Alameda’s favorite music festival, Blues, Brews & BBQ, returns for its 6th edition bringing together world-class Blues musicians, a myriad of local craft breweries, and smoking BBQ vendors. Drink packages will be offered so you can sample from over a dozen craft beers plus local wines or inspired cocktails. Be sure to stick around to see who wins the BBQ competition this year! In addition to the f
estivities, attendees will have the opportunity to peruse locally-crafted wares from Bay Area vendors. MUSIC LINEUP:
12:30pm-1:30pm: HowellDevine
2pm-3pm: Tia Carroll Band
3:30pm-4:30pm: Aki Kumar Blues Band
5pm-6pm: MJ's Brass Boppers
Past brewers include: Alameda Island Brewing Company, Golden State Cider, Ale Industries, Old Kan Beer and Co., Pine Street Brewery, Faction Brewing, Eight Bridges Brewing, Blindwood Cider Company, Oakland United Beerworks, 21st Amendment Brewery, Anderson Valley Brewing Company, HenHouse Brewing Company, North Coast Brewing Co., High Water Brewing, Anchor Brewing Company, Oskar Blues Brewery, Drake’s Brewing Co., Sierra Nevada Brewery, and more. Past barbecue and food vendors include: Phat Matt’s Barbecue, The Locos Truck, Roderick’s Barbecue Truck, Uncle Willie’s Original Barbecue and Fish, Speer Family Barbecue, Mae Mae’s Kitchen, The Cupcake Shoppe, Hook You Up Catering & Barbecue, Got Italian Ice, Tante’s, Shannon Cooks, Vegan Mob serving vegan barbecue, and more. AFTER PARTY ON WEBSTER ST. MJs Brass Boppers will be closing out the festival by leading a 2nd Line parade from Washington Park to The Healing Garden (Webster Street & Taylor Avenue). Join the parade (kids and not-so-young kids wanting to add some musical flair can head to the Kids crafting zone to make their own instruments with Thingamajigs during the day) and then continue the party with West Alameda Business Association at The Healing Garden, 1435 Webster St. GOING GREEN
WEAD works hard to reduce the environmental impact of our events. In accordance with the City of Alameda's Disposable Food Ware ordinance, plastic single-use foodware is prohibited. To be able to serve you drinks without throwing out thousands of glasses, we provide glass beer mugs and wine glasses for the event. The glasses cost $4 each and can be purchased with your standard drinks tickets. If you prefer to bring your own glassware, that's fine by us! We just want to ensure that we're using less plastic, and that people hang on to their glasses so that they are not left around to be knocked over or broken during the day. All of our food vendors will serve your orders on disposable compostable-fiber food service ware. A FESTIVAL WITH BIG IMPACT
Blues, Brews and BBQ is thrilled to showcase the inspirational work of Little Village Foundation, a 501(c)(3) organization which specializes in presenting different sounds and stories by often overlooked artists operating outside the mainstream. Looking to break the stranglehold of the large commercial record labels, Founder Jim Pugh imagined a donor-driven organization which could finance the recording of the music and an initial run of one thousand CDs for each artist they work with. The artists sell the albums themselves, keeping the profits, and Little Village maintains the copyrights to all of their recordings. Founded in 2015 (the same year as West End Arts District), Little Village Foundation supports the dreams of artists from nontraditional backgrounds who are working in genres with deep roots in American culture. Blues Brews and BBQ is the brainchild of West End Arts District founder and president, Sandra Russell. As WEAD’s main annual fundraising event, proceeds support many artistic endeavors throughout the year including providing support and fiscal sponsorship services to artists working in our local community. We invite you to join us, and enjoy knowing that your support has ripple effects in supporting the arts!
*Blues, Brews & BBQ photos in our feed are by Melissa Rivers.
