When the quarantine era struck in 2020, one major piece of collateral damage was the Beale Street Music Festival (BSMF) that May, which was first postponed until that fall, then pushed into 2021. Those contingency plans didn’t pan out either, but now at long last the Memphis in May concert event is back. Today, the final lineup was released for the 44th edition of the festival, scheduled for April 29-May 1, 2022.
For the first time, the gathering will take place at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park, to make way for the construction of the redesigned Tom Lee Park. The 2023 Beale Street Music Festival will return to Tom Lee Park and the Memphis riverfront after park construction is completed in April 2023.
The lineup is appropriately packed with blockbuster acts, including the Foo Fighters, Weezer, The Smashing Pumpkins, Counting Crows, Sarah McLachlan, Three 6 Mafia, Death Cab for Cutie, Stone Temple Pilots, and Modest Mouse.
Two notable headliners include Lil Wayne, making his BSMF headline debut, and Van Morrison, who last performed in the city at BSMF in 1996. The latter is sure to face a rocky reception, due to the anti-vaccine and pro-white nationalist leanings of his recent interviews and songs, but those may be irrelevant to many, amidst a back catalog as venerable as his.
Local luminaries will be well represented, including Cory Branan, Kenny Brown, and Blvck Hippie. There will be an especially strong contingent from Memphis’ hip-hop community, including MoneyBagg Yo, NLE Choppa, Project Pat, Al Kapone, Lil Wyte, Jucee Froot and White $osa. This year will also mark the first BSMF appearance for Memphis legends Three 6 Mafia in a decade.
As part of the festival’s month-long salute to Ghana, the organization’s honored country for 2022, two of that country’s hottest artists join the lineup: Sarkodie and Stonebwoy.
As in previous iterations, the BSMF is but one of several events planned for the 2022 Memphis in May celebrations. Other dates associated with the month-long event include: the Honored Country Salute to Ghana, May 1-31, 2022; the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, May 11-14, 2022; and the Great American River Run, May 28, 2022.
The Beale Street Music Festival takes place at the Fairgrounds in Liberty Park, April 29 – May 1, 2022. Information about single-day tickets will be released next week. Three-day passes are $175. VIP passes start at $809. Visit www.memphisinmay.org/bsmftickets for details.
