Did you attend Heritage BluesFest?
The largest multi-day music festival Wheeling has ever hosted returned this year for its 25th anniversary!
Spread out across the weekend of August 7th-9th and featuring over 30 musical acts on two stages, the event drew in many festival-goers from out of town, with roughly 60% of the crowd traveling from outside of the tri-state area (1). The heat, humidity, and even scattered thunderstorms couldn’t keep the crowd away, with over 2,000 sold by the end of the weekend.
The new team behind the event managed to pull off a phenomenal lineup of music that appealed to both long-time Bluesfest regulars and first-time attendees. The YNST side stage, which sat near WesBanco Arena, showcased 15 regional artists and bands from across West Virginia, Ohio and Pennsylvania, drawing a more local crowd who had been swayed by Waterfront Hall’s growing reputation for booking outstanding local talent, while the Main Stage boasted big names such as JJ Grey and Mofro, St. Paul & the Broken Bones, and Eddie 9Volt, who deviated from his ongoing tour opening for The Black Keys in order to play the stage at Heritage Port.
“It’s now been a week since the festival. Now that the dust is mostly settled, I am able to acknowledge what we were able to accomplish over those three days. It took a year to put all of those pieces together and I think we all agree it was one of the hardest things we’ve ever done,” says Morgan Hamilton, Marketing Director for the festival. “And I think the verdict was a success! We set out to ramp up the festival in a way that would really leave a mark on its 25th anniversary and to those unconvinced that the festival was in good hands. We had so much fun working with our community partners and could not have done it without help from our key sponsors and neighbors at Esoterica and YNST. Thank you all for coming out and supporting live music and art – we can’t wait to see you next year!”
In addition to listening to the music, attendees were able to spend time shopping with about a dozen regional vendors, enjoying the array of food trucks lining Water Street, watching painters create live murals along the water, and even getting to be the painters in an interactive exhibit by local artist Mindi Yarbrough. The festival also boasted two lounges: a backstage VIP space near the main stage curated by Esoterica Lounge in downtown Wheeling and an open lounge near the side stage, curated by the artistic minds behind local businesses YNST, Spore Print Press, and Rust Belt Stained Glass, both places where festival-goers could relax in the shade while still enjoying music.
We have been so impressed by what Dan and his team were able to create this year, and can’t wait to see what next year’s BluesFest has in store!
