Dancing on ‘Big Nine’

Shanequa Gay, an artist from Atlanta, missed seeing Bessie Smith perform live by nearly 70 years.

Now, because of the Bessie Smith Heritage Festival on Saturday, Gay said she is becoming part of the Chattanooga blues age she never got to experience.

“It’s a flashback to Bessie Smith, but I feel like by inserting my art that I’m becoming a part of that culture,” said Gay, a student at the Savannah College of Art and Design who brought her paintings to sell at the festival.

Gay was just one of the artists and vendors at the festival, which hosted more than 800 people wanting to see renowned bluesman Bobby “Blue” Bland. Other musicians included Anthony David, Phil Perry and Maysa.

The festival celebrated a time when legendary singer Bessie Smith and other blues musicians like B.B. King and Ray Charles frequented the “Big Nine,” now Martin Luther King Boulevard, said event organizer Rose Martin.

“It’s a mission-driven event to remember the cultural legacy of Bessie Smith,” Martin said. “My favorite part is seeing the lawn and streets come alive with enthusiasm.”

Smith and Bland fans from all over the country arrived in throngs to the Bessie Smith Cultural Center for the festival, which ran until midnight with patrons singing, dancing, eating and shopping with the various artists and performers.

Joan Dangerfield said she heard about the festival from several furniture retailers while on a shopping trip Saturday and decided to come by because she liked “the upbeat side of blues.”

“We have to keep this culture going for the generations behind us or else they might not even know it existed,” Dangerfield said. “Promoting these artists in this kind of way is essential to educating our future on these legends.”

It wasn’t just the culture being promoted at the event. Martin said the festival also was held to draw people to that part of town to boost tourism.

“This has an economic impact because we’re letting people see what Martin Luther King Boulevard has to offer,” Martin said.

Still, to some the most important part of this event was not the music.

Jerry Allen, a Chattanooga artist who paints and draws portraits of blues musicians, said he had studied the history behind Martin Luther King Boulevard before coming to the festival.

“I’m just glad the community can come together for things like this,” Allen said. “I’m glad they’re getting to see me as an artist.”