The name "King Biscuit Blues Festival" was suggested by Dr. Bill Ferris, a noted blues historian and head of the University of Mississippi's Center for Southern Studies. The "King Biscuit" in its name stems from the fact that Sonny Boy Williamson was a founding performer on King Biscuit Time. This famous live blues radio show on KFFA radio was sponsored by King Biscuit Flour, a product of the Interstate Grocery Company. Sonny Boy is also the person featured on Interstate's Sonny Boy Corn Meal package, which became the basis for the festival logo.

Through the years the festival has grown in size, attendance, days and scope but has never lost sight of its original goal: to bring to Helena the Blues as performed by the musicians that were directly or indirectly influenced by Sonny Boy and his contemporaries. These artists include Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton, Robert Lockwood, Jr., Billy Branch, Kim Wilson of The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Anson Funderburgh and the Rockets featuring Sam Myers, Charlie Mussellwhite, Frank Frost, Sam Carr and a host of others.

We have expanded to five stages and now span four days. These are the Main Blues Stage, the Houston Stackhouse Acoustic Stage, the Robert Lockwood Heritage Stage, the Bit of Blues Stage, and the ever popular Gospel Stage. This year's attendance is estimated to be 100,000 plus over the entire festival period.

The King Biscuit Blues Festival owes its continued existence to two groups: Volunteers and Sponsors.

Volunteers have from the beginning organized and staffed various aspects of the festival: stages, children's events, arts and crafts, arm wrestling, the 5K Run, food vendors, beer sales, etc. Members of the Sonny Boy Blues Society book artists for the Blues Stages and help to manage the stages during the festival.

The budget of the festival is funded by sponsorships, from the Primary Corporate Sponsor, The Isle of Capri Casino and Resort, all the way down to our faithful Biscuit Boosters. The continuing commitment of sponsors has allowed the festival to grow over the years and produce revenue for Main Street Helena, the organization that produces the festival.

When King Biscuit Time started broadcasting in 1941 with Sonny Boy Williamson and Robert Lockwood, Jr. it was a reflection of the musical scene that was current in Helena at the time. The radio program enjoyed a huge following and was listened to religiously by many aspiring, soon to be famous, blues musicians.

Blues popularity has ebbed and flowed over the last fifty years with each new generation discovering the legacy of their musical forefathers. Even though there had been several rediscoveries of the blues, Helena’s contribution never seemed to earn much attention from the blues community. It was this exclusion from recognition that was the kernel for the beginnings of the King Biscuit Blues Festival. Recognition for the artists that helped shape the blues on the Arkansas side of the Delta was sorely lacking. These performers, which played in and around Helena, have had a lasting effect on the landscape of modern popular culture, yet there was little acknowledgment for their contributions.

There is a group of musical kindred souls that are bound together by more than just friendship, the love of the Blues and Helena’s musical past have compelled this group of music maniacs to reach far beyond their grasp in the blues world.

Bubba Sullivan and Jerry Pillow in 1985 decided to explore the possibilities of having some type of Blues Festival in Helena. Neither had ever organized an event of such a large scale so they decided to pull together all of the blues lovers that they knew in the area. The list is a long one of all the individuals that responded to call, some of the most involved were Ray Galloway, George Hays, Houston Stackhouse Jr., Lonnie Shields, James Morgan, Sterling Billingsley, Mike Harcourt and many, many more.

Putting on the first festival was a learning experience for all involved and over the years has been an incredibly rewarding experience for the vast number of volunteers. However, the primary focus of the music maniacs, later the Sonny Boy Blues Society, has been ensuring that the musicians are treated with the highest degree of respect and that there is recognition for their musical contributions to not only blues but our culture.

Two core factors led to the starting of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, respect for the artists and love of the music. These have been the driving forces for the last fifteen years that have kept the founders zeal at a high level. The musicians were truly the focal point in the beginning of the King Biscuit Blues Festival. Early on, the organizers wanted to showcase performers that had been instrumental in the development of Helena’s blues scene. Artists such as Robert Lockwood Jr., Pinetop Perkins, James Cotton, Frank Frost, and Sam Carr, Cedell Davis were all booked for the first festival. These artist were contacted because of their contribution to the blues world and their ties to Helena not because it was felt that they would draw a large crowd and insure the success of the festival. That mind-set has continued to be the attitude of the original organizers since, it is more important to give just recognition to deserving blues artist than to have a line-up that will draw huge crowds but betray Helena’s musical legacy.

The King Biscuit Blues Festival has undergone many changes since the early beginnings, several stages have been added, the number of days have been increase then decreased, bigger budgets, bigger crowds. Through all the many changes, the one constant has been the music and the bond between the musicians and the King Biscuit Blues Festival. The artists realize the organizers are trying to present the music in such a way that will both educate as well as entertain.

The last fifteen years has brought much recognition to Helena and its musical history. People roam around the world gather in Helena each fall to help the community celebrate and honor the musical greatness of its forefathers and its heritage. That was always the goal of the original organizers, recognition for the great African-American musicians from Helena and the area and acknowledgement for their contributions.

What will the future bring for the King Biscuit Blues Festival? Will musicians and the public still hold the festival in such high regard? Will the festival still be able to maintain a high level of talent in the face of increasing fees and costs?

We can’t predict the future in these areas but if the past is any indication, the Biscuit will persevere. The dedication of the hundreds of volunteers, that freely give of their time every year and expect nothing in return, will carry the spirit of the Biscuit into the future.