George's Music Springing the Blues Festival

George's Springing the Blues Festival is a free outdoor blues music festival designed to celebrate America's indigenous musical form and promote support of the arts. The three-day oceanfront festival features a large number of renowned blues performers as well as numerous displays and activities geared for the entire family. The festival is held at Jacksonville Beach, Florida's Oceanfront Seawalk Pavilion on the first weekend of April each year. I personally go to this festival every year and if your planning on going for the weekend make certain you get your hotel rooms now , because they go fast, and the prices are fairly reasonable.

A non-profit organization called The Springing The Blues Society was founded in 1991 and they plan and organize the festivals. In addition to staging Springing The Blues, the society also raises funds to feed the hungry and makes substantial donations to other worthy causes. The Blues Society also sponsors smaller musical events throughout the year to keep the interest in blues strong in Jacksonville. The City of Jacksonville Beach and a number of other local businesses support the festival. Several of the Beaches hotels and motels cooperate with the festival by offering a special " Blues Rate ". In addition the festival relies on more than one hundred dedicated volunteers.

George's Springing the Blues Festival has been recognized for many years with various awards. The Festival is known as Florida's largest free outdoor blues festival. In 1997, the festival was voted as " Best Festival in Northeast Florida " by the popular Folio Weekly Magazine annual poll. The SouthEast Tourism Society named the festival as one of the top twenty destination events in the United States. The Blues Festival was also named by Downbeat Magazine as one of the top fifty Music Festivals in the World. Past performers at Springing The Blues have included Larry McCray, Phillip Walker, Tinsely Ellis, Saffire "The Uppity Blues Women," Maurice John Vaughn, Earl King, Mitch Woods And His Rocket 88's, Susan Tedeschi, North Mississippi Allstars, Tab Benoit, Little Jimmy King, Henry Gray and the Cats, Grammy Award winner Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Ruby Wilson, Charlie Musselwhite, Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, Robert Jr. Lockwood, R. L. Burnside, Smoky Wilson, Coco Montoya, Smokin' Joe Kubek and B'nois King.

George's Springing the Blues Festival is a must see, I go every year. My favorite part is all the vendors they have selling all sorts of neat things, from jewelry to clothes. This Festival gets a ten by me, so make sure you check it out if you get a chance.