James, Rush, and Lattimore to headline 49th Annual Delta Blues & Heritage Fest

By Brinda F. Willis, Ph.D.

JA Contributing Writer

All blues lovers are set and ready for the annual Delta Blues & Heritage Festival that will once again take over the town on September 19, 2026.

The 49th annual festival will be held at the Washington County Convention Center outside the Fairgrounds in Greenville, Mississippi. The weather and the music will be hot.

Chauncy Wright, the official festival organizer, in conjunction with the Mississippi Action for Community Education (MACE), will serve as hosts of the largest traditional blues festival in the South.

As usual, the 49th Annual Delta Blues & Heritage Festival starts the day with the well-known folk-blues giant Jimmy “Duck” Holmes. He hails from the famous Blue Front Café in Bentonia, Mississippi. 

Lil Jimmy Reed will bring a whole lotta fancy-style fingerpicking guitar to the folk-blues set. He earns high reviews from fans traveling by the busloads to the festival from across the country. 

The Kattawar Brothers will bring their special brand of blue-eyed Rock n Roll soul, tinged with a touch of a Billy Joel piano show that might be seen on the streets of New Orleans.

The Mississippi Hill Country will be represented by the unique sounds of the Rising Stars Fife & Drum duo, which adds music through creative phrasing and instrumentation that is unmatched and not easily copied.

Big “A” & The Allstars will close out the first half of the festival with the speed of a Chicago-style guitar festival act.

On the blues side of this year’s 49th Annual Delta Blues & Heritage Festival, Miss Leela James, an international blues and jazz-infused diva, will be the headliner, bringing a sophisticated, sultry sound to the Mississippi Delta for the first time.

The traditional blues lineup is jam-packed with a diverse group of musicians that includes the three-time GRAMMY Winner King of the Chitlin Circuit…Bad Bad Bobby Rush and his Band & Revue led by Mizz Lowe and those famous dancing girls. The 92-year-old Bobby Rush has been a staple on the festival lineup for all but two years since the festival began in 1978.

Longtime blues piano man “Lattimore” will keep the crowd engaged with a litany of familiar sing-along standards, allowing the audience to become part of his performance.

World-renowned blues guitarist Eddie Cotton Jr. will also be a part of the lineup to lay down his signature licks and vocals that are always crowd-pleasing.

Fan favorite and South Mississippi native LJ Echols will bring in the R & B sounds of the day with a little Texas dance and sing-along twist.

Nathaniel Kimble will rock the stage with his special R & B hit list that brings the audience to their feet from the time he sets foot on stage, leaving everyone clamoring for more.

Jl & K Morris will close out the festival with a touch of youthful flair and high energy.

GATE OPENS 10 AM • FESTIVAL STARTS 12 PM.

Tickets are available at WWW.DELTABLUESMS.ORG.

Festival sponsors include Visit Mississippi, MAC/MS Arts Commission, Greenville CCVB, Harlow’s Resort & Spa, SOL/Engineering Services, Washington County, MACE/Mississippi Action for Community Education, and The Official Website of Greenville, Mississippi. 

The Washington County Convention Center Fairgrounds is located at 1040 S. Raceway Rd., Greenville, MS.