Presenting The W.C. Handy Poster For 2021

THE SHOALS-The Music Preservation Society, Inc. Board of Directors has selected the winner of this year’s W.C. Handy Music Festival design competition. The Handy Festival will celebrate four decades of annual Handy Festivals with a design by Mr. Garrett Rittenberry.

The artist describes the design as being his rendition of William Christopher Handy playing his trumpet. Mr. Rittenberry is a professional artist who has worked at a major music industry record label designing graphics for nationally known singers. Previously based in Nashville, Tennessee, and now residing in Sheffield, Rittenberry and his wife decided to move to the area after watching the documentary “Muscle Shoals”. He is looking forward to attending his first W.C. Handy Festival, and to hearing the best performers in the world.

The W.C. Handy Festival Steering Committee will soon post the design, along with a preliminary schedule of Handy events, on the official website at www.WCHandyMusicFestival.com. This year’s Handy Festival will extend for two full weeks, beginning on Sunday, July 18th and ending on Sunday, August 1st, not including post Festival events in mid-August.

This year’s 40th W.C. Handy Festival design will be featured on the 2021 t-shirts, posters, brochures, and other marketing materials. A limited number of the posters will be autographed by the artist, and will be available along with unsigned posters for purchase at Handy Headquarters and other locations. Handy Headquarters will be located in the Southall-Moore House, 215 East Tuscaloosa Street, across from Wilson Park in Florence. Posters and other concession items will soon be available for purchase. The Handy Festival Steering Committee will follow guidelines to help ensure a safe Handy Festival.