The Crossroads Guitar Festival, founded by Eric Clapton, is an event benefiting the Crossroads Centre, a facility in Antigua which provides treatment for alcohol and other drug dependencies, which was also founded by Eric Clapton. The festival features well-known blues, rock, and bluegrass musicians, many of whom are Clapton's influences, former band mates, or friends.

The 2010 festival will be held on June 26th in Chicago and will feature many of the same musicians who performed at previous Crossroads festivals. There are also opportunities at the festival to interact with the musicians during workshops, and to view or purchase rare guitars.

The Crossroads Guitar Festival was previously held in 2004 and 2007. The 2004 festival, held at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, Texas, brought together blues and rock legends including Jeff Beck, B. B. King, Carlos Santana, Bo Diddley, Cheryl Crow, and founder Eric Clapton, performing major works of blues, rock, and bluegrass. In addition to performances and guitar clinics, the 2004 festival featured a rare-guitar auction, which raised more than $7 million for the Crossroads Centre.

At the 2007 festival, held in Toyota Park, Chicago (also the Festival's 2010 venue), attendees could also experience the Festival Village, which featured guitar-related exhibits, demonstrations, and interactive workshops. Original rare guitars, including Eric Clapton's "Blackie" and Stevie Ray Vaughan’s "Lenny," were on display, and festival goers were the first to see the Eric Clapton Crossroads Stratocaster. The Crossroads Stratocaster and the Crossroads '57 Twin-Amps were put out by Fender in order to support Clapton's philanthropic efforts.

The 2007 festival, deemed "an eleven-hour marathon of solos and joy" by Rolling Stone, was opened by Bill Murray with what the Daily Herald called "a rough version" of "Gloria" by Chicago band The Shadows of Knight. http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/07/30/crossroads-guitar-festival-clapton-bb-king-jeff-beck-tear-through-six-string-salutes-to-friends-and-idols/ <ref>http://crossroadsguitarfestival.com/2007/presscoverage.htmlBoth the 2004 and 2007 festivals were featured on the PBS series Great Performances. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/gperf/episodes/eric-claptons-crossroads-guitar-festival/introduction/81/

Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, J.J. Cale, Robert Cray, Sheryl Crow, Bo Diddley, Vince Gill, Buddy Guy, Eric Johnson, B.B. King, Jonny Lang, John Mayer, Steve Vai, Joe Walsh, ZZ Top

Eric Clapton, The Derek Trucks Band, B.B. King, John Mayer, Steve Winwood, Sheryl Crow, Alison Krauss, Willie Nelson, Los Lobos, Jeff Beck