With Memphis in May making 'tough' decisions, what's next for Beale Street Music Festival?

Memphis in May is expected to soon announce plans for its 2024 events. Unlike most years, however, the prospect of an announcement is filled with intrigue over the future of Beale Street Music Festival, the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest and that of Memphis in May in general.

This uncertainty comes after several years of devastating financial losses. According to Memphis in May’s annual report released earlier this month, it suffered a $3.48 million loss from its 2023 operations. The previous record loss of $2.23 million came in 2022 when the festival was moved to the Fairgrounds at Liberty Park due to ongoing renovations at Tom Lee Park.

Attendance at the Beale Street Music Festival also fell to its lowest level in more than 30 years in 2023, with just 37,805 attending the three-day concert fest. Attendance at its barbecue contest dropped as well to 39,625, for a combined attendance of 77,430.

For comparison, Beale Street Music Festival and the barbecue contest had a combined 175,330 attendees in 2019 and 178,478 attendees in 2018, according to Memphis in May data. In 2022, the combined attendance was 110,083, marking the first time attendance fell below 115,000 in two decades.

In the wake of its annual report, Memphis in May CEO James Holt said the organization was “assessing all options for 2024 and making some tough but necessary decisions.” Memphis in May board chairman Al Gossett noted that the organization, “might have to reinvent ourselves a bit,” while pleading with “all civic and government leaders along with sponsors, participants, volunteers and attendees of Memphis in May to stand by us with your support and indulgence.”

With so many questions around the future of Memphis in May, here are a few key issues to watch.

The end of Memphis in May at Tom Lee Park?

Aside from statements in news releases, Memphis in May officials have not responded to repeated requests for comment about the future of its events.

During a Wednesday appearance on the "Gary Parrish Show" on Grind City Media, Memphis mayor-elect Paul Young said he had not had any conversations with Memphis in May or Memphis River Parks Partnership officials.

But the current Downtown Memphis Commission president and CEO stressed how important he feels it is to keep the events Downtown.

However, it seems likely that Memphis in May’s decades-long association with Tom Lee Park has come to an end.

After several years of battling publicly with the Memphis River Parks Partnership, which manages the park, Memphis in May’s 2023 events — as well the resulting damage bill and overall financial losses — likely ended any prospects of a return to the park in 2024.

Memphis in May’s 2023 events at Tom Lee resulted in $1,425,366 in damages, which are owed to the Memphis River Parks Partnership. In September, Memphis River Parks Partnership filed a lawsuit against Memphis in May, seeking to collect an outstanding balance of $675,000 for the damages to the park.

Work was paused on the park, which was undergoing a $61 million overhaul, to allow for this year's Memphis in May events. The park officially reopened to the public on Sept. 2.

With Tom Lee Park no longer a viable venue and other suitable options in the city and surrounding areas limited, a return to Liberty Park in Midtown is the most likely outcome.

Earlier this month, Memphis in May indicated it was looking to move the barbecue contest to Liberty Park, which a majority of barbecue teams supported, based on the results of a survey conducted by the organization.

While it lacks the atmosphere of Tom Lee and the riverside, Liberty Park offers plenty in the way of infrastructure and amenities — as well as some familiarity from Memphis in May's 2022 relocation there — so the barbecue contest appears headed there.

The future of the Beale Street Music Festival is another matter altogether.

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Time to rethink Beale Street Music Festival?

In trying to explain its financial results in 2023, Memphis in May offered a list of reasons why Beale Street Music Festival failed to meet expectations.

In addition to citing issues with its use of Tom Lee Park and its continued fight with the Memphis River Parks Partnership, Memphis in May also noted “astronomically elevated talent costs, plus ticket sales competition from big-name artists’ concerts in the Memphis area during late 1st and early 2nd quarters of this year.”

While some regional fests, like New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, also showed small decreases in attendance and profits, others — including the decade-old Atlanta Shaky Knees Music Festival — enjoyed big attendance and bottom-line numbers in 2023. Certainly, the live entertainment business is anything but depressed, with post-pandemic attendance up across the board, and many festivals like Chicago’s Lollapalooza breaking attendance records in 2023.

Beale Street Music Festival's struggles can’t be blamed on an industry-wide downturn. The music fest, which started in 1977, has been going through a middle-age crisis for several years, even pre-dating the pandemic, as it struggled to adapt to the changing demographics of its audience. (The festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.)

Once a blues and roots music festival, Beale Street Music Festival grew and evolved into a fest famously offering “something for everyone.” But that model, which was viable for many years, began to falter at least a decade ago. Beale Street Music Fest reacted by taking a top-heavy approach to its booking, buying big name headliners — Foo Fighters, Snoop Dogg, Kid Rock, Miley Cyrus, Cardi B — and trying to appeal to the widest audience possible at the top of the bill, while the balance of the lineups increasingly suffered.

The reality for music fests in 2023 is that a populist model is much harder to program for and puts a fest like Beale Street totally at the mercy of a relative handful of headliners that can deliver big crowds. Most other festivals have found success by finding a niche to exploit, rather than trying to be all things to all people.

What are the options for Beale Street Music Festival?

It doesn't make sense for Memphis in May to continue using the same music fest playbook as in previous years given the steep financial losses incurred in 2022-23.

So what are the other options?

Given the economic hits Memphis in May has taken over the past two years, one option is to recalibrate. It could put Beale Street Music Festival on hiatus for a year, until the organization can stabilize itself and its finances, and resume music fest in 2025 at its previous level and scope and hope a rebrand/relaunch might help its fortunes.

Another possibility is that music fest could be scaled down considerably, or perhaps even combined or made part of the barbecue contest. The barbecue contest has historically had a music component, with at least a couple artists performing annually. It’s conceivable this could be a viable stopgap or even a permanent solution if the numbers and logistics can be worked out.

A third option is for Memphis in May to scrap its music festival altogether. It’s clear from a financial perspective that Beale Street Music Festival has been far harder to make profitable than the barbecue contest.

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Another music festival at Tom Lee Park?

Given the uncertainty surrounding Memphis in May and Beale Street Music Festival, it leaves the question of whether another promoter could come in and stage a music festival at Tom Lee Park in the spring. Certainly, that late April / early May period offers a good window of weather and opportunity, with plenty of artists out on the festival circuit during that time. Could another fest ultimately crop up at the riverside park in place of Beale Street Music Festival?

Officials with the Memphis River Parks Partnership have been clear in their desire, or at least their willingness, to entertain the notion of bringing an alternate music festival to Tom Lee. But that may also depend on what Memphis in May decides to with Beale Street Music Festival.

Regardless, it’s hard to imagine that a music mecca like Memphis, and the renovated Tom Lee Park, would be without a major festival for long.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis in May: What's next for Beale Street Music Festival?