Highlights of 2025 Joplin Music Festival Previewed

The 2025 Scott Joplin International Ragtime Music Festival begins Wednesday with a Ragtime Reunion (meet & greet) that welcomes performers and fans alike to Sedalia.

The free event takes place at the Furnell Pavilion at 2nd & Ohio.

The open-air Pavilion will also be the site of several free performances during the festival, which runs through Saturday, May 31.

Because of how the calendar falls this year, the music fest will conclude before the first day of June arrives.

Having said that, be aware that the forecast currently calls for a 90 percent chance of rain Thursday morning with a high of 66. That is, coincidentally, when the opening ceremony is slated for -- 9 a.m., at the aforementioned Pavilion.

At the opening ceremony, Sedalia Mayor Pro Tem Rhiannon Foster is expected to welcome everyone to downtown Sedalia, and John Simmons, president of the Scott Joplin Ragtime Foundation, is also expected to speak.

Artistic Director Bryan Wright will deliver his remarks “Time For Ragtime” and Ragtime Kids Director William (Bill) McNally will introduce the Ragtime Kids to help kick off the festival with Jared Szabo. Also performing will be Flint Long, from North Carolina, who played the first festival in 1974 as Bob Long.

Then at 10 a.m., all three free venues will open up with performances from Frederick Hodges at the Pavilion, Nick Taylor at the Stark Tent (100 block of East 5th) and Donald Ryan at the Katy Depot, 600 East 3rd Street.

If you can grab one of those free booklets that show every artist who is performing at the festival, it will greatly help you plan your day in downtown Sedalia. For the most part, a different musical artist will take the stage every 30 minutes at all three venues for the rest of the week from 9 a.m., to 5 p.m.

The Sedalia Democrat distributed booklets to their subscribers last week, and there should be stacks of them available at the venues. The cover features a 1905 Scott Joplin composition “Bethena” a Concert Waltz, with lavender and green colors adorning the official souvenir program.

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Paid concerts will be held at the Hayden Liberty Center, 111 W. 5th Street, Thursday Friday and Saturday.

Concerts at 2 and 7:30 Thursday and Friday, and on Saturday, concerts at 12 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are available at the Liberty Center Box Office.

On Saturday, make note that a Ragtime Parade will be held at 10 a.m., starting at 7th and Ohio. Dress accordingly.

Also on Saturday is a fashion show at the Liberty starting at 9 a.m.

Of special interest is the second annual Trolley Tour, organized by local author, historian and educator Becky Singer Carr Imhauser. Tickets are $30 each, and are the hot ticket this year. Extra trolley runs had to be added to accommodate the demand, she said. Each Trolley Run will last 90 minutes.

Two symposia will be offered at the Liberty Center this week, at 9 a.m., Thursday and Friday. Cost is $15 each for a three-hour session.

Thursday’s symposia will feature Jeanette Watts, Andy and Virgina Tichenor and David Thomas Roberts.

Friday’s symposia will feature Clement Sechaud, Frederick Hodges and Adam Swanson.

Learn to dance at the Fox Theatre for free. There is a one-hour dance lesson scheduled for 11 a.m. Thursday and Friday. A kids dance lesson will be offered at 1 p.m. Saturday only.

And at 5:45 p.m., The Ragtime Dance event will take place at the Fox. Cost for that is $28.

At The Venue, LLC,  219 South Ohio, it’s Dining With The Stars on Thursday starting at 5:15 p.m. Cost is $55 each for the Roaring 20’s style gala dinner.

For more information, go to scottjoplin.org.

There is more to see on the Foundation's YouTube Channel.

In the top photo: Adam Swanson performs on the piano in the middle of South Ohio at last year's Scott Joplin International Ragtime Festival.