A new music festival is coming to Tom Lee Park this spring. Here's everything we know.

The Beale Street Music Festival may not be happening, but another major concert festival will take place at Tom Lee Park next spring.

On Thursday, Memphis in May announced it was suspending its annual Beale Street Music Festival after more than 40 years, due to falling attendance and crippling financial losses.

Then came Friday's news: Memphis River Parks Partnership announced it had reached an agreement with Forward Momentum, the promoters of the Mempho Music Festival, to put on a new as-yet unnamed multiday concert festival at Tom Lee Park in May 2024.

The annual Mempho Music Fest, which takes place each fall at the Memphis Botanic Garden, will continue as normal — but Mempho organizers have been tasked with putting together a major spring festival at Tom Lee. The new Mempho-produced fest will take place May 3-5 and will feature multiple stages and dozens of top national and international acts performing.

An official announcement of the new festival’s name, as well as an initial artist lineup, is expected in the next few weeks.

“We are excited to partner with Forward Momentum to make sure that our rich tradition of music in Memphis continues," said Carol Coletta, president of Memphis River Parks Partnership, in a news release. "Finding a partner to fill that important May slot that is so important to our local businesses and our tourism industry was a priority for us. With its successful track record and deep financial strength, Forward Momentum was a great fit for a signature music event in Memphis."

“Music is in our blood, deeply connected to our Memphis community, and we aim to continue this rich legacy and history by introducing a feature destination event, with major acts and broad appeal, that will keep visitors coming back year after year,” said Jeff Bransford of Forward Momentum in a news release.

The end of Beale Street Music Fest at Tom Lee Park, and the launch of the new Mempho-curated festival in the park, follows the Memphis River Parks Partnership’s $61 million renovation of the riverside attraction.

“Having Forward Momentum step up to claim that critical May weekend is more confirmation that our investment in Memphis’ riverfront has created a year-round attraction for tourists and localsalike," said Paul Young, president of the Downtown Memphis Commission and mayor-elect, in a news release.

On Thursday, Memphis in May officials released a statement saying they were pausing the Beale Street Music Festival in 2024. The organization also confirmed it would be moving forward with its two other major events: the World Championship Barbecue Cooking Contest, which will take place May 15-18 at Liberty Park, and the Great American River Run, set for May 25, in Downtown Memphis.

The decision to put Beale Street Music Festival on hiatus follows Memphis in May's Oct. 3 announcement that it had suffered a record $3.48 million loss from its 2023 operations. It also reported attendance at Beale Street Music Festival “fell to its lowest level in over thirty years at 37,805."

In addition, the festival's events at Tom Lee resulted in $1,425,366 damages (largely caused during the barbecue contest), money owed to the Memphis River Parks Partnership. In September, Memphis River Parks filed a lawsuit against Memphis in May, seeking to collect an outstanding balance of $675,000 for the damages to Tom Lee.

As part of its announcement, Memphis in May suggested that pausing the Beale Street Music Festival in 2024 was "to explore all options to present an event in the future that meets the standards and authenticity expected of the brand." But a new festival coming into Tom Lee Park could make relaunching Beale Street Music Festival even more challenging.

In terms of Mempho, the festival was originally conceived as something of a fall counterpoint to Beale Street Music Festival. Mempho launched in 2017 at Shelby Farms Park, returning music to the scenic outdoor setting for the first time in nearly two decades. The fest continued at Shelby Farms through 2019, with a fairly impressive array of headliners over the years, including Post Malone, Wu-Tang Clan, Jack White's group The Raconteurs and Anderson .Paak.

The 2020 festival, however, was canceled due to COVID-19. In 2021, Mempho came back with a new home at the Radians Amphitheater at the Botanic Garden. The move was a success, both in terms of attendance and logistics, and the Garden remains homebase for the fest. Mempho has also been expanding its brand, promoting various concerts year-round in Memphis, under its Mempho Presents banner.

This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: New music festival coming to Memphis' Tom Lee Park: What to know