The Rain

It always rains cats and dogs the first week in May. So why don't  the organizers move the annual event to one week later and avoid the disappointment. For the last twenty something festivals I know have been plagued with bad weather. Why don't the organizers just change the dates? Then it dawned on me. When I look at the entertainment line-up and the pictures of the crowd. I suspect this might be by design.

If I were planning a festival for all of Memphis. I would aim for decent weather. But maybe this isn't designed  with all Memphians in mind. In spite of that they still enjoy record numbers every year. They highlight all types of music except those this city is most popular for. A very small percentage of the acts can be classified as Blues, Soul or R&B. That includes the nostalgia circuit Rap acts. They'll book "Big Boi" but not "Outkast". It's mostly Rock and Pop with some Country sprinkled throughout. This is as big as the "Essence Music Festival" in Atlanta. And the overwhelming majority of black concert goers in Memphis don't even attend. Why do you think that is the case?

By planning this event at this time every year. They enjoy built in crowd control and security.  What's the odds of drawing a crowd like this in a city that has a 65% black population?  They're pretty high with showers in the forecast. It's a known fact that blacks don't like the water. Blacks are the only ones who have a swim party and no one gets in  the pool. To answer a question once asked by "Boyz to Men". They can't stand the rain.