Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival

The Chicago Bluegrass & Blues Festival is a one-day festival celebrating Chicago’s unprecedented appreciation of roots music and culture. From 9am to midnight, 13-18 artists perform on 3 stages to a crowd of 3,000 people. The Congress Theater, in conjunction with newly-formed Kingtello Presents , is proud to offer up the contemporary offshoots of the foot-stomping bluegrass and blues genres that started it all. The Festival will transport the concertgoer through the genre-defying evolution of music today.

*Update*: Bela Fleck will be headlining the Chicago Bluegrass and Blues Festival.

A portion of each ticket will be donated to the Saving tiny Hearts Society (www.savingtinyhearts.org), a non-profit organization that raises money for grossly under-funded, crucial, life-saving research of congenital heart defects (CHD), America’s #1 birth defect. Nearly one of every 125 babies born in America each year is affected by a Congenital Heart Defect.

There are 2 reserved slots for Sonicbids artists.

Genres accepted include any "roots" genre that is an offshoot of bluegrass or blues. Anything from roots, Americana, alt-country, country, folk, newgrass, jambands, jazz, blues rock, classic rock, soul, funk, and acoustic.

Artists are encouraged to play pro-bono to maximize the charitable donation to Saving Tiny Hearts. However, artists are given the chance to serve as ticket brokers working for commission. Kingtello Presents provides them with as many tickets as they can sell, and they receive $7 for each ticket sold to friends, family, fans, etc. Artists can give back anything they don't sell with no costs or penalties.

Until now, fans have had to travel far outside city limits to witness legends and share a stage with the newest musical sensations. Now, each fall the Saving Tiny Hearts Society will bring them within city limits to one of the city’s largest and most unique live music venues.