THUNDER BAY – The all-Canadian Thunder Bay Blues Festival seems to be a hit for a second straight summer.
Organizers of the event, scheduled to take place this weekend at Marina Park, say ticket sales are on pace – or even slightly ahead – of last year’s record-setting gate.
Topped by rare get Amanda Marshall, the Barenaked Ladies and Randy Bachman, the lineup has caught the imagination of the ticket-buying public, said Trevor Hurtig, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium’s manager of marketing development and communications.
“We’re really excited about it this year,” Hurtig said on Monday, knee deep in preparations for the three-day event, which last year drew 20,000 people to the city’s waterfront.
“I feel that we have one of the strongest lineups we’ve ever had at the festival. Certainly the recognizable names go a lot deeper and a lot earlier in the day than we’ve ever had in the past.”
The Sam Roberts Band, with a string of hits that are staples on radio stations from the Maritimes to British Columbia, former Great Big Sea front-man Alan Doyle, Big Sugar, Widemouth Mason, Kim Mitchell, Barney Bentall and the Legendary Hearts and Lighthouse are just some of the familiar names populating this year’s festival, which should mean bigger crowds than usual earlier in the day.
The interest is certainly at peak level, Hurtig said.
“The numbers are pretty much right on with last year, even slightly ahead, depending which day we look at it,” he said.
“All indications are we are going to have another weekend just like last year. We’re just hoping for some great weather, and it looks like the forecast is pretty good at this point.”
According to Environment Canada, sunshine is the order of the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, with a few clouds creeping in on the final two days of the festival and temperatures ranging from 24 C to 28 C – though likely a little cooler at the waterfront.
Better weather will draw more walk-up ticket buyers, Hurtig said.
“You want to see that you’re not going to get completely rained on, but I always say Thunder Bay has a great ingenuity when it comes to the weather and the rain. I’ve never seen people flip their hoods up on their jackets and have an umbrella up in one motion so fast in my life,” Hurtig said.
He added they have made some improvements at security to help better facilitate entry into Blues Fest, hopefully cutting down on wait times with large crowds expected.
While rockers dominate the top half of the bill, there’s plenty of blues flavouring for the purists, Hurtig pointing to the Powder Blues Band, Angel Forrest and Jerome Godboo as can’t-miss acts he’s looking forward to seeing live on stage.
Other performers include Jack Semple, The Julian Taylor Band, Anthony Gomes and the 24th Street Wailers.
Local acts are also front and centre, opening the festival all three days, and include Rock Steady on Friday, Boardroom Gypsies on Saturday and both Driven and Dr. Buck and the Bluesbangers on Sunday.
Tickets are available at the Auditorium box office until 2 p.m. on Friday, and at the gate from that point onward. Single-day and weekend passes are available.
