The main organizer of Saturday’s music festival at Greenwood’s Florewood Park says most everything went well, including finishing on time.
“We had a wonderful, wonderful crowd. There were no incidents at all,” said John Ray, the Birmingham, Alabama, producer of the Down Home Blues Music Festival With an Old Fashion Fish Fry.
Still, some of those who attended were unhappy about the long lines of traffic to get into the venue, with vehicles backed up in both directions on U.S. 82, and wait times of an hour or more reported.
Stephen Cyprien of Lake Charles, Louisiana, estimated his vehicle crawled along for three hours before he got through the entrance gate at the park.
Stephen Cyprien
“There was no planning. None,” said Cyprien, who had driven to Greenwood after attending a concert the evening before in Jackson.
Ray acknowledged on Monday that traffic was an issue.
“It had something to do with us, but it didn’t have everything to do with us.”
Long lines of traffic wait on U.S. 82 to get into Florewood Park, the venue for the music festival. Wait times of an hour or more were reported. (By Andy Lo)
Ray said the logjam could have been avoided if law enforcement authorities had heeded his suggestion to open up more lanes of traffic to the thousands of incoming festival-goers.
“We do have some things that we need to work out,” Ray said. “But I think that the police department and the state troopers and everything, now they see what I’ve been trying to tell them for the last four years.”
Ray overall was complimentary of the sponsor support the music festival received and the cooperation of officials in Leflore County, which manages the park.
“The Board of Supervisors have been so kind to us,” he said.
An official attendance count was not available on Monday, but Ray said he expects it to be in the range of 8,000 to 10,000.
The event’s organizer, John Ray, estimated that 8,000 to 10,000 people attended the festival. (By Andy Lo)
The crowd, including several attendees from neighboring states, were treated to soul and R&B performers, headlined by Tucka and King George.
Ray, a prostate cancer survivor, is hoping to use a series of music festivals at Florewood to also spread information about cancer and early detection. Saturday’s focus was on prostate cancer.
The next event, tentatively scheduled for early October, would highlight breast cancer awareness, and an April 2023 event, if it comes to pass, would focus on colon cancer, Ray said.
“We’re talking about making people aware of these diseases, especially within the African American community,” he said.
“The public at large will be the winner. We plan to expose this information as much as we can.”
- Contact Tim Kalich at 662-581-7243 or tkalich@gwcommonwealth.com.
