We’re looking forward to what this year will bring!

Our photo gallery now features some photos from this year’s event. If you know of any footage or coverage of BluesFest 2011 that hasn’t been posted to our Media Room, we’d appreciate you letting us know so we can add a link.

We’ve also drafted a brief BluesFest survey and would love to hear your thoughts on how we can make the festival better.

See you in the streets next year!

See, hear and play custom guitars that are built by some of the best instrument builders in Michigan and the Midwest—all under one roof!

Come see the tools and materials used to build these instruments and talk with luthiers (stringed instrument makers). It’s your chance to ask questions and learn about the fine art of instrument building.

Seminars will also be offered during the show:

• 3:30pm – Meet the Luthier with Brian Galloup
• 5:00pm – Evaluating a Vintage Guitar for Restoration with Joe Konkoly

• Grand River Avenue is currently blocked off at the railroad tracks between Larch and Pennsylvania.
• Cedar Street still has some lane closures heading south from the festival site. (Cedar and Larch Streets have been under construction from Lake Lansing Road all the way to Edgewood Boulevard.)
• Oakland Avenue is closed from Walnut Street to Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard. (On the west side of town, Saginaw Street still has lane closures and detours between Marketplace Boulevard and Rosemary Avenue.)
• Turner Street is closed from East Grand River Avenue to Dodge River Drive to allow room for the festival grounds.
• According to WLNS, there’s a single lane closure on south U.S. 127 at Michigan Avenue near the I-496 interchange. Also, the ramp from Howard Street to southbound 127 will be closed.

Check out the City of Lansing Current Detour Map and 2011 Lansing Construction Map for more details on area closures – and our location & maps page for more details on the festival site.

Et ne vous inquiétez pas, des journalistes françaises. Nous parlons blues.

The Kidz Beat music tent has moved to the Clark Hill patio just to the west of the vendors and the MICA Stage. Open 4-7 pm Friday and 1-7 pm Saturday, it is designed to allow interactive music exploration for parents and children from toddlers to early teens. Activities available include face painting, chalk art, crafting your own musical instruments, an “instrument petting zoo” provided by Meridian Winds on Friday and Elderly Instruments on Saturday, and performances that solicit active audience participation. No musical talent is necessary, just a love of music and a willingness to have a little fun.

Ride the river boat taxi to BluesFest on Saturday and take advantage of free rides for children 10 and under. We have a great afternoon of activities planned.

Wander over to the MICA Stage at 2 pm for the Taylor Fernandez performance! Taylor is a 15-year-old musician/actor from the mid-Michigan area who writes songs and plays guitar, keyboard and piano. Taylor’s original song “Right Guy” is available on iTunes and was selected by Women of Substance Radio for airplay beginning Oct. 1, 2011.

Then come out to the Kidz Beat area in front of the Elderly Instruments tent for Harmonica for Kids at 4 pm, presented by harmonica pro Andy Wilson! Kids, come learn how to play the harmonica. Free harmonicas will be provided for the first 100 participants. Andy is co-founder of the Lansing old-time country, swing and blues quartet Steppin’ In It.

Between 3 and 5 pm on Saturday, students involved with REACH Art Studio will be walking the sidewalks and mingling with the crowds with their walking head puppets. Enjoy their mobile artistry.

The Vincent Hayes Project features “inspired, persuasively pensive guitar work” that continues to impress blues lovers, recording artists, and industry professionals worldwide. The band is a 2011 Blues Music Award nominee.

The Hawktones are a long-time fixture on the Midwest blues scene with their old-school sensibilities and modern-day energy. Whether they’re playing Chicago standards, Texas shuffles or West Coast swing, the Hawktones’ bluesy energy will be unmistakable.

Thirsty Perch’s gritty, growling vocals backed by a howling hurricane five-piece ensemble will provide the powerhouse electric rockin’ blues that will quench your thirst for the blues—and leave you hungry for more.

Check the stage schedule and come out to see these great West Coast bands!

Check it out for live bands, cultural performances, fireworks, car and motorcycle shows, the first annual Capital City Dragon Boat Race, the Mayor’s Labor Walk, Lansing Educators 0K 5K Run Back to School, ethnic food and a beverage tent.

In order to do that, we’re looking for donations of items for the children’s activities (making instruments and more). Here’s what we’re looking for:

• 100 postal tubes with caps, all sizes
• 300 plastic rings that hold 6-packs of cans together
• Bags of rice, beans, &/or peas
• 100 bracelets, carabiners, or other items to tie ribbon onto
• 100 small wooden rods
• Ribbon: 1″, 1/2″, or 1/4″ (no wire – must be able to float easily when moved in the air)
• 100 aluminum plates
• 100 clear, extra small cups
• Small beads
• 100 soup/deli containers with lids (preferably paper type so the kids can draw on them)
• String
• Hole punch
• 50 2-foot lengths of 1/2-inch/schedule-40 PVC sprinkler pipe
• 300 rolls of pennies
• Duct tape in various colors and patterns (lots)
• 200 glue sticks
• Sparkles, various colors, 6 large jars of each color
• Stickers (all types – puffy stickers go over well)
• Markers
• Crayons
• Other easy-to-apply items: feathers, small jewels, pictures thin enough to affix with a glue stick, etc.
• Large paper (for take-home art)
• Easels
• Buckets of chalk in various colors
• Face paints
• Small brushes
• 100 kazoos
• 100 egg shakers
• 100 pairs of kid-size drumsticks
• Sticks that could be used as drumsticks
• Any kind of musical instrument that you no longer use

If you have donations, feel free to drop them off at 1210 Turner St. labeled “Kidz Beat Donations” during regular working hours. Thanks!