It costs approximately $70,000 each year for organizers to put together the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Festival each August in downtown Clarksdale.
And with costs continuing to rise and the number of donors dwindling, it’s becoming more and more of a chore for the committee that runs the music festival to raise the needed funds.
So, with that in mind, the Sunflower River Blues and Gospel Association held its First Friday Blues Mixer fundraising event on Friday night, Jan. 4 at the Crossroads Cultural Arts Center on Delta Avenue.
Friday’s four-hour event featured a musical lineup of local blues artists Mississippi Marshall, Little Willie Farmer, Deak Harp and David Dunavent.
Maie Smith, the booking chairwoman for the festival, said they hope to offer the First Friday fundraisers throughout the year leading up to this year’s festival, which is scheduled for Aug. 9-11, 2019.
She said it is the association’s hope that the fundraisers, which included the annual Thanksgiving night fundraiser at the Ground Zero Blues Club, will help alleviate some of the funding shortfall they’ve experienced in recent years.
