The Coahoma County Tourism Commission approved a $12,500 marketing grant for the Mighty Roots Music Festival set for Mighty Roots Music Festival set for Oct. 1 and 2 in Stovall.
“As we get closer to the festival, we’re starting to develop the ad plan in detail,” said Howard Stovall, who is overseeing the festival.
Stovall said the ad campaign would be kicked into high gear approximately 90 days prior to the festival. The festival will be at the old Stovall Cotton Gin and Stovall Sore area on Stovall Road at Mississippi Highway 1.
“I’m in the outdoor entertainment business,” Stovall said. “We’ve really kind of been watching this. Last year, we were subject to some state regulations that made it non-viable.”
The festival was originally scheduled to begin in Stovall in 2020, but it was postponed one year due to the COVID pandemic.
Stovall said all of the bands that had contracts to play in 2020 will be playing in 2021.
“We may have people in masks, but I think we’ll have people in crowds,” Stovall said. “I think October will be safe. I think that’s what we’re hearing from medical experts and tourism experts as well.”
Stovall said the Friday night headliner will be Mystic Bowie
“He was the lead singer for the Tom Tom club in the 80s, which is a talking heads offshoot, so part of his act is called Talking Dreads where he takes talking heads songs and does them in reggae version,” Stovall said.
The Saturday headliner will be Beer Tick, which, according to Stovall, is a great Americana Band with good solid following. Keller Williams who Stovall said is well known for work with a variety of jam bands and roots musicians, will also be playing the Saturday of the festival.
“This is a reboot of a festival that was called the Mighty Mississippi Music Festival that was in Greenville for six years,” Stovall said. “The originators of that festival chose not to continue it. Our partners was one of the founders and it is rebooted in Coahoma County.
“I think being that much closer to the Memphis market will make a big difference just as that market feeds the Juke Joint Festival.”
Stovall said the tourism commission with the Visit Clarksdale campaign has done an excellent job of promoting the area. He praised tourism commission executive director Bubba O’Keefe for his work in promoting Clarksdale.
Stovall said October is a good time for the Mighty Roots Music Festival since it is six months after the Juke Joint Festival in Clarksdale every April.
More information on the Mighty Roots Music Festival can be found at mightyrootsfestival.com.
