HOLLANDALE — As festival season carries on, people in Hollandale are looking to keep the Delta blues merriment going with the annual Sam Chatmon Blues Festival.
Free to the public, this musically jammed packed event is being held for a 23rd time and folks are plenty excited.
Event organizer Roy Schilling said one highly-anticipated musical feature at this year’s festival will be Good Paper of Reverend Rob Mortimer, which came to be a part of this year’s lineup for the first time.
“He came down one time to check out one of the First Fridays that we do during the summer and sat in and played with the John Horton band,” he said.
“People were saying ‘You gotta get that bald headed guy back,’” Schilling jokingly said.
Not only will the people be getting what they asked for entertainment wise, but much more — there will be several food vendors to enjoy on that day, ranging from savory hot tamales and snow cones to delicious barbecue and arts and crafts.
This festive two-day affair will kick off at 5:30 p.m. Sept. 27 at the Blue Front in Hollandale, with sounds from local group, Jazz Persuasion. Following at 6:30 p.m. will be Quetia Davis, whose performance will end the evening.
Before the musical entertainment ensues Saturday morning, the Delta Running’s 5K Run/Walk will get underway at 8 a.m., with registration opening at 7 a.m.
The 5K, which is free to all participants, is sponsored by City Drugs in Hollandale and Delta Health Alliance in Stoneville. The race, which will be officially timed by Delta Runners LLC’s Bryan Ott, will kick off at 8 a.m. starting at the Sam Chatmon Blues Trail marker, 101 S. Simmons St.
Registration forms can be downloaded and printed at hollandaleblues.com. Forms can also be found at Stop N Shops in Hollandale, Leland and Rolling Fork, any local Guaranty Bank, Planters Bank, the YMCA or local Delta schools.
Saturday’s music lineup will open with gospel performances at 10 a.m.
The Hollandale Blues Organization will hit the stage at noon, followed by Mississippi Marshall at 12:45 p.m., Bobby Whalen at 1:30 p.m., Libby Rae Watson at 2:15 p.m., songstress J‘ Cenae at 3 p.m., Mickey Rogers at 3:45 p.m., John Horton at 4:30 p.m., Good Paper of Reverend Rob Mortimer at 5:30 p.m., and Grammy nominee Nathaniel Kimble will cap off the evening entertainment at 6:30 p.m.
When reflecting on the history of lineups for the festival over the years, Schilling said Horton has played at least 20 of the 22 times the festival has been held, which speaks to the strong ties he has to the event.
The festival is sponsored by the Hollandale Economic and Community Development Foundation. Along with the City of Hollandale and its employees, those operations have made the festival a success each year and Schilling very proud.
“They really do a lot,” he said of the city employees. “They provide utilities, they get the site ready, they help with clean up.”
What Schilling said he is most proud of is the support of the community of Hollandale and that it can keep something like the Sam Chatmon Festival going for so many years.
“People just seem to keep stepping up and filling in those roles,” he said.
Festival history
When Hollandale began hosting its music festival in 1996, it was originally known as SummerFest.
For years, it was held the last weekend in May, but when a blues trail marker was dedicated to Chatmon in October 2010, the event was moved to the fall and renamed the Sam Chatmon Blues Festival. By 2016, the festival’s popularity grew enough to turn it into a two-day event.
Known for his long beard and fiddle playing, Chatmon was a longtime resident of Hollandale. In the 1920s and 1930s, he was a member of the legendary Mississippi Sheiks, along with his brothers, Bo and Lonnie.
In 2009, the city of Hollandale purchased Chatmon’s house at 818 Sherman St. to move it to “Blue Front” on Simmons Street, an area where several Delta musicians have performed.
For more information, call Hollandale City Hall at 662-822-2241, Schilling at 662-827-5545 or visit the event Facebook page.
