Beale Street Music Festival returns to Tom Lee Park this year, and The Daily Memphian’s Memphis in May festival guide series will provide you with the information you need to navigate the fest’s “return to the river.”

In five days, music fans will return to the river for Beale Street Music Festival at the newly redesigned Tom Lee Park. So get your clear fanny packs loaded up with the essentials. Don’t have a clear bag? Read on to learn why you’ll need to buy one, stat, plus other know-before-you-go tips.

The festival is back home in Tom Lee Park.

The Beale Street Music Festival returns to Tom Lee Park this year after two canceled pandemic years and a year at Liberty Park. (The Daily Memphian file)

The people have spoken, and they wanted Memphis in May International Festival to return to the river. Or at least, that was the result from The Daily Memphian’s very informal social media poll last year after MIM festivities wrapped up in their temporary home at Liberty Park. 

Like basically everything, the Beale Street Music Festival was canceled in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and in 2022, the festival moved to Liberty Park’s concrete jungle while Tom Lee Park was under construction. But the massive renovation of Tom Lee is nearly complete, and Music Fest-goers will be the first Memphians to break it in during the festival from May 5 through 7.

But no worries: The new landscaping will be fenced off so the masses won’t be able to do too much damage to young trees and other plants. Also, bad news if you wanted to watch a band from the top of the new river otter play sculpture: That will be roped off as well. Additionally, vendors, food concessioners, MIM staff and volunteers have been asked to sign a “park protection pledge.”

“We’re doing what we can to protect the park and the taxpayers’ investment,” said MIM marketing manager Haley Scruggs.

There is no designated parking this year.

Alicia Hartshaw pays for a parking spot in Downtown Memphis. (Patrick Lantrip/The Daily Memphian file)

Though the majority of our readers preferred Tom Lee Park, many said the large parking lots at Liberty Park were a nice upgrade. Sadly, the return to the river means there will be no designated parking. But MIM has shared maps of Premium Parking spaces and other parking areas Downtown.

Downtown’s Premium Parking street spaces are free after 6 p.m. every night and all day on Sundays, so you may luck into a zero-cost parallel parking spot just a few blocks from Tom Lee Park.

The Blues Tent is now the Memphis Tourism Blues on Beale stage (and it’s free!).

Blues artist Barbara Blue and Memphis rapper Al Kapone sang a duet in the Blues Tent at the Beale Street Music Festival in 2019. (Karen Pulfer Focht/Special To The Daily Memphian file)

The redesigned Tom Lee Park features a playground, new trees, sculptures and all sorts of hills, steps and varied terrain. And that means a smaller footprint of grassy areas. There’s room for the three main stages in Tom Lee Park, but MIM officials opted to move the Blues Tent to Beale Street’s Handy Park for space reasons. The bonus: They’re making Blues Stage free, so you can still check out Blind Mississippi Morris, Los Lobos, The Reba Russell Band, Malaysia’s Azmel & Truly Asia and others without a Music Fest ticket. If you have a ticket though, you’ll get priority seating over free guests inside the blues tent area.

One important thing to note: Only three-day pass holders and VIP ticket holders will be allowed to move back and forth between Tom Lee Park and the Blues on Beale Stage, and there’s a limit of two re-entries per day. But blues headliners will play earlier than the headliners inside Tom Lee Park so you could start on Beale and end inside the festival if you want.

Most bags need to be clear (with exception).

All bags — except for Camelback hydration packs — taken inside Music Fest must be clear. (Matt Rourke/AP file)

This new-ish rule tripped up a lot of Music Fest guests last year, so plan ahead. Purses smaller than 9” x 9” inches do not have to be clear. But any larger size bag (including backpacks and fanny packs) — with a limit of 18” x 18” x 18” — must be clear. Camelback hydration packs don’t have to be clear either, but the maximum size allowed is 1.75 liters. Ticketholders may also carry in one factory-sealed water bottle of 20 ounces or less. Click here for a full list of what’s allowed and what’s not.

Plan your meals (and more) with the Music Fest app.

Food vendors and their menus can be found on the Beale Street Music Festival app. (Mark Weber/The Daily Memphian file)

Gone are the days of picking up a paper music schedule when you get into the park. (Anyone remember those days? You’d spill beer on the schedule or it would get rained on, and the pages got all stuck together.) This is 2023, so of course there’s an app for that. Download the Beale Street Music Festival app from the Apple App Store or Google Play before you head into the park because cell service is sometimes spotty inside Music Fest. There you’ll find the full day-by-day music line-up, a festival map, a list of food vendors and their menus and fun photo filters for your selfies. 

Can’t go to the festival all three days? We’ve identified some musical themes that can help you decide which day to go.

Memphis rapper GloRilla, shown here at Coachellla on April 16, will perform at Music Fest on Saturday. (Amy Harris/Invision/AP)

GenXers and older millennials might prefer a Friday ticket. That’s when 1990s bands 311, Live, the Toadies and Marcy Playground will take the stage. Of course, ’90s music isn’t the only thing happening on Friday; The Lumineers and Earth, Wind and Fire will headline that night. If you’re hoping to see more hip-hop, grab a Saturday ticket. Hip-hop pioneers The Roots are headlining, and Memphis rappers GloRilla, Finesse2tymes and Big Boogie will perform that day, as well as Brooklyn-based Phony Ppl. And if Americana is more your speed, you’ll want a Sunday ticket to see headliners Robert Plant & Alison Krauss and Lucinda Williams. Sunday is also the day to watch blues guitarist/singer Gary Clark Jr., folk duo Shovels and Rope and Nashville-based indie rockers Moon Taxi. See the full weekend music lineup here.

And if you haven’t signed up for our month-long Memphis in May Festival Guide email series, do that here. We’ll be sending tips like these all month long. Stay tuned for the next email on Thursday, May 4, with our staff music recommendations, weather tips and more.

.....