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Roots N Blues Festival facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

The Roots N Blues Festival is an exciting annual music festival held in Stephens Lake Park in Columbia, Missouri. It used to be known as the Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival. This festival brings together amazing artists from all over the world, the country, and even local areas. They play many different types of music, including roots, blues, gospel, country, folk, bluegrass, rock, and soul. The Roots N Blues Festival is a three-day event that usually takes place during the last weekend of September.

At the festival, you can enjoy more than 30 live music shows on two stages. There are also many places to buy food and drinks, craft stalls, a fun Ferris wheel, and cool art displays. During the festival weekend, there's even a half marathon and a 10k race, plus a special gospel music celebration. A company called Thumper Entertainment organizes the festival. They also manage the Roots N Blues Foundation, which is a non-profit group that supports a music education program for young people called "Blues in the Schools."

Festival History

The Roots N Blues N BBQ Festival started in 2007. It began as a free event to celebrate the 150th birthday of a local bank in Columbia, Missouri. The city closed ten blocks of downtown Columbia for the festival. About 70,000 people came to this first big event! An advertising company called Woodruff Sweitzer helped organize it. Richard King, who owned a music club called The Blue Note, also helped a lot.

In 2007, the "Blues in the Schools" program was created by Richard King and a local musician and teacher named TJ Wheeler. This program teaches elementary, middle, and high school students in mid-Missouri about music and culture. In 2013, the Roots N Blues Foundation was formed to help manage this important program.

In 2008, a company called Thumper Entertainment was started. They took over organizing and running the festival. Woodruff Sweitzer and Richard King continued to own the festival and Thumper Entertainment.

The festival moved to Stephens Lake Park in 2013. After this move, fewer people attended the festival. Attendance dropped from 52,000 people the year before to just over 23,000. This drop likely happened because there were no longer free areas to enter the festival.

In 2014, the festival started a "green vendor program." This was a step toward being more eco-friendly. They created rules for food and craft sellers. These rules included using things that break down naturally instead of styrofoam and plastic plates. Vendors also had to recycle cooking oil and compost food scraps. These efforts help the festival reduce its impact on the environment.

Past Performers

Each year, the Roots N Blues Festival features many talented musicians. Here are some of the main performers, called "headliners," from past festivals.

2007 (September 7–8)

  • Tab Benoit
  • Taj Mahal
  • Blind Boys of Alabama
  • Jerry Douglas Band
  • Big Smith
  • Deke Dickerson

2008 (October 3–4)

2009 (September 9–10)

  • Blind Boys of Alabama
  • Dan Tyminski
  • Black Joe Lewis & The Honey Bears
  • Booker T.
  • The Itals
  • The SteelDrivers

2010 (October 1–2)

  • Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi
  • Tab Benoit
  • Del McCoury Band
  • Anders Osborne
  • Trampled Under Foot

2011 (September 9–10)

  • Fitz and the Tantrums
  • Los Lobos
  • Taj Mahal
  • Ana Popovic
  • Robert Randolph and the Family Band

2012 (September 21–22)

2013 (September 20–22)

2014 (September 26–28)

  • The Avett Brothers
  • John Prine
  • Rosanne Cash
  • Amos Lee
  • Trampled by Turtles
  • Los Lobos
  • Jason Isbell
  • St. Paul & The Broken Bones

2015 (September 25–27)

2016 (September 30 – October 2)

  • The Avett Brothers
  • Grace Potter
  • Jason Isbell
  • Nathaniel Rateliff & The Night Sweats
  • Ben Folds
  • St. Paul & The Broken Bones

2017 (September 29 – October 1)

2020

The 2020 Festival was canceled because of the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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