In a bid to expand its appeal and attendance the Billtown Blues Festival scheduled for June 14, 15 and 16 has expanded to a new three-day format. It is being billed as “Three Great Days of Music and Camping.”

“After 30 years and being an all- volunteer organization, it is real easy to just “ ditto ” the prior event…especially when it “ isn’ t broken,” so changing it up for a milestone 30th anniversary was one reason for the change to a three-day event,” Bonnie Tallman, executive director of the Billtown Blues Association told “Webb Weekly.” “The other reason is to try and attract new ears to the music. We learned that a demographic than the typical blues fan, enjoys camping and more of a “festival, weekend” experience. So we are hopeful we will attract some new people to the art form. This was also done with the 30th anniversary in mind.”

Tallman explained how the three-day format will operate. Music will begin on Friday evening at 6 p.m., with three national recording artists and the locally popular Uptown Music Collective doing a Tom Petty to open. Saturday will be a typical Billtown Blues Festival day with music starting at 12 noon and running until 10:30 pm. Sunday will kick off at 11a.m. with a Gospel Music Showcase featuring all local musicians and produced by Stacia Abernatha a local musician.

She said that the lineup is spectacular each day. It includes three Blues Music Award winners, Vanessa Collier (Friday), and Nick Moss and Dennis Gruenling, (Saturday), with G.E. Smith of SNL fame (1985-1995), many years touring with Bob Dylan and Hall & Oates (and many additional years of accolades), closing out the Festival on Sunday. In between, artists will be arriving from Austin Texas, Nashville, Ohio, Chicago, Los Angeles, Connecticut, Pittsburgh, New York City, Brooklyn, and throughout the Susquehanna Valley.

Another new thing at this year’s Festival according to Tallman is, in line with developing a “festival experience.” They are including a weekend camping package for Friday and Saturday nights and music for all there days.

“We are receiving great feedback,” Tallman said. “Local patrons are pleased to be able to come for all three music days, or choose what works best for their schedules; the craft and food vendors are pleased to be able to set up for a three day stretch rather than just one day; and our out-of-area patrons are pleased to make a weekend of it at the festival reuniting with family and friends.”

She said the Festival’s committee and the volunteers are critical to its success.

“It would be impossible to present an event of this magnitude without the dedicated time and talent contributions of what we call our CORE group…10 volunteers who work tirelessly to stick to our mission of celebrating an iconic American music art form, plus present this and other events to best service the performing musicians and the ticket-buying patrons,” said Tallman. “This year we spread a net for additional volunteers just for the festival and we have assembled an incredible group of people who are anxious to make this our best Festival of all time.”

Tallman said the success of the Festival is due to a very small group of devoted volunteers who attend meetings all year long to do whatever is necessary to keep the festival going. Because they strive to maintain the lowest possible ticket price and permit kids under 16 free, they owe enormous gratitude to the many sponsors offering cash contributions and in-kind services, many who’ve been with them for years, and several new contributors who have joined us this year, who believe in their purpose. The appeal of the Festival is multi-faceted. Many tell the organizers they enjoy their event because it is small, friendly, organized and well managed. Many tell us them enjoy the Festival because of the caliber of talent they bring to the stage each year.

Looking to the future of the Billtown Blues Festival, Tallman stated, “As we have done every year since 1990, we evaluate our financial position at the end of the Festival, look at what we did right, what we could have done better, and assess if we should go another year. Another factor that will greatly determine our future is recruiting about ten younger members who are willing to learn from those of us who have been producing this event, many for 20-30 years; new people who we can pass the torch to. We believe new ideas and a fresh approach will strengthen the future of the Festival.”

The Festival schedule is:
Friday, June 14th: Camper Line Up at 2 p.m., gates at 5 p.m., music 6 p.m.-10:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 15th: Gates at 11 a.m., music noon-10:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 16th: Gates at 10 a.m., music 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
For further information about the Billtown Blues Festival contact (570) 584-4480 or the website at www.billtownblues.org.