Free Family Day at the Stax Museum with Support from Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris' Nonprofit Committee

The Stax Museum of American Soul Music announced that it will continue with its free-admission “Family Day” on May 13, 2023, 1-4 pm as part of the month of May’s Stax Museum’s 20^th Anniversary celebration. Admission during that time is free for everyone.

Children of all ages are treated to:

• Live music indoors and outside
• Food trucks
• Arts & crafts
• Bouncy houses
• Face painting
• Balloon artists
• Games
• Other activities throughout the afternoon

This Family Day, we are being supported by. Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris’ Nonprofit Committee. Mayor Harris established the committee in 2021 to bring together representatives from over 150 nonprofit organizations to establish a committee that would strategically align the work they do, identify barriers by providing services, and formulate concrete solutions to problems. Its subcommittees include Arts and Culture, Youth and Education, and  Health and Community Services. 

On May 13 we will host numerous other arts groups and nonprofits, and there will be food trucks, games and activities, arts & crafts for children, bouncy houses, face painting, balloon artists, and live music inside the Stax Museum and in our outdoor amphitheater.

Admission for everyone will be free 1-4 pm.

The May 13 Family Day is also a celebration of the new partnership between the Stax Museum and WDIA of iHeart Media. As we celebrate the Stax Museum’s 20^th Anniversary, and the nation’s first station for African American programming celebrates its 75^th Anniversary, look for more events with the station including a WDIA memorabilia exhibit this fall. WDIA helped promote Stax Records back in the day and without them Stax may never have been so successful. The station will be at Family Day with a live remote and on-air personalities like the legendary Stan Bell and Bev Johnson.

Family Day allows children and their families to enjoy more exposure to the arts. Visitors also learn more about Memphis history and the role Stax Records played, which includes much of the Civil Rights Era.

Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris said, “The arts allow children, adults, and families to experience new worlds. One of the missions of Shelby County’s Nonprofit Committee is to open up those worlds to more people. It’s at events, like Stax Museum’s Family Day, where the arts and culture that abound in our community become more accessible to all.”

“It has become one of our most popular days of the month,” said Stax Museum executive director Jeff Kollath. “We offer free admission for Shelby County residents every Tuesday 1-5 pm, but this gives parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and others more time to come see us on a weekend, learn a little more about the music created at Stax and its history, and just enjoy themselves.”

Family Day gives visitors access to the entire museum, which has a newly renovated introductory theater, lobby, gift shop, and lounge. The regular $13 admission fee is waived for everyone 1-4 pm.