R&B singer T.K. Soul will headline this year’s Southside Blues Festival at Townsend Park.
He will perform Saturday night to cap the three-day festival, event co-founder Jeff Smith said.
The event, founded in 2006, celebrates Southside culture and Independence Day, Smith said. It will kick off at 7 p.m. Thursday with a youth night that will include softball, family friendly movies and free food.
“Seventeen years ago, during the Fourth of July weekend, there was nothing going on in Columbus,” said Smith, Lowndes County supervisor for District 4 who started the festival with the late Ward 1 Columbus councilman Gene Taylor. “We both were looking for something that we could create to entertain the community, build relationships in the community and allow an atmosphere of fellowship for the community.”
T.K. Soul, best known for his song, “Try Me,” has more than 75,000 monthly listeners on Spotify and has accumulated millions of streams on his albums dating back to 2002. Other artists, such as Jeter Jones, Mr. Rogers and Keith and Margie Brown will also play on Saturday, with music kicking off at 4 p.m.
Friday’s events, which will be a night full of gospel performances, begins at 6 and will include performances by Big Tone, PreDestine and Alfonso D. Bowen.
Keith Brown expressed excitement to perform for the 10th year at the festival. He said he grew up in Southside and has always enjoyed the community event.
“We love it. It’s a beautiful atmosphere and people get along so well and there’s good food too,” he said. “It gives the community a chance to come together and enjoy themselves without any trouble.”
Smith predicts a turnout of 5,000 to 8,000 people across all three days.
“We want to promote the community to interact in a positive way,” Smith said.
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