About the Festival

Springing The Blues 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 event features a number of renowned blues performers as well as numerous displays and activities geared for the entire family. It is held at Jacksonville Beach, Florida's Oceanfront SeaWalk Pavilion on the 1st weekend of April each year.

About The Event

• Named by Downbeat Magazine as one of the top 50 Music Festivals in the World

• Named by SouthEast Tourism Society as one of the top 20 destination events in the country

• Voted in 1997 as "Best Festival in Northeast Florida" by the popular Folio Weekly Magazine annual poll.

• Known as Florida's largest free outdoor blues festival, Springing the Blues will feature performances from renowned blues artists.

About Past Performers

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.

About The Planners And Sponsors

The Springing The Blues Society, a non-profit organization founded in 1991, plans and organizes the festival. In addition to staging Springing The Blues, the society also raises funds to feed the hungry and makes substantial donations to other worthy causes. In 1994, for example, it initiated "Blues In Schools," an after-school program that provides "at risk" students with instruction in the history of the blues and in the playing of musical instruments associated with the blues. This effort helps to build self-esteem, discipline and team work among the students.

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 Beaches hotels and motels cooperate with the festival by offering a special "Blues Rate". In addition, the festival relies on more than 100 dedicated volunteers.