Construction at Marina Park will temporary be placed on hiatus for the ninth annual Thunder Bay Blues Festival weekend.
The multimillion-dollar development plan will take a break to allow the musical event held in July to go on without interruptions. The City of Thunder Bay and organizers of the Blues Festival have already talked about how to minimize the impact the park’s development will have during the show.
Trevor Hurtig, chair of marketing development for the Thunder Bay Blues Festival, said Thursday during the announcement of the festivals lineup that construction wouldn’t have much of an impact during performances. The development’s presence won’t be completely unnoticed, however, as there will be limited pathways where people can walk.
This year’s Blues Fest lineup has 20 confirmed musical acts including headline performers Robert Randolph, the Blues Traveler and Taj Mahal.
Hurtig said organizers are excited that the festival will feature three headline performances for the first time this year.
"This year we have three rock solid performers," Hurtig said. "It was just an opportunity that came our way to have people come out to all three evenings. People were coming out to the Friday performances but not as much as the other two nights."
Last year the event had more than 14,000 people come into the marina area to listen to the music over the weekend.
Hurtig said he hopes the performance of Randolph would attract even more people to the Friday night show.
The price of a Blues Fest weekend pass has increased to $75, a rise that organizers attribute to the pending HST that will be implemented on July 1. Hurtig said the event takes place after the proposed HST deadline and had to factor in the additional cost.
The Blues Festival starts on Friday, July 9 at 5 p.m. and concludes Sunday, July 11 at 11 p.m.
Bands and performers scheduled to appear include:
Friday:
- Mark Potvin
- Michael Burks
- Albert Cummings
- Robert Randolph and the Family Band
Saturday:
- Slap Johnson and the Trowellers
- Big Walter Smith
- Jimmy Thackery and the Drivers
- Joanne Shaw Taylor
- Eric Sardinas
- Ana Popovic
- Tab Benoit
- Blues Traveler
Sunday:
- Nick Moss and the Flip Tops
- Candye Kane
- Mike Zito
- The Chain
- Matt Schofield
- Deanna Bogart
- Curtis Salgado
- Taj Mahal
