![]() ![]() The 4th Annual Utah Blues Festival was held on Jat the Gallivan Center, and in the spirit of bringing the best in blues to Utah we featured FIVE national headliners, alongside our ever popular free workshops throughout the day, as well as the best in non-profits and art and food vendors. We've had kids from our Blues in the Schools (BITS) program attend prior festivals and share their experiences with our patrons. Just about every major city has a blues festival of some sort and we are proud of what we are doing to put Utah on the map! We continue to attract blues fans from outside Utah, and with our family friendly atmosphere, our local audience also continues to grow. The cigar box guitar making workshop earned us a City Weekly award for “Best Festival Workshop for 2017”! The community and state have really supported this culturally relevant event in downtown Salt Lake City and understand that this is much more than just another music festival. The festival has grown steadily year after year and in 2017 our line-up featured 4 national headliners, as well as three workshops. It’s our new home and one in which we can grow in the years to come. 2016 had three incredible national headliners that provided an unbelievable all-star jam finale people are still reveling in! This all-star jam finish has become a yearly event, with each one topping the year before. It’s easy to get there by TRAX and there's plenty of convenient parking in the area. It accommodated a much larger crowd comfortably, had shade, and plenty of on-site facilities that made it easier on our guests. In 2016, already needing more room to grow, we made the decision to move the 2nd Annual Utah Blues Festival to downtown Salt Lake City at the Gallivan Center. We had several regional headliners, two stages offering the best in local/regional talent, and a free harmonica workshop that played to a standing room only audience! We were successful in re-introducing a blues festival to the Salt Lake valley and our patrons eagerly came out to hear great live blues music in a relaxed setting. This is somewhat of a misnomer, with the previous festivals mentioned above, but this was the first Utah Blues Festival produced by the UBS as a non-profit. On June 13, 2015, the 1st Utah Blues Festival occurred at the Utah Cultural Celebration Center. After gaining our non-profit status in 2014, the Utah Blues Society went about creating a festival that would showcase both local but predominantly national blues based artists on one bill. The Rendezvous showcased the best in local blues talent, and helped raise money for worthwhile causes within the community. In answer to this void, the R&B Rendezvous, at Rockport State Park, was started in 2009 by local musicians and blues enthusiasts like Greg & Sharon Daniels and KRCL blues DJ Brian Kelm. In the clubs, the places to be were the Zephyr Club and Dead Goat Saloon which are still remembered with reverence by touring Blues bands today! (Both coincidentally closed in the summer of 2003).Īfter Snowbird lost corporate funding, it too disappeared and blues fans didn’t have a festival to see local, regional, muchless national headliners, perform on one bill. Blues legends like Son Seals, Koko Taylor, Buddy Guy, Keb Mo, Johnny Winter, Little Milton, Jimmie Vaughan, Elvin Bishop, Matt ‘Guitar’ Murphy, and many more appeared. King, Muddy Waters, James Cotton, John Lee Hooker amongst many others!), and after that at the Snowbird Jazz & Blues Festivals from 1987 – 2009. Some of the earliest Blues artists performed at the Park West Blues Festivals in the early ’80s, (B.B. There’s a long history of top shelf Blues in Utah. All money raised from the festival goes toward supporting our programs within the state of Utah and making sure the festival continues to grow responsibly and becomes an asset to the community for future generations to enjoy. Held each year in mid-June, it is our signature fundraising event of the year and has grown steadily every year. Since becoming a 501(c)(3) in May of 2014 the Utah Blues Society has brought a top level Blues festival back to Utah. ![]()
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