Sarasota Blues Fest


The Sarasota Blues Fest is an annual music festival held at Ed Smith Stadium in Sarasota, Florida. In addition to all day live entertainment, the festival has vendors selling a wide array of food, drink and crafts.

2012 Fest

The 22nd annual Sarasota Blues and Music Festival will be held September 29, 2012 at the Ed Smith Stadium Complex. This year's event will feature six national artists starting with headliner, Delbert McClinton, and he'll be joined by Ana Popovic, Curtis Salgado, Paul Thorn, Royal Southern Brotherhood and prodigy act, Pett Crow.

History

The Sarasota Blues Fest was started in 1991 by the Sarasota Blues Society. They went bankrupt in 1992. Concert producer Barbara Strauss took over the Sarasota Blues Fest in 1993. The festival is now incorporated by Strauss's company, Sovereign Ventures, Inc. The festival was originally held at the Sarasota County Fairgrounds but moved to Ed Smith Stadium Complex in 2006.
In 2011 The Sarasota Blues Fest and all rights to the name and property was purchased by ExtremeTix Inc., a Houston-based Ticketing Solutions and Event Services company.

Charity

Partial proceeds from the event go to a charity. Past recipients of donations have included United Cerebral Palsy, Police Athletic League Sailor Circus Capital Campaign, United Way, Florida Center for Child and Family Development & All Faiths Food Bank.

Past performers