
2:00 Breeding Ground Modern Dance
3:00 West Tennessee Choctaw Dancers
4:00 Jimmy Crosthwait’s Puppet Show
5:00 Wind Dance Irish Dance
6:00 Memphis Area Square & Western Dancers
7:00 Millineum Madness Drill Team
8:00 Salsa Dancing
9:00 Domingo Montez & Los Cantodores
10:00 Bluff City Backsliders Jug Band

Viking Culinary Arts Center @Main and Peabody Place (FOOD DEMOS)
11:15 Zanzibar World Food
12:15 Hephzibah Greaseless Soul Food
1:15 Chris Kourvales Greek Food
2:15 Changzhi & Guo Yu Tofu Treats
3:15 Ella Kizzie - Greens & Cornbread (OMG -Do NOT miss this!)
4:15 Hongbing Wang & Mrs. Dng Chinese
5:15 Wild Oats - Macrobiotic Cooking
6:15 Claudia Thompson – Choctaw Fry Bread

Sunday, September 4th

Verizon Wireless Stage @ Peabody Place and Main
12:30 Memphis Snake Doctors Blues
1:30 The Aims Gang Rock
2:30 Ron Franklin & the Natural Kicks Rock
3:30 Dan Montgomery & PBA Rock
4:30 Brown Sugar Blues Band5:30 The Golden Keys Gospel
6:30 Sonny Burgess & The Pacers Rockabilly
7:30 Sir Charles & The Memphis Soul Express
8:30 Jason D. Williams Boogie/Rockabilly
9:45 Darrell Petties with SIP Gospel
10:45 Will Graves & Soul featuring Men-Nefer Neo-Soul

Folklore Store @The Peabody Place Trolley Stop
12:15 Kevin Gordon Folk
1:15 David Evans Blues
2:15 Barbara Blue with Nat Kerr Blues
3:15 Roy Harper Country
4:15 Ed Finney & Neptune's Army Jazz
5:15 Bella Sun Folk
6:15 Kpe Abioto African Drumming
7:15 Willie Firecracker Rap
8:15 Brad Webb w/ Blind Mississippi Morris , Phillip Dale Durham Blues
9:30 Cory Branan Rock

Folklore Hall SunTrust Stage (Inside the Center @119 S. Main)
1:45 Mid-South Navy Little Big Band
2:45 Plough Towers Choir Russian/Yiddish
3:45 Moments of Joy Gospel
4:45 Authentic Lyfe w/ Both Hands Neo-Soul
5:45 Memphis Klezmer Orchestra
6:45 Spirit of Memphis Gospel
7:45 Orange Mound Jazz Messengers
8:45 Susan Marshall Rock
9:45 Billy Lee Riley with J. M. Van Eaton Rockabilly/Blues

Trolley Stop Stage @The Peabody Place Trolley Stop
12:00 Randall Morton, Bluegrass Banjo
1:00 Lil Buckewicz, Annie McDaniel, & Jim Young River Tales & Net Making
2:00 Jimmy Crosswait’s Puppet Show
3:00 Hattie Childress Quilting
4:00 Desert Rose Middle Eastern Dancing
5:00 Claire Lee Korean Dancing & Korean Food Samples
6:00 Choctaw Pow Wow Dancers Dancing and Drumming
7:00 Mighty Kings of Harmony Gospel
8:00 Felix Hernandez & Symbiosis Latin Jazz
9:00 Elmo & the Shades R&B

Viking Culinary Arts Center @ Main and Peabody Place (FOOD DEMOS)
1:15 Megan Johns Choctaw Fry Bread
2:15 Café Samovar Russian/American
3:15 Felix Hernandez- Puerto Rican Cooking
4:15 Emily Steinberg –Making Challah (Bread)
5:15 Deborah Pan Chinese
6:15 Ella Kizzie - Peach Cobbler

Heritage Hallway (Both Days)
Baseball—Joe Scott
Riverlife—Lil Buckewicz, Annie McDaniel
Netmaking- Jim Young
Quilting—Hattie Childress
Choctaw Crafts—Minnie Bell, Jessie & Claudia Thompson
Painting trains and stuff—Roy Harper
Chinese Caligraphy- Changzhi YuGreater United Memphis Chinese Association

Peabody Place Museum
119 S. Main, Lower Concorse Special Childrens’ Crafts all day long.11:00 to 5:00 each day, 3.00 Admission.Children 6 and under free with paying adult.

Folk Artists, Craftpeople and More
Lizi Beard, Mara Califf, Angi Cooper, Charbroil Grills, Dr. Bob, Nick Davis, Jessica Crowover, James Richardson, Bob Gray, Yusef Etudaiye, Gloria Fulton-Singleton, Stephen Hudson, Lisa Hudson, Margie Kerstine, Jean Lavender, Eben and Robin Marsh, Mary Matthews, Liz Meyer, Pettus Mitchell, Rene Nickel, Lisa Lane, Judy Levin, Linda Wilson, Lenny Rodriguez, and Jacqueline Townsel, Currie Williams , and more.

Festival Foods:
Corky’s Barbecue: BBQ Nachos, Rib Dinners, Pork Shoulder Sandwiches, and all the fixins!
Center for Southern Folklore: Ella Kizzie’s Chicken Dinners with Greens & Hot Water Cornbread, and Peach Cobbler.
Ronny Maxwell: Lemonade, corn dogs and lots of festival foods!

Thanks to our sponsors: Verizon Wireless, SunTrust, Tennessee Arts Commission, Peabody Place Retail & Entertainment Center, Center City Commission, Memphis Convention and Visitors Bureau, Eddie Tucker Design, Viking Culinary Arts Center, Shelton Clothiers, Swig, Hicks Convention Services, The Peabody, Railcom, Newman Decoster & Co.,
The Memphis Flyer, Soul Classics 103.5, The Downtowner

**Schedule subject to change**MATA has extended the Main Street Trolley until 11pm on Sunday night.