Photo courtesy of Realize Bradenton.

The Bradenton Blues Festival is synonymous with the Riverwalk venue where it is held. That association is by design—the park and the event were conceived in the same whirlwind of ideas that yielded Realize Bradenton, the organization that orchestrates many of Bradenton’s far-reaching arts and cultural initiatives. But the venue presents a particular problem in the time of COVID.

“We’ve always had our guests’ safety at the forefront of everything we’ve done, and there was just no way to keep people socially distanced at the Riverwalk this year,” says Karen Corbin, Director of Development for Realize Bradenton. Fortunately, Corbin and her colleagues had plenty of time to plan, and out of that time, Realize secured LECOM Park as the new site of this year’s Blues Festival. The outdoor park has seating for 7500 people and concessions spaces built into it, which made it a perfect place to host the festival while still keeping guests safe. “We’ve capped ticket sales at 1100,” says Corbin, “and we have assigned seating so people aren’t mulling around like they would be at Riverwalk.”

In addition, the festival got its hands on “enough sanitizer to supply the state of Florida,” jokes Corbin. The festival also made what some might perceive as a contentious decision when they adopted a mask requirement. “It was a hard decision, but we’re trying to stay on top of the CDC guidelines while at the same time trying to be really forthright with our guests in telling them that these are the rules and if they don’t feel comfortable with it, please don’t buy a ticket.” While the mask mandate might scare off some regulars, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. “Knock on wood, no one has been nasty or angry,” says Corbin.

On the contrary, the festival has proven itself to be a treasured part of the Bradenton community. “Most of our sponsors came back,” she says, “and some bought a sponsorship even though they couldn’t attend, so the response has been amazing.”

To accommodate the smaller ticket sales and still reach those unable to attend, this year’s festival will see the return and expansion of its live stream capabilities, with professional videographers hired to complement the exquisite sound engineering the festival is known for. “A live stream really needs to have the technical finesse to work for live music,” says Corbin.

Still, like any live performance art, the festival’s organizers must be ready to pivot at any moment. “If [COVID-19] gets really ugly, canceling is not off the table,” says Corbin. “But the Realize Bradenton board was behind us 100% and we really feel we’ve put something together that’s going to be safe and enjoyable.”

The festival kicks off Friday, December 4th with the Blues Appetizer concert at LECOM Park featuring Tullie Brae Band and Crystal Shawanda Band. The full Blues Festival runs from 11 am to 8 pm on Saturday, December 5th, followed by the annual Sunday Blues Brunch at Mattison’s Riverwalk Grille from 11 am to 2 pm. Tickets for individual days can be purchased online. Last year’s festival sold out before Halloween.

Photo courtesy of Realize Bradenton.

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