Blues in the Ballpark
Two-Day Blues Festival to Return Next Summer
Story and photo by Sidney Ulakovic
Today marks a grand slam for Thunder Bay blues lovers; the blues will be coming back to the city on a major scale next summer. After a seven year hiatus, the Thunder Bay Community Auditorium (TBCA) announced that a summer blues festival will return in 2026 as they unveiled the lineup for the newly rebranded festival, now known as Blues in the Ballpark, which will now take place at Port Arthur Stadium next August 21 and 22, featuring a lineup of acclaimed international blues talent.
“We know in Thunder Bay it’s important to be outdoors during our precious summers, so let’s bring music to where people want to be,” says Andrew Edwards, acting manager of the TBCA. Edwards explains that feedback from the community was a driving force in the Auditorium’s efforts to bring a blues festival back to Thunder Bay, but also that the timing felt especially right. ”It’s been quite a while [since Thunder Bay has had a blues festival], and [Bluesfest is] a huge part of our 40 year history,” Edwards says. “It felt really timely to embrace our past and begin building something for the future.”
Edwards also says that the venue change presents many logistical advantages in terms of housing the artists, parking, restrooms, and concessions. Blues in the Ballpark will be selling 3000 weekend passes, which cost a total of $154 each. “We want to make the environment comfortable,” Edwards says, explaining the capacity was chosen to make the event scalable and set it up for success. “The ability to have more space is one of the goals by capping capacity,” Edwards says. “We want people to dance and celebrate music.” While attendees will have plenty of space to get off their feet and engage with the performers, there will also be seating available in the grandstands.
Rob Croves, president of the Thunder Bay Blues Society, says this summer’s lineup is reflective of all kinds of subgenres within the blues. “These are great artists,” Croves says. “They are masters of their craft, and I’m hoping people take the opportunity to come and see what blues is all about.”
Friday’s headliner is veteran Canadian blues band Tom Lavin & the Legendary Powder Blues and will include supporting performances from Finnish guitarist and vocalist Erja Lyytinen, New York City blues legend Solomon Hicks, Chicago’s Mike Wheeler Band, and Canadian singer songwriter Jeff Rogers. Saturday’s headliner is the genre-bending ZZ Ward from Roseburg, Oregon, and concert-goers can expect support from Toronto’s own Samantha Martin & Delta Sugar, some straight-up Memphis soul from Nikki Hill, and plenty of homegrown talent courtesy of Canadian artists David Gogo, Spencer Mackenzie, Marcus Trummer.
Weekend passes for Blues in the Ballpark go on sale at 10 am next Wednesday, December 3 and can be purchased on the TBCA’s website or in person at the box office on Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 12 to 4:30 pm.
