Helena-West Helena, Phillips County, Arkansas, is the home of the King Biscuit Blues Festival, which began in 1986. The festival takes its name from the world's longest-running blues radio program, King Biscuit Time, which was originally hosted by Sonny "Sunshine" Payne and broadcast from KFFA Radio in Helena.
In 1986 Bubba Sullivan and Jerry Pillow organized the first annual King Biscuit Blues Festival starring blues legends Robert Lockwood Jr., Pinetop Perkins, CeDell Davis, Sam Carr, James Cotton, and Frank Frost.
The Pryor Center began interviewing musicians and recording symposia at the King Biscuit Blues Festival in 2015.
