Page 70 - Blues Festival Guide Magazine 2014

Each yEar thE BLUES FESTIVAL GUIDE congratulatEs thE rEcipiEnt of thE KEEPING THE BLUES ALIVE award for BEST BLUES FESTIVAL

KBA Recipient

BLUES FOUNDATION’S BLUES FESTIVAL OF THE YEAR 2014

By Karen McFarland & Chris Ortiz had to scramble each year to find sponsorships and grant funding.
In 1993, the MVBS was awarded the KBA for Organization of
the Year for moving the festival to higher ground in only eight
Mississippi Valley days. The Great River was to flood again in 2001, 2008 and
Blues Festival (US) 2013, but each time the MVBS was able to relocate and the
Davenport, Iowa show went on.
A committee of a dozen or so MVBS members chooses the
Imagine a park right next to the festival performers, and fans acknowledge that the lineups are
Mississippi River, bound on the other stellar in presenting a variety of styles and featured instruments
side by railroad tracks and Highway while including blues legends as well as new faces. After 30
61: that’s the beautiful setting for the Mississippi Valley Blues years, the list of performers at the festival is a virtual Who’s
Festival in Davenport, Iowa, what the Blues Foundation has Who in the blues. Many people plan their summer vacations
called, “one of the longest running, most prestigious blues festivals around the festival and most are repeat attendees. The laid-back
in the world.” Now celebrating our 30th anniversary, this is the ambience of LeClaire Park is key to the festival’s appeal. It’s also
only major blues festival entirely produced by an all-volunteer easy to get up close to performers when they conduct workshops.
organization, the Mississippi Valley Blues Society. The music is continuous, complete with two stages, including
In 1985, a small group of blues enthusiasts, tired of the three- a historic bandshell, 28 acts over three days, free workshops,
hour road trips to Chicago to hear live blues, banded together to BlueSKool for kids and a photo/film exhibit.
produce a free, home-grown blues festival in Davenport, Iowa’s Join us over the Independence Day weekend, July 3-5, for
LeClaire Park, right on the Mississippi River. That year 10,000 the fireworks by George Thorogood, Savoy Brown featuring
people attended when the organizers had expected 1,000. Kim Simmonds, Tinsley Ellis, Terrance Simien, Dexter Allen,
Until the Great Flood of 1993, the festival was financially Deanna Bogart, Lucky Peterson, Doug Deming & the Jeweltones
self-sufficient and by the late ‘80s, legends like John Lee Hooker, with Dennis Gruenling, Tad Robinson, Roy Book Binder, Jarekus
Buddy Guy, Otis Rush and Johnny Shines brought in crowds to Singleton and many more.
the festival. After 1993, the festival’s producers – the Mississippi The Mississippi Valley Blues Society seeks to fulfill its mission
Valley Blues Society (MVBS), a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization – of educating the public about the American art form of the
blues by making the festival financially accessible. The first day
will feature a rock-bottom admission price and fireworks over
the river. Check our website at www.mvbs.org for updates on
performers and other news.

BluesCazorla
Festival
(International)
Cazorla, Spain

For twenty years, BluesCazorla
has brought the best names in
blues music to a small village of 8,000 people in Andalucia,
Spain, three hours south of Madrid. Names such as Koko Taylor,
Buddy Guy, George Thorogood, Mavis Staples, John Mayall,
Magic Slim, Solomon Burke, Jimmy Vaughan, James Cotton,
Mississippi Valley Blues Festival bandshell Photo by Dennis Fretty

68 Blues Festival Guide 2014