When was the first W.C. Handy Festival?
Many point to 1982 which began an annual tradition of a week long
event, but the first Handy Festival was held 12 years before. The
year 1970 saw the dedication of a reconstructed Handy birthplace
accompanied by a two-day festival on November 22 and 23.
The 1970 festival featured a concert
with such illustrious talent as the Olympia Brass Band, Maxine
Sullivan, Blanch Thomas, and the immortal Eubie Blake and his
song-writing partner Noble Sissle. The next day saw a parade and
street strut down Court Street led by the Olympia Brass Band from New
Orleans.
Attending this first festival were Mrs.
W. C. Handy, Charles E. Handy, W. C. Handy Jr., Mattie Handy
Robinson, and Catherine Handy Lewis. At the end of the festival,
Florence Chamber of Commerce President Jim Odum announced the event
would become an annual tradition, but it was not yet to be.
The next Handy Festival was in 1973 and
honored Handy’s 100th birthday. The event was held November 17 and
18 and began with a parade on Court Street. Special entertainment
followed at the halftime of that afternoon’s University of North
Alabama ball game. The Handy family was honored with a reception
following the game.
The next night a concert was held in
Norton Auditorium. A sold-out theatre saw Thomas, Sullivan, and Blake
return to the Shoals stage. Eubie Blake was then 90 and reportedly
the highlight of the night. At the end of the festival, Jim Odum
again stated the festival was to become an annual event.
Under the direction of Odum, both
festivals were considered huge successes. Why a delay of nine more
years before the third festival was held? A slow economy as well as
the aging of Mr. Handy’s family and contemporaries may have been to
blame. Nevertheless, the festival is now a permanent Shoals fixture
each summer.
Bette Favor Terry holds a B.A. in history from UAH.
Bette Favor Terry holds a B.A. in history from UAH.
