Blues festival coming to Chenango

It’s a commonly held belief that if you want to hear blues, you need to go down south. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you need to visit the Mississippi Delta.

On August 16 and 17, you can get your blues fix just by heading a short way down Rt. 12.

That’s the weekend you can find the 31 ^st Annual Preferred Mutual Chenango Blues Festival in nearby Norwich.

Since 1993 this 100%-volunteer festival has presented top tier blues talent in beautiful surroundings at the Chenango County Fairgrounds, and this year will be no exception.

“We are really excited about this year’s lineup,” says festival spokesperson Eric Larsen. “We were able to assemble a very diverse group of award-winning artists. We think there will be some musical memories made”

Festivities get underway on Friday, August 16 with a triple bill consisting of Davy Knowles from 5:30 - 6:45 p.m., Bywater Call from 7:15 - 8:30 p.m. and Paul Thorn from 9:00 - 10:15 p.m.

The action continues in earnest on Saturday, with national headliners all day on two stages. Kicking things off on the Infield Stage at 11:30 a.m. will be Benny Turner with the Tommy Z Band, followed by Chris O'Leary from 12:45 p.m.

The distaff side takes over for the next couple of slots, with three-time consecutive winner of the Blues Music Award for Traditional Blues Female Artist Sue Foley playing from 2:45 - 4:00 p.m. and multiple Grammy nominee Ruthie Foster from 5:15 - 6:30 p.m.

The Infield Stage comes to a rousing close with the Devon Allman Project featuring special guests JD Simo, Jimmy Hall and Ghalia Volt.

The line-up on the Tent Stage is no less impressive, with Tinsley Ellis (1:45 - 2:45 p.m.); John "Papa" Gros (4:00 - 5:15 p.m.); Robert Finley (6:30 - 7:40 p.m.) and award-winning guitar virtuoso Coco Montoya (9:00 - 10:15 p.m.)

“The Chenango Blues Association is an all-volunteer run organization with no paid staff and we work hard to be a group that is by fans, for fans,” notes Larsen. “With no profit motive all our resources go in to putting on the best show we can, and we have a lot of fun doing it.”

If you plan to make a full weekend out of it, consider getting the whole experience by camping at the fairgrounds.

“Camping has been one of our biggest growth areas. We have lots of great onsite camping and it’s a great way to enjoy the fest,” says Larsen. “The stages are very close by.

“And no one has more fun than all the folks at the campgrounds.”

General Admission tickets are $50. 17 and under are free; children 16 and under must be accompanied by an adult.

For tickets and camping passes, visit the festival website at www.chenangobluesfest.org.

This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: Blues festival coming to Chenango