A trio of turtles sun on a log in Pine Lake at Shelby Farms. (Mike Brown/The Commercial Appeal)

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By Tom Charlier of The Commercial Appeal

A three-day music festival overlooking the newly expanded Patriot Lake will celebrate the grand opening of Shelby Farms Park's $52 million makeover this September, becoming an annual event thereafter.

The Shelby Farms Park Conservancy announced Monday it has established a partnership with The Consortium Memphis Music Town for the festival, which is set for Sept. 23-25 at the new events stage at the edge of the lake.

The Consortium: MMT, founded by David Porter, noted songwriter and producer at Stax Records, was the driving force behind the Epitome of Soul Awards, which most recently honored Stevie Wonder.

The grand opening marks the completion of the Heart of the Park project, which includes expanding Patriot Lake from 55 to 80 acres as well as construction of a new visitors center, a boat house, restaurant and event center and other additions to the 4,500-acre park near Memphis' eastern edge. The project has been headed by the conservancy, which manages the park under a contract with Shelby County.

"We can't think of a better way to celebrate what Shelby Farms Park and the Heart of the Park project mean to Memphis than with a weekend full of music at the water's edge," conservancy executive director Jen Andrews said in a prepared statement.

Porter, who is president of The Consortium: MMT, said, "We are proud to partner with Shelby Farms Park by producing an event celebrating their grand opening the way Memphis does it best: with music."