Another Beale Street Snooze Fest?

By Kate Stukenborg and Phoebe Lusk-Hussong

The time to vote for who will be seen on stage at the annual Beale Street Music Fest has rolled back around. Remembering that last year’s lineup was met with disappointment, two Arts and Entertainment reporters conducted a poll to potentially uncover any differences in the preferences of St. Mary’s girls and that of the 901 community. See the results for yourself here!

While last year’s lineup for Beale Street Music Festival didn’t garner too much excitement from the St. Mary’s community or the greater Memphis community, this year has the potential to better reflect Memphians’ interests and hopes for the various performances. In late Oct., Choose901, an organization and media site dedicated to all things Memphis, released a poll in which Memphians could vote for their preferred artists for the next Beale Street Music Festival. Each respondent chose up to five favorites from options ranging from the likes of Vance Joy to DJ Khaled. We decided to send the same exact poll to the St. Mary’s student population to find out how our interests compare with those of the Memphis community. Here’s what the Turkeys had to say: ​

Noting the similarities between the two polls, we found that while both the St. Mary’s community and the greater Memphis area are interested in hearing rap artists such as Post Malone and J Cole, St. Mary’s students show a more diverse array of interests across the board. It is worth noting that Brand New, an alternative rock band formed in the 2000s, is number one in the Choose901 poll while they only had a dismal 2% of the votes in the St. Mary’s poll. Though it is unlikely that every one of these artists will be featured at this year’s festival, it is intriguing to hear the input of Memphians.
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Whether or not everyone’s preferred artist makes an appearance, the exciting atmosphere and the anticipation of Beale Street Music Fest are enough to make anyone look forward to May 4-6, 2018.