2008 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival gates open at 2 p.m., Thursday, July 3

The first seven events of the first day (Thursday, July 3) of the 2008 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival are missing from The Oregonian A&E Waterfront Blues Festival Guide. Reminder:

Festival starts at 3 p.m. with the following events:

3:00PM AE Crossroads Youth Blues Ensemble
3:00PM CU Kicking It Off: Ty Curtis Band
3:45PM WS Lap Steel Guitar Workshop: Colin Lake
3:45PM MS Tribute to Memphis Soul: Norman Sylvester Band
4:00PM AE Blues from the Edge: Mark Lemhouse and the Hollars
4:30PM CU Northwest Pianorama: David Vest, DK Stewart, Leon Blue
5:00PM AE Blues from the Edge: Moreland and Arbuckle
5:15PM WS Intro to Country Blues: Mark Lemhouse

For full schedule, click on "performances" above.

21st annual Safeway Waterfront
Blues Festival, July 3-6

Isaac Hayes, Charlie Musselwhite, Phoebe Snow, Canned Heat,The Mannish Boys, Joe Bonamassa, James Hunter,
Elvin Bishop ... and more

PORTLAND, Ore. -- Join blues fans from throughout the world at the 2008 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union, July 3 to 6, 2008, on the banks of the Willamette River at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. The 2008 festival will feature more than 120 performances on five stages. A few highlights:

Thursday, July 3
A tribute to Memphis soul featuring Isaac Hayes and the Portland Soul Allstars * Joe Bonamassa * Carolyn Wonderland * Troy "Trombone Shorty" Andrews * Fred Wesley & Goovesect * Northwest Pianorama

Friday, July 4
Canned Heat * The Mannish Boys * Tribute to Freddie King featuring Phillip Walker, Sherman Robertson and Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones * The Legendary Shack Shakers * Bill Rhoades Harmonica Blow-off * Robbie Laws Bigger Blues Band * Terry Robb * Ellen Whyte Big Band * Oregon Jazz Orchestra featuring Devin Phillips

Saturday, July 5
Charlie Musselwhite * Elvin Bishop * Eric Lindell * Back Door Slam * Paul Thorn * Gulf Coast Guitar Summit * Zydeco Swamp Romp * Classie Ballou

Sunday, July 6
Phoebe Snow * James Hunter * Ruthie Foster * Robert "Wolfman Belfour * Gospel Hour with Linda Hornbuckle and Janice Scroggins * Arthur Adams * Curtis Salgado
and many more >

Cruise the beautiful Willamette River while listening to the blues on the Portland Spirit on one of the festival's five DME Blues Cruises. Or enjoy the blues with one of the festval's three passes. BOTH EVENING BLUES CRUISES AND TWO AFTERNOON BLUES CRUISES ARE SOLD OUT. TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE BUT SELLING BRISKLY FOR BLUE BAYOU CRUISE, SUNDAY, JULY 6.
Purchase Blues Cruise tickets >
Purchase festival passes >

Waterfront Blues Festival goes green
This year, the Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival will be greener than ever. Learn about alternative ways to get to the festival site, where to find bicycle parking areas and what the festival is doing to off-set the carbon footprint of blues fans and musicians.

Read more.

NEW: Blues Blog takes you behind the scenes

Peter Dammann, Waterfront Blues Festival's multi-talented talent coordinator, takes you behind the scenes for an insiders' view of the festival. Recent posts include: "Classie Ballou: When lightning strikes, he's there," Carolyn Wonderland: Texistenial Wonder," "James Hunter," "Hey, Bo Diddley (has left the building) and more.  Read the blog >

Spectacular fireworks display, July 4
Celebrate July 4th with a spectacular display of fireworks, twice as large as any display in Oregon. Read more.