News Release

2008 Waterfront Blues Fest a rousing success

Blues fans donate $538,000 and 91,192 pounds of food

PORTLAND, Ore. – Perfect festival weather, great music, enthusiastic volunteers, committed sponsors and generous blues fans helped make the 21st annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, presented by First Tech Credit Union, a rousing success.

Blues fans donated $538,000 at the gate, exceeding OFB’s goal of $500,000, and making this year the second highest for gate donations in the festival’s 21-year history. In addition, festival-goers donated 91,192 pounds of food. Oregon Potters Association raised $12,995 through its Empty Bowls booth. And for the first time this year, boaters, listening to the festival from the Willamette Rive,r flew special flags, recognizing their total donations of $3,306..

The annual Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is Oregon Food Bank’s largest fund-raiser. Every $10 donation enables Oregon Food Bank to collect and distribute 50 pounds of food, the amount in an average emergency food book for a family of four.

“We owe the festival’s huge success to the support of our community – from our generous and committed sponsors, to the more than 1,500 volunteers who keep the festival running smoothly, to music fans who donated $10 and two cans of food at the gate,” said Rachel Bristol, Oregon Food Bank’s executive director and CEO.

Since its modest beginnings in 1988, the award-winning festival has grown to be the largest blues festival west of the Mississippi, attracting blues fans from throughout the world.

This year’s stellar line-up included more than 120 performances including Charlie Musselwhite; Isaac Hayes, presented by Chinook Winds Casino Resort; Phoebe Snow; Canned Heat, presented by PacificSource Health Plans; The Mannish Boys; Joe Bonamassa; James Hunter, presented by First Tech Credit Union; Elvin Bishop; Back Door Slam; Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews and Orleans Avenue; Boyd Small & the Souldiers; Eric Lindell, presented by iQ Credit Union; Ruthie Foster, presented by Good Neighbor Pharmacy; Paul Thorn, presented by the Boeing Company; Arthur Adams, presented by Karolyn H. March, Attorney at Law; and more.

About Oregon Food Bank: Oregon Food Bank distributes donated food throughout a statewide network of more than 919 nonprofit, hunger-relief agencies serving Oregon and Clark County, Wash., and works to eliminate the root causes of hunger through education and advocacy.

About festival sponsors: The Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival is presented by First Tech Credit Union. Major sponsors include FedEx Freight, PacificSource Health Plans, iQ Credit Union, Daimler Truck Financial, Land Rover, The Oregonian A&E, KINK.fm and Travel Portland. Supporting sponsors include Burt’s Bees, Good Neighbor Pharmacy, Miller Brewing Co., Henry Weinhard's, Deschutes Brewery, Beringer Wine, Snapple, Pepsi, Nutrisoda, Earth2o Water, Frito Lay Snacks, Yoshida Sauce, Mission Foods, Dreyer’s Ice Cream, NW Natural, FedEx Kinko’s, Impact Advertising, Edge Design, The Boeing Company, PGE, KBOO, OregonLive.com, Blues Revue, Music Millennium, Karolyn March, Guitar Center, Lions Foundation, Cascade Blues Association, Oregon Potters Association, Cascade Zydeco and Delta Music Experience.

Mark your calendars now for the 2008 Safeway Waterfront Blues Festival, July 2 through 5, 2009.

Photo of Andrew "Jr. Boy" Jones courtesy of Joe Cantrell.

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Note to reporters and editors: A Blues Blog, music samples and downloadable, high-resolution photos are available at www.waterfrontbluesfest.com.