The 15th annual UnTapped Blues & Brews Festival will be held again in Kennewick, Washington, with the 2011 event to be held on May 13 and 14. On Friday the "Blue on the Columbia River" at the Clover Island in Kennewick will have blues music on one stage inside the Clover Island Inn and other stages outside, alongside the Columbia River. The official UnTapped Blues & Brews Festival continues Saturday on the beautiful Benton County Fairgrounds featuring premier talent from around the nation including Joe Louis Walker, Nick Curran and the Lowlifes, Preston Shannon and well-known regional blues bands.
The Gray Sky Blues Festival (known as the Tacoma Jazz and Blues fest prior to 2008) presented by the nonprofit Tacoma Events Commission begins on April 9, 2011, at noon, right after the Daffodil Parade in venues in downtown Tacoma, Washington, including the Harmon Brewery, the Swiss Pub, and Cutter's Point Coffee -- and others are being added. Headlining this year are national recording artists and Grammy and Blues Music Award nominees Bob Corritore and Dave Riley along with Cold Shot, Mark DuFresne Band, Randy Oxford Band, and JDHobson.
The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, an annual event since 1998, is the largest blues festival on the West Coast. It comes to Tom McCall Waterfront Park in downtown Portland, Oregon on July 1 to July 4, 2011. The festival asks for $10 and two cans of food donation to gain entrance. The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival event is owned and operated by Oregon Food Bank and raises food and funds to help fight hunger. Blues musicians Buddy Guy, Maceo Parker, Robert Cray, Lucinda Williams, Chubby Carrier, and James Harman will be headlining the event.
The third annual Willamette Valley Blues & Brews Festival will be held on August 5 and 6, 2011, along the Willamette River in Island Park, Springfield, Oregon. Sponsored by local business and organizations, all of the funds raised, after expenses, will go to support the local Habitat for Humanity. Food donations will be collected for the Food for Lane County organization.This year's festival will feature Linda Hornbuckle, the Robbie Laws Band, Twister, and Kevin Selfe & the Tornadoes.
Winthrop Blues Festival has hosted more than 75,000 people over the past 20 years and is the longest running festival in the state of Washington. The 2011 Winthrop Blues Festival is a three-day event, from July 15 to 17, and is located on the Blues Ranch on the Methow River in the resort town of Winthrop, Washington, which provides scenic views of the North Cascades mountain range. The sponsor, Winthrop Music Association, was able in 2010 to make a significant contribution, with the festival proceeds going to the Cove Food Bank in Twisp, Washington. This year's performers will include Booker T., Commander Cody, Michael Burks, and the Lee Boys.