This long weekend festival has only grown more popular over the past four years, adding even more intricate and fun events. New this year was the BarrelHouse Bash, with rollicking musical performances from Vexine, the Jacob Vanko Band and Bobby BlackHat Waters, paired with local beer, wine and mead. Many of the events were sold out before the weekend even started. Highlights from this year were the Saxophone Challenge that culminated with 400 people standing as seven saxophone players exited the stage through the audience to the tune “When the Saints Go Marching In.” The rest of the weekend was full of dancing, brass and surprises. After all, jazz is all about spontaneity!
“We are thrilled that the Winter Blues Jazz Fest continues to grow each year. This year, we had just under 2,000 attendees with guests from all over the country, and even from Japan. One of the biggest compliments is that we see approximately 80 percent returning guests each year,” said co-organizer Jenn Raines, from CultureFix. She said that everyone is very excited about enthusiasm for the event and the date for the fifth annual festival has already been set: January 17-20, 2019!