Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and his band rocking the main stage at the 2021 Chenango County Blues Fest. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

NORWICH — The wait is over. The highly anticipated 29th annual Chenango Blues Fest has been scheduled for August 19 and 20 of this year.

Like many other organizations, the Chenango Blues Association has had a tumultuous two years, with the postponement of the 28th annual Blues Fest and NBT Bank Summer Concert Series in 2020, and heavy restrictions initially placed on the 2021 events.

This year, however, it seems the beloved summer shows will be able to carry on without the weight of COVID guidelines.

"At this time I would guess that unless something changes there should be no restrictions," said Chenango Blues Fest Organizer Eric Larsen. "As far as things like vendors and our setup, you know, there was a lot of modifications we had to make last year and we would like to believe that we will be headed much more back to normal."

"We always put out there now, based on our last two years of experience, that we will be implementing whatever safety protocols the health department tells us are advisable," he added. "We work with them very closely, we have a great relationship with them. We’re happy to do what they need us to do and we’ll continue to do that."

The NBT Bank Summer Concert Series is set to make its annual comeback this summer on Thursday, July 7.

"There's going to be a Summer Concert Series every Thursday in July and August like usual," said Larsen. "It'll go from July 7 to I think it's August 25 is the last one."

Although performance lineups have not yet been announced by the Chenango Blues Association, Larsen said the concerts are mostly booked and they hope to announced a full lineup in the coming weeks. However, he did tease a few of the expected performers.

"They are mostly booked but not 100 percent, so we’re hoping to do a lineup announcement soon. Obviously for the Blues Festival we’re going to be having Jimmie Vaughan and the Tilt-A-Whirl Band as our headliners," he said. "They were supposed to headline last year before their unfortunate photo op with the Governor of Texas, who tested positive for COVID later that day. So we struck a deal with them then to come back this year to do a make up."

For the Summer Concert Series, Larsen said Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes is slated to return, among other returning artists and some new faces.

"We’re excited. It’s going to be a great lineup of Thursday shows," said Larsen. "It’s going to be an exciting year, a nice mix of returning favorites and some new people. So we've got some great high level shows, we’re really excited about it."

He advised expectant attendees to keep an eye on the Chenango Blues Association Facebook page and website, chenangobluesfest.org, for updates on performers, schedules, ticket sales, and more.

"If they sign up for our Facebook page we’ll make a Facebook announcement, obviously we’ll write a press release as well, it’ll be posted on our web page. We usually send out kind of a teaser when we’re about to put it up," he explained.

As far as tickets go, Larsen said they are expected to be available for purchase on May 1.

"Probably a lot of what we did about ticketing last year will remain, but we are going to try to reintroduce the idea that you can buy a ticket by sending us a check or things like that," said Larsen. "We are targeting May 1. We usually do it June 1, but now with the electronic capability we have we don’t have quite the same rigamarole of getting tickets to a bunch of outlets and whatnot. So it should be on sale May 1."

All in all, Larsen said the Blues Fest and Summer Concert Series are a remarkable opportunity for the area that wouldn't be possible without the support and sponsorship they receive.

"We’re thankful to NBT for being our Summer Concert Series sponsor once again, and thankful for the great support we get from some local foundations that help put on national act shows for free," Larsen said. "I always say it’s hard to beat. There’s not other communities really that have this available, and that’s thanks to all the great support we get."

"It’s not like you can go to Binghamton or Syracuse or someplace and see this caliber of show for free. It’s a pretty unique opportunity," he added. "It's the highlight of the summer for us, and hopefully for a lot of people as well."