MERIDIAN, Miss.–Mississippi’s musical heritage is being celebrated this weekend with a number of festivals and events, and even competitions. The annual Jimmie Rogers Festival, celebrating “the Father of Country Music”, kicked off Thursday, with more to come.
Thursday nights music was primarily gospel and featured Alan Sibley. Friday’s performances feature Trademark at 7 and the Molly Ringwalds at 8:30.
Those performances will be at Singing Brakeman Park (the “Singing Brakeman” is also a nickname for Rogers).
Tickets are $20.
Saturdays festivities begin with a wreath laying by the great grandchildren of Rogers at 10 a.m. If you don’t know much about the life of Rogers, you can read about him here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jimmie_Rodgers_(country_singer)
Local artists get things started at noon. The grand finale gets underway at Singing Brakeman Park at 7 p.m. with Frankie Ballard and at 8:30 with Sawyer Brown.
If bluegrass is more your thing, Mississippi’s best bluegrass players are getting together to pick and grin in Union County. They’ll also be competing in the Mississippi State Bluegrass Championship and the Down From the Hills Festival.
That festival kicks off at 10 a.m. Saturday and both youth and adult titles will be given in guitar, banjo, mandolin, fiddle and the dobro.
Admission to the festival is five bucks.
