Friday, October 8, 2010

10/8-10 Garvin Gate Blues Fest

The 14th Garvin Gate Blues Fest starts tonight (6:30pm). i was pretty excited to find out it was back. when i was a kid growing up downtown we would walk down every year to see it. those kinds of things are really fun for kids, at least i had fun. And in high skool i had a teacher that gave extra credit for attending. It was a really great idea, a free neighborhood event (that brought thousands of more people than the neighborhood actually had) but closed down not by lack of attendance, but lack of interest in planning a free neighborhood event.  Believe me i know this curse. it takes months and months to plan Zombie Attack, not to mention thousands of dollars that are never recouped because it is a free event. And the neighbors generally wish it didn't happen at all (after last weekend, just ask anyone living on St. James Court).
i didn't even know it was back until a few weeks ago i couldn't find anything happening on 10/10/10 and did a search to find something to write about... and was surprised to see that it has been back for 3 years, resurrected on the 10th anniversary of it's closing in 1997. For something that was loved by this town for over a decade, i was surprised at the general lack of press for this Fest. Honestly i think Free Neighborhood Fests are one of the best things about louisville, we have a lot of them, and they are folding all the time due to lack of attendance, funding, and support from neighborhood associations.
I have no idea how this fest is in it's newest form, i know i have been critical of outdoor blues events in the past, but i hope it survives for a while this time around.
Friday 6:30 pm-11pm sat and sun 3:30 pm -11 pm. lawn chairs welcome, drinks and dogs not. FREE

Band Schedule
history of the Garvin Gate Blues fest (it's pretty interesting).

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