For the 17th year, the Old Town Blues Festival will bring the best of the Northwest to the streets of Tacoma. On July 11, the community can enjoy great food, music and beer - while supporting a great cause. For the past seven years, proceeds from the event have gone to support the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Tacoma. Booths will be available to collect donations and provide information.

The goal of the event has always been to attract local artists, and this year is no different. Attendees can enjoy the sounds of Double Cookin’, Chris Stevens & the Surf Monkeys with Jay Mabin, and the Jerry Miller Band with special guest D.K. Stewart.

A total of 14 bands and artists will be performing during the event in Old Town Park. Stages will be set up at The Spar, the Mountaineers Hall and at Slavonian Hall.

The festival, which began small, has expanded over the years to incorporate more of the neighborhood. Giving back has been the main motivator for organizers Mike Mitchell and Ted Brown to keep the event going over the years.   

Brown, whose wife is a breast cancer survivor, said he has always been a music lover and was tired of driving to Seattle to hear good artists.

“I worked with performers in the music scene in Seattle and started working to make the best blues fest in the Northwest,” Brown said. “It wasn’t about making money, just what we could do for the community.”

He describes planning the festival as a “labor of love,” but that it just takes smiles from a few faces to keep him excited about planning it again.

Brown is amazed that the festival has continued to grow every year, and understands that it is something that the city needs. Recently, the group raised enough money to create a permanent stage for future events. It took four years, but Brown said it is time to have something more permanent for the festival and the community.  Construction on the new staging area is expected to begin over the next several years, pending planning with the city, explained Brown.

Mitchell credits the festival’s success to the treatment of the musicians.

“We treat the musicians so well, they just want to be a part of it,” Mitchell said.  The duo tries to provide a different musical line-up every year because there are so many musicians that want to perform. But Mitchell said local blues favorite Little Bill is brought back almost every year.

“He is a very talented, very gracious, person,” Mitchell said. “We never turn Little Bill down, and he never turns us down either.”

A young artist to watch out for is Tommy Simmons, he added. Mitchell explained that he met Simmons while watching his father Scott Simmons perform at a local pub. He was incredibly impressed by the young performer and invited him to this year’s festival.

“The kid knocked my socks off. He’s full of energy and writes great music,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be a bonus treat for everyone who is coming this year.”  

For ticket and performer information, visit www.tacomaoldtownbluesfest.net.