200+ performances: W.C. Handy Festival in the Shoals July 15-26

building permits — W.C. Handy Recreation Center in Florence. (City of Florence)

The W.C. Handy Music Festival is back in the Shoals from July 15-26, with over 200 live pop-up performances across the city.

The festival has grown to become a 12-day affair, with performances taking place at all sorts of venues; from churches to bars, sidewalks to stores, you’re sure to find fantastic local music all over the region.

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What is the W.C. Handy Music Festival?

Florence, AL (Ben Johnson / Hville Blast)

Tuscumbia Railroad Historic Museum in Tuscumbia, Alabama

The Shoals is an area rich with musical history. (Hville Blast)

The festival got its start in 1982, when Florence-based Music Preservation Society, Inc. came up with the idea to honor W.C. Handy, the Florence native + self-proclaimed “Father of the Blues”. Over the last 44 years, the festival has blossomed from three to multiple days, taking place all over the Shoals; performances take place in Florence, Sheffield, Tuscumbia and Muscle Shoals.

This year, the festival will feature over 200 individual performances over 12 days. Iconic performers in years past include first-ever headliner Dizzy Gillespie, Ellis Marsalis, Keb’ Mo’ and Huntsville legend Microwave Dave.

Who was W.C. Handy?

William Christopher Handy, better-known as W.C. Handy, is responsible for creating dozens of iconic blues hits, such as “St. Louis Blues”, and was one of the first musicians to formally produce compositions for the genre. He is often credited with initiating the renaissance of blues music in America.

The festival is named for him as he was a Florence native, with many of his songs and compositions being tied to his Northwest AL heritage. His childhood home is preserved in Florence, and you can visit it!

W.C. Handy Music Festival 2026 details

day trips — Visit the birthplace of W.C. Handy in Florence. (Audrey Johnson/Hville Blast)

The W.C. Handy Music Festival is an annual celebration in the Shoals, commemorating and honoring the music + artists born and raised in Northwest AL. It is named after W.C. Handy, the self-referred “Father of the Blues” born in Florence, AL in 1873.