Durham, NC- The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. is pleased to announce the 22nd annual Bull Durham Blues Festival (BDBF), NC largest celebration of the blues, will be held September 11 & 12, 2009. The festival will move back to the newly renovated Durham Athletic Park to the pleasure of the festival organizers and the majority of those who were surveyed after last year’s festival. “We are extremely excited to be back at the DAP with all of the newly enhanced features that will give our festival an uplift and bringing it back home to the atmosphere we like best,” states V. Dianne Pledger, Executive Producer and President of St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. “We are working closely with the City of Durham and Minor League Baseball to work out of the details related to the use of the DAP to produce the best festival we possibly can.”
Not only is their change with the festival returning back at the DAP, the format has changed this year. Opening night concert September 11th will take place in the St. Joseph’s Performance Hall at Hayti Heritage Center, 804 Old Fayetteville Street, featuring Grammy Nominated and WC Handy/Blues Music Award Winner ERIC BIBB, in addition to local sensation Jamsé Kelly and 2008 Triangle Blues Society Solo Competition winners Jon Shain Trio.
“The Foundation is hoping that our blues audience who has supported us for these many years will like the day long festival atmosphere and great music we will provide for 12 hours on Saturday, September 12th. There will be something for the entire family to enjoy where blues lovers can indulge in an eclectic mix of regional and international foods for the soul, workshops for adults and children, kid’s activities, arts and crafts by local and regional artists, a variety of unique specialty items and of course great weather! Gates open at 12 noon and the show will begin at 1pm through 12 midnight. The music is sure to make you move, but if you feel a need, lawn chairs and blank
ets are welcome. Join in the fun on the infield or in the grandstand, rain or shine!!
We have booked a selection of local, regional and national artists that have performed world wide from Grammy nominated, WC Handy-Blues Music Award winners, various blues challenge winners, and artist as young as 10 years old.
Saturday’s line up will feature Grammy nominated and WC Handy/Blues Music Award winner ELVIN BISHOP and OffBeat Magazine’s Performer of the Year TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE. The remaining line up included ZAC HARMON, COOL JOHN FERGUSON, THE LEE BOYS, HOMEMADE JAMZ BLUES BAND, DELTA MOON, ROY ROBERTS, VALENTINO and the PIEDMONT SHEIKS.
Ticket prices have changed to reflect the change in format and advance tickets will go on sale July 1st. The annual special pre-sale is scheduled for June 22-26, with only a limited number of tickets available, with advance tickets going on sale July 1. More information is available at www.hayti.org or call (919) 683-1709.
Ticket Sales:
Bull Durham Blues Festival – 9/12/2009
Bull Durham Blues Festival – 9/11/2009
Pre-Sale Promotion- June 22-26, 2009 (ONE WEEK ONLY)
$30- Friday (ONLY 100 TICKETS AVAILABLE)
$35- Saturday (ONLY 500 TICKETS AVAILABLE)
Vendor application forms will be available June 1st, call 683-1709 ext. 21 or download the application here.
Volunteer forms will be available June 1st, call 683-1709 ext. 33 or download the application here.
For those individuals who want to include some outdoor recreation to their weekend in Durham, the Foundation will host the Bull Durham Blues Festival Two Man Best Ball Shootout Friday, September 11th at the Crossing Golf Cou
rse in Durham. This shootout format is 2-Person Captain’s Choice in addition to hole sponsorships, three flights, men’s champions, men’s seniors and women’s, and purse distribution. Golf starts at 9am and tournament entry fee is $100. Interested golfers can retrieve the registration form via www.hayti.org.
This annual festival, produced by St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc., has been successfully presented since 1988. It is nationally recognized as one of the premier Blues festivals in the country and was honored in 2000 with the “Keeping the Blues Alive Award” by The Blues Foundation in Memphis, TN. This three-day event has become North Carolina’s largest celebration of the Blues, recognizing Durham’s rich musical heritage as an important center of Carolina and Piedmont Blues. The festival has attracted as many as 20,000 Blues lovers and has over a 3 million dollar economic impact on the Durham economy annually.
The St. Joseph’s Historic Foundation, Inc. (SJHF) founded in 1975, is an African American cultural and educational institution deeply rooted in the historic Hayti community of Durham, North Carolina. SJHF is dedicated to advancing cultural understanding through diverse programs that examine the experiences of Americans of African descent – locally, nationally and globally. The Foundation is committed to preserving, restoring and developing the Hayti Heritage Center, the former St. Joseph’s AME Church, a National Historic Landmark, as a cultural and economic anchor to the greater Durham community. Funds raised from the event support the programs and operations of the Foundation and Hayti Heritage Center.
For more information call (919) 683-1709.
