VIDEO: Thousands Attend Bukka White Music Festival

By: Parker King

ABERDEEN, Miss. (WCBI) – There’s a hidden gem on the banks of the Tombigbee River in Aberdeen, Mississippi.

The Bukka White Music Festival took place Friday night and all of Saturday with a petting zoo, good barbeque, and hours of listening to the blues.

Every entrance to the state of Mississippi has a sign that reads “The Birthplace of America’s Music.”

For the past nine years, the city of Aberdeen has been hosting the Bukka White Music Festival.

Though some Mississipians may not know about it, on an international scale it’s well known.

Committee member and organizer Em Walters said, “Actually, in years past, we’ve had people coming from other countries to make blues videos, and then go back home to show people their videos.”

There was even a band from Australia that made an appearance.

Its roots go all the way back to the 1940s, when blues legend Bukka White put Aberdeen on the map.

Walters also mentioned, “Bukka White himself sang a song, Aberdeen Mississippi Blues, and he was born just outside of Aberdeen. We have claimed him as our own, and he was really one of the first generation of bluesmen. He had a lot of big followers later in his career.”

The festival also featured a petting zoo, free for kids to feed the animals, as well as an exotic animal show, a car show, booths full of homemade arts and crafts, and lots of homemade barbeque.

“And it lets us showcase this beautiful waterway that a lot of people don’t even come out and see. They don’t know about it. So it let’s us show off our waterway,” adds Walters.

Most of the musical acts were visiting Aberdeen for the first time, and they were impressed with the organization and overall experience of this blues community.

Local blues artist Kevin Thornton says, “Oh! It’s a wonderful festival. They’ve done a nice job putting this thing all together. It’s the ninth year. Next year will be the anniversary of ten years. It’s supposed to be a big event. It’s getting bigger every year, from what I understand.”

Many of the artists have been in blues their entire music careers, and their reasoning for coming to the festival is pretty straightforward.

“If it’s not country, it’s country blues. There’s a reason they say we’re the birthplace of America’s music,” says Thornton.

The festival is continually growing as the years pass. In 2008, the concert had an attendance of around one thousand. Saturday, organizers said they expected upwards of five thousand, and it looks to continue to grow.