How splitting Memphis in May and Tom Lee Park could cost Memphis millions
The park and the festival have been nearly inseparable since the 1970's. Splitting the two again in 2024 could cost the region millions.
This week, organizers plan on announcing the dates and venues for Memphis in May 2024. The nonprofit must find a new competition space for its World Championship BBQ Cooking Contest after sending a letter to competitors saying Tom Lee Park is no longer an option. Organizers cited a rift after a $1.4 million damage bill from the 2023 festival.
Looking back at the history of the festival, one historian argues the park and the festival go ‘hand in hand,’ growing together for decades.
It all starts with the heroic story of Tom Lee.
The Birth of Tom Lee Park How an act of heroism started Memphis' riverside
On May 8, 1925, Lee, a native Memphian and Black River worker, saved dozens of people from a sinking riverboat, using a small wooden rowboat he paddled back and forth from the shore.
Historian Wayne Dowdy believes Lee represents the best of Memphis.
“He saved 32 lives… men, women and children, although Lee couldn’t swim himself,” said Dowdy. “It was an incredible disaster, mostly averted by Tom Lee.”
Lee became a community hero. Tributes and gifts poured in from around the country. Lee was even celebrated at the White House by President Calvin Coolidge.
Two years after his death in 1952, the city of Memphis renamed Astor Park after Tom Lee. By the 1970’s, it was the focal point of one of the city’s biggest celebrations.
The Birth of Memphis in May How the festival revitalized downtown
According to its website, the first Beale Street Music Festival launched in 1977. From then on, the park and the festival were nearly inseparable.
“As more people for their attention on downtown, then Tom Lee Park becomes more important because it’s a beautiful spot and it’s easily accessible,” said Dowdy. “Memphis in May and Tom Lee Park were so entwined, you couldn’t separate them if you wanted.”
By 1997, the number of attendees for Memphis in May grew to more than 165,000—selling out attendance for all three days. As the festival grew, so did the park.
“In the 90’s, one of the reasons they dredged [the park] and made it bigger was because of the Memphis in May festival,” said Dowdy.
That was the park’s first expansion by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Memphis’s riverfront parks were expanded to its current, nearly one-mile long footprint.
In 2017, the City of Memphis created a task force dedicated to the riverfront’s future called the Memphis River Parks Partnership. The organization spearheaded a plan to renovate the riverfront park.
But the $60 million dollar renovation project kicked the festival out of the historic place it’s called home for years.
The Split MRPP vs. Memphis in May
In 2022, the festival was held at Liberty Park and the Old Mid-South Fairgrounds. At the time, the festival experienced its biggest decline in attendance in two decades. According to the non-profit, as a result of the attendance decline, the organization reported a record-setting financial loss of $2.23 million from the 2022 festival operations.
That was a concern for Memphis Mayor Jim Strickland.
“I think Memphis in May is an asset for our community,” said Mayor Strickland. “I very much insisted that it get back into Tom Lee Park this year.”
The Future Where do we go from here?
Looking ahead to 2024, the park and the festival will part ways again, while Memphis in May struggles to pay a $1.4 million damage bill from the 2023 festival. Meanwhile, Memphis River Parks Partnership is now suing the non-profit for the unpaid bill.
Money is tight for the non-profit. The group lost nearly $3.5 million during the 2023 festival. CEO James Holt has not agreed to any of ABC24's interview requests, but he did release a statement saying the festival will go on next year, but the organization is “making some tough but necessary decisions.”