“We will definitely be back in 2025,” says Brent Jones, President of Wortham Area Chamber of Commerce in reference to the city’s annual Blues Festival being cancelled for this year.
To the dismay of Blues fans who have been attending the festival during the 27 years since it began, the Chamber has decided to cancel the event this year following recent upsets within the city.
“We have a situation in the community that needs to cool off,” explains Jones. “I feel that there are a lot of hurt feelings and tension in town right now and don’t want that to affect the event. I think it’s best for all involved to put the event off for a year. We just couldn’t, in good conscience, invite musicians and guests to our city if there could be anything potentially perceived as negative or that could leave a bad taste in peoples’ mouths.”
What Jones is referring to is the controversy in town regarding the Wortham PD and recent Retirement of Chief Kelly Butler.
The Blues Fest was initially created in 1997 as a way to have an identifying event for Wortham. That year featured eight (8) bands and there were approximately 200 attendees.
The second year, there was bad weather, and the event had to be moved to a different location, but regardless, there was a larger crowd, and the budget broke even.
Their third year was the charm, bringing in more than 700 attendees and six (6) bands.
Over the years, the event has continued to grow, bringing in more than 3,000 people at the height of the event.
“We are so proud to bring in well known, as well as up-and-coming artists to provide great Electric Blues to our guests,” says Jones. “Blues enthusiasts are hardcore. They come from all over, even from out of country, to attend the event.”
According to Jones, the Chamber has been able to keep entry fees low thanks to the EDC, sponsors, and community volunteers.
The city provides security and barricades, and many community members give monetary and item contributions to help the event be successful.
“We try to keep our sponsors local, the mom-and-pop type,” says Jones. “We have sponsors who provide $100 to $10,000, and everything in between.”
Through the festival, the Chamber has been able to provide instruments to the local school band and has begun to install metal cutouts down Main Street showcasing Texas musicians such as Blind Lemmon Jefferson and Stevie Ray Vaughn.
“This event has been a lot of fun over the years, and we hated to cancel, but we want to put our best foot forward,” explains Jones. “The event has become an icon for the community and our hope is that there will be other events that spin off from the Blues Festival to offer events throughout the year.”
He goes on to say, “We want to thank the city, EDC, sponsors, and volunteers for their support over the past years and years to come. We also want to thank ‘Freestone County Times’ for always promoting and covering our event!”
