Chesapeake Bay Blues Fest Canceled For 2019

ANNAPOLIS, MD — After a 20-year run, organizers of the Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival said Monday there will be no festival in 2019 as they assess the outdoor music concert. Organizers vow to return in 2020, but said steady increases in the cost of talent and production will likely mean a price hike when the festival resumes. This year's tickets cost $60 for one day, or $110 for a two-day ticket.

Promoter Don Hooker said organizers felt the need to take a year off to evaluate the changing conditions in the outdoor concert world. As the festival raises prices, the demand for tickets will drop, he said, but with the cost of talent on the rise the festival must either raise ticket prices or lower expenses by being more selective in the artists who are booked. Other factors include: a decrease in the number of concert-goers, an increase in the number of large concerts that block bands from playing within a certain radius and rainy weather patterns in recent years.

"Our fans are extremely loyal and despite these changes, we have tried to respond in kind; going on with the show, no matter what. Hopefully, they will understand why we needed to step back and re-think our strategy," Hooker said in a press release.

Top acts at the May 2018 festival held at Sandy Point State Park included singer Vanessa Collier, Brian Setzer and the Rockabilly Riot, and Delbert McClinton.

The Chesapeake Bay Blues Festival gives all net proceeds to charity.

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Organizers asked festival fans to donate to Special Love and We Care and Friends, since the charities will miss contributions from the event next year. Learn more about these organizations or make donations by visiting the charities' websites at: www.speciallove.org and www.wecareandfriends.org.

"We will miss our CBBF family in 2019, but hopefully we will see everyone in May 2020," Hooker said.

We Care and Friends provides a variety of services to the needy of Annapolis, and Special Love, Inc. funds a camp for children with cancer called Camp Fantastic and a camp for the brothers and sisters of cancer kids called Camp BRASS.

Photo of Sandy Point State Park by Patch Editor Emily Leayman