2008 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival

Now in its 21st year, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi River, and one of the largest music events of any kind in the Pacific Northwest. Last year approximately 125,000 people attended the festival over five days.

This year’s festival will be held July 3 - July 6, 2008, with four stages at McCall Waterfront Park, in downtown Portland, Oregon on the banks of the Willamette River. In addition, there will be several blues cruises on the three-stage Portland Spirit. The event will also include blues films, workshops, the Zydeco Swamp Romp and artist jam sessions.

There are 100 performance slots available, with at least one spot reserved for a Sonicbids artist. The spot will most likely be given to a regional artist although submissions will be accepted from any artist that has strong roots in the blues, is established in the Portland market and can pull and hold a crowd and blow some minds.

Selected artists will be compensated for their performances. Payment will be determined for each artist upon selection. All back-line is provided.

Headliners in previous years included Neville Brothers, Dr. John, Irma Thomas, John Hiatt, Roomful of Blues, Charlie Musselwhite. All talent and production costs are underwritten by our sponsors, which include Safeway, First Tech Credit Union, KINK-FM and the Oregonian A&E.

This event is the major annual fund raiser for the Oregon Food Bank, which owns and produces the festival. Suggested daily donation of $8 and two cans of food raised $547,000 and 120,000 pounds of food in 2006, a record year for the Food Bank's fund-raising.