Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

TICKETS ARE ONLY $5 PER DAY OR $10 FOR A WEEKEND PASS. Ticket required for entry. All ticket sales at venue door. All sales final. Thanks for supporting our nonprofit event.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Special guests include co-producer Laurie Hoffma. Filmed in Mississippi (including Clarksdale) and Tennessee, THE RIVER is an award-winning musical journey through lives, lore and locales along the Mississippi, Cumberland and Tallahatchie rivers. Featuring the Nashville-based "cosmic roots band" Coyote Motel, aerial dance troupe Suspended Gravity Circus and light artists Darling Lucifer Productions.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

While perhaps not a household name, Texas bluesman Mance Lipscomb is considered by many to be among the genre's absolute greats. This glowing 1971 portrait of the legendary musician is among director Les Blank’s special masterworks and was reportedly a favorite film of noted author Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Comprised of interviews with Mississippi musicians, historians, and river guides and featuring historic archival images, MISSISSIPPI MUD: A Natural History of the Blues explores the relationship between the ecology of the Mississippi Delta and the creation of the genre of blues music.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Award-winning bartender Joseph “Joe” Stinchcomb stirs up the small town of Oxford, Mississippi when he launches a craft cocktail menu honoring Black History Month.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

In 1931 legendary bluesman Robert Johnson went home in search of his father. Instead, he became one. Johnson's descendants reveal the human being behind the myth and his living legacy as a father, grandfather, and musical inspiration in Copiah County.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Catch one of the stars from Friday night's feature film — TALKIN' CLARKSDALE — the torchbearer of Clarksdale blues during our reception!

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

WORLD-PREMIERE with filmmaker introduction/Q&A! New documentary takes a fresh look at contemporary blues, exploring its vibrant pulse through the voices of today’s musicians, venue owners, historians and philanthropists. It also delves deep into the rich history of Clarksdale, Mississippi—a town that has nurtured some of the genre’s most legendary and influential figures. Here, the past and present of the blues intertwine, revealing the enduring legacy of this iconic music and the vibrant culture of the town that gave it life.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

TICKETS ARE ONLY $5 PER DAY OR $10 FOR A WEEKEND PASS. Ticket required for entry. All ticket sales at venue door. All sales final. Thanks for supporting our nonprofit event.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Madcow Entertainment and Black 22 Productions present the official sizzle of the feature documentary DUKE OF EARL. (Presented by long-time Clarksdale Film & Music Festival filmmaker and volunteer Tim Hardiman.)

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Snapshot of Clarksdale's Big A & Allstars performing at FGCU's Bower School of Music in Fort Myers, Florida (February 2024).

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Clarksdale, Mississippi is more than just "Ground Zero for the Blues" and "The Crossroads of American Music," it is also hometown to generations of true blue Southern characters...

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Viral busker Cam Cole (as seen on Apple TV's Ted Lasso) takes his one-man rock show across the Atlantic for his first tour of the United States. Traveling by himself in a shabby RV, Cam ventures South to explore the roots of the music that shaped him. Visiting musical landmarks and performing with blues legends along the way, he learns about the soul of American music and the spirit of the American people he encounters.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Presented in coordination with director Sara Fishko. In 1950s Manhattan, a dingy loft building becomes the home and obsession of the brilliant photographer W. Eugene Smith – who leaves his family and moves there to live the artist’s life. Smith wires the building for sound and captures daily life at 821 Sixth Avenue, where jazz players gather all night, every night, for freewheeling jam sessions both hot and cool.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

In the early 1970s, director Roviros Manthoulis traveled to the Deep South to film interviews/performances by legends B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Sonny Terry, Brownie McGhee, Mance Lipscomb, Bukka White, Robert Pete Williams & Roosevelt Sykes. Blurring the line between documentary and fiction, this film (virtually unseen in the U.S.) dramatizes the tumultuous relationship of a young couple as they struggle to overcome barriers of poverty and prejudice. "A thrilling rediscovery and untapped treasury of musical performances."

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Special guest: Tia McKenzie Jackson, director. Clarksdale, Mississippi, is known for its fertile land and mouthwatering soul food. It's also known as a world-famous musical oasis — home to numerous musicians and creatives. This new film explores how blues music tells a story of turning trial and tribulations into truth and triumph.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Work-in-progress director's cut of forthcoming documentary about the descents of the Elaine Massacre in nearby Elaine, Arkansas, in 1919. A Cherry Street Production.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Legendary music film make Les Blank's best-known film is this beautiful 1968 classic! The great Texas bluesman Lightnin’ Hopkins is captured brilliantly in this deeply moving documentary. Blank reveals Lightnin’s inspiration, and features a generous helping of classic blues. The film includes performances at an outdoor barbeque and a black rodeo, and a visit to his boyhood town of Centerville, Texas.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

Enjoy the old-school, Pre-War acoustic blues stylings of singer/guitarist Andy Cohen — featured in the new Mississippi John Hurt documentary that follows his performance.

Where: Stone Pony Tack Room

SPECIAL GUESTS Jamison Stalsworth (director), Mary Frances Hurt (executive producer) and Andy Cohen (cast member). Mississippi John Hurt Foundation Board presents... A wonderful new documentary film about the life and legacy of blues musician Mississippi John Hurt (Avalon, MS). The film features interviews with icons like granddaughter Mary Frances Hurt and musician John Sebastian, and is narrated by acclaimed artists. It explores the impact of Hurt's life and music, and includes details about the difficulties of maintaining his museum. (Born in 1893, Mississippi John Hurt taught himself to play guitar. In 1928, he recorded 13 songs for Okeh Records. He was rediscovered in the early 1960s, when a folk-music fan discovered his works. He appeared at the Newport Jazz Festival in 1963, 1964 and 1965 and on a variety of television shows. He also recorded three albums for Vanguard Records and influenced not just other blues musicians but also folk singers like Bob Dylan. - IMDB)

Where: Bluesberry Cafe

Clarksdale Film & Music Festival presents an afternoon of blues music at Bluesberry Cafe — including juke joint blues favorite Lucious Spiller.

Where: Bluesberry Cafe

Clarksdale Film & Music Festival presents an afternoon of blues music at Bluesberry Cafe — including Bad Apple Blues Club founder Sean 'Bad' Apple.

Where: Bluesberry Cafe

World-famous, multi-award winning, Clarksdale-based blues legend Watermelon Slim closes out a fabulous film festival weekend.