What will replace the Bessie Smith Strut?

CHATTANOOGA (WDEF) – Part of the Riverbend shakeup announced Thursday is the final nail in the coffin for the Bessie Smith Strut.

On Friday, the Bessie Smith Cultural Center announced the next phase.

They will hold a Chattanooga Big 9 Roots Festival in the fall.

It will be a free, day-long street festival on Saturday, October 5th.

The old Bessie Smith Strut will be discontinued.

The Jazz Strut was part of the original Riverbend back in 1982.

The idea was on one day, to take the festival away from the Riverfront and move it to Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard.  Riverbend booked top jazz and blues artists, and also introduced the city to Zydeco acts.

The Strut quickly became the most popular part of the festival for many and brought people from all over the Tennessee Valley back to The Big Nine district downtown.

But over the last few years, Riverbend has distanced themselves from the Strut and tried to set it up as an independent event, with middling success.

So RIP to the Bessie Smith Jazz Strut.

And here is a story before the decline set in from 1989.