Happy Blues Sunday everyone! We’re 5 weeks out and life has officially slipped into overdrive. Jen is finalizing all the rentals, logistics, and of course marketing. We met with our beer distributor Hensley, yesterday and we are so excited about the different beers that will be available for purchase. 7 craft breweries with 14 varieties! Then, new this year, we’ll also have the bud light for people, who like domestic brews and of course wine and cider. We’re changing the location of the bar this year – putting it smack dab in the middle of the festival so we can serve out of 3 sides, reduce lines and make it convenient for people.
We had some bad news this week and also some great news. Bad news, we had brought back the Austin Young Band – they had played at the very beginning last year, and was a last minute add on, and we wanted to offer them a longer set this year, because these kids can play, however, they had to back out of the festival. We are heartbroken that Austyn and his family are going through such loss, but we know that by next year, they will be ready to perform again, and we plan on having them back. The great news? Well, I was going through my We signed Karen Lovely and we are so happy and excited to have her on our stage. ENERGY!!! Our lineup this year is full of energy and full of blues recognition. This is going to be an amazing year at the Flagstaff Blues and Brews, and I couldn’t be happier.
And now dear blues lovers, we need your help. We need volunteers. This festival takes over 100 volunteers to put on, and we desperately need more to sign up! We love our volunteers – and everyone who volunteers gets into the festival for free, we give you a great T-shirt and while you’re volunteering for us – we’ll feed you and make sure you stay hydrated! So, if you or anyone you know would like to volunteer – please go to www.flagstaffblues.com and under more info – you’ll see Volunteers. If you click on the Volunteer Spot link – you can schedule your time and what you’d like to do. Don’t you love smart people who write the code for these programs? So cool.
We are filling up on our vendor spots, so if you know someone who wants to get their arts and crafts talents in front of 5,000 people – have them contact us! I think we have 5 openings left, so if they are interested – they need to get in the applications and you can find that on the website.
I wish you could feel the excitement I have for this year’s festival. We are growing and getting more and more recognition and it’s so amazing. To have a dream, and plan for years and then get to produce that first one, then wait an entire year to get to build upon that first year, and wait another year and another. Now at year 4, I feel like we’re getting closer and closer to that dream, and I have to say THANK YOU. Thank you to the many people who have been with us from day one, who saw the vision and hung in there and to the new people who are just discovering this mountain festival, when you call, when you write, when you attend the festival – with tears in my eyes gratitude in my heart, THANK YOU!
Debbi