Organizers of the first-ever Blues on the Red music festival are betting that Saturday will be a big day in the history of happenings in downtown Grand Forks.
They want Blues on the Red to be the start of downtown blues music performances. They hope it will become one more thing to make Grand Forks a destination and add another layer of successful entertainment events to its summer schedule.
"I hope it grows much like the Grand Cities Art Fest so that in coming years we can have a series of these during the summer," said Greg Hoover, urban development director for the city of Grand Forks, and the idea man behind Blues on the Red.
Blues on the Red will be from 5 to 10 p.m. Saturday in Town Square featuring the music of Little Bobby & the Storm and PeatMoss. Admission will be free, and there will be a beer garden and food vendors on site, organizers said.
They hope folks will come downtown for the music, and stay to enjoy the area's bars, restaurants and other amenities, they said.
ADVERTISEMENT
A second Blues on the Red featuring Little Donny and the Groovetones is being planned for Sept. 20, the same day as that month's Art & Wine Walk.
Hoover grew up in the Quad Cities, Iowa, area, home of the Mississippi Valley Blues Fest, one of the most successful such events in the country. That event, too, started small and over the years has grown to include barbecue championships and other events, attracting thousands of music fans and visitors.
The event, co-sponsored by Canad Inns Destination Center and the Greater Grand Forks Convention and Visitors Bureau. The planning committee included Hoover; Cheri Reitmeier, Town Square Farmers Market; Ben Klipfel, UND; Mark Landa, Empire Arts Center; and Julie Rygg, Deb Stewart and James Feist, CVB.
Since coming to Grand Forks five years ago, Hoover said, his goal has been to have something going on downtown every weekend during the spring, summer and fall.
"So if you're sitting at home and saying, 'Jeez, what's there to do tonight?', you can say, 'I know. There's always something going on downtown.'"
Reach Tobin at (701) 780-1134; (800) 477-6572, ext. 134; or send e-mail to ptobin@gfherald.com .
