Portland Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival Promises to Be One of the Best Events yet

Every year, the second largest blues festival in the US takes place annually on park-like setting at the edge of the Willamette River in downtown Portland, Oregon, bringing over 100,000 fans for a five-day party. It is the biggest blues music celebration this side of the Mississippi River and was named Northwest Blues Event of The Year by the Cascade Blues Association, and the Ray Charles Tribute won a Muddy Award for Performance of The Year. It also received the Keeping the Blues Alive Award from the national Blues Foundation as well as the Ovation Award as Oregon’s Best Festival, Civic Celebration or Community Event.

Now in its 19th year, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival has a reputation of bringing the best, world-renowned blues entertainment, but this time it promises to be a special, magical time. Sponsored by First Tech Credit Union, with major support from CO-OP Network, iQ Credit Union, FedEx Freight, Daimler Chrysler Truck Financial, Delta Music Experience, HSBC, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Chipotle, Miller Brewing, KINK FM 102 and The Oregonian, this year the festival will focus will be on Gulf Coast artists, many of whom moved here after their home towns were devastated during Hurricane Katrina, and the music of New Orleans. It is a celebration of triumph.

And this isn’t the first time that the festival has brought Gulf Coast musicians to Portland. Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina, the same organizers donated their time and experience to coordinate the “Blues for Katrina” benefit concert, which raised $125,000 for hurricane relief.

This year’s concert promises to be a monster. BRING THE ENTIRE FAMILY! In addition to the world’s best Blues, Rock and Pop from New Orleans, the festival will also include workshops for all ages and a blues lab for children! And like every year, the festival will conclude on the evening of Independence Day where you will witness one of the best fireworks shows in the West Coast.

Where else can you get this kind of experience for an $8 per person donation and two cans of food? Yes, that’s right: The festival is an annual fund raiser for the Oregon Food Bank, which manages a network of 20 or so food banks and almost 900 hunger relief agencies in Oregon. For every dollar that the Oregon Food Bank collects it distributes more than $7 in food to the needy and education programs geared at ending hunger. Every month, it is estimated that 194,000 people in Oregon and Clark County, Washington receive emergency food boxes from OFB. Thirty-eight percent of the recipients are children. Additionally, the organization distributes food to soup kitchens and homeless shelters, serving some 4-million meals.

There is no question that these folks are into this for the love of blues music, a heritage that is uniquely American. No one should have the blues because they are hungry.

There will be five days of music from more than 100 of the best musicians blues has to offer of four stages featuring:

Louisiana born blues pianist, singer and songwriter Dr. John
John Hiatt & the North Mississippi Allstars
“The Blues Queen of New Orleans” Marva Wright
The Rebirth Brass Band
Little Feat
The “Soul Queen of New Orleans” Irma Thomas
Ivan Neville & Dumpstaphunk
Porter-Batiste-Stoltz
The Bluerunners
Zydeco Swamp Romp
Henry Gray & the Cats
The Greyboy Allstars
The Hacienda Brothers with Paladin Dave Gonzales and Cold Hard Facts leader Chris Gaffney.
Soul Stirrers
Lee Boys
Linda Hornbuckle and pianist Janice Scroggins

Geoff Muldaur, Jim Kweskin and others will perform a tribute in honor of Portland’s late Fritz Richmond, one of the greatest jug and washtub bassists of all time.

The Portland Blues Festival is something to be experienced. It happens every year without fail, during the best time of the year for food, drink and music. From the grassy park-like setting, one can see the boaters as they anchor up at the edge of the river to listen and participate from the comfort of their boats. Portland is one of the most beautiful cities in the US. The Portland Blues Festival is a good excuse to come and check it out for yourself. Once you’ve been here, you’ll keep coming back – year after year as I do. See you there!