RBC Bluesfest Turns 25 In Grand Style

By FYI Staff

It turns 25 this year, and RBC Bluesfest in Ottawa is well-established as one of the nation's biggest and best annual summer festivals. Its 2019 lineup is typically star-studded and stylistically eclectic. Blues giant Buddy Guy and Canadians Sue Foley, Matt Andersen, and Dawn Tyler Watson represent the blues, but that genre is now just a small dish in the musical smorgasbord on offer.

Major headlining names taking to the stages at LeBreton Flats Park, July 4-14, include The Killers, Snoop Dogg, Logic, Backstreet Boys, The Offspring, Kygo, CHVRCHES, Wu-Tang Clan, Alexisonfire, Eric Church, First Aid Kit, Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit.

Adding even more musical variety are the likes of Elle King, Rodrigo Y Gabriela, Pussy Riot, Guided By Voices, Psychedelic Furs, James, and Little Steven & the Disciples Of Soul.

The Canadian contingent includes The Dirty Nil,  Charlotte Cardin, K'Naan, Lennon Stella, PUP, Colter Wall, The Trews, William Prince, U.S. Girls, Francesco Yates, The Sorority, The Sheepdogs, Abigail Lapell, and more. 

In all, more than 100 acts perform on four stages this year. In an interview with Postmedia's Lynn Saxberg,  Bluesfest’s artistic and executive director Mark Monahan explains that "In the past, the vision was just to have as many different things on the same night to give everybody something. But we’ve done it more by stage this year, so you don’t get a completely different audience from one act to another.”

A limited number of festival passes are available in a one-day presale that runs from 10 a.m. to midnight Thursday. Regular sales, including single-day tickets, and three-day and five-day passes, start at 10 a.m. Friday. Details here 

A full fest lineup here