The Baton Rouge Blues Festival and Foundation has announced the lineup for the April 21-23 Baton Rouge Blues Festival. The event, located in and around Rhorer Plaza, North Boulevard and Lafayette Streets in Downtown Baton Rouge, features live music, food, art and activities.
The family friendly event is free to the public and features regional and internationally recognized performers, including local blues legends.
Alabama Slim performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
Scheduled performers below (subject to change) are as follows:
Friday, April 21
Visit Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stage
5 p.m. - 8 p.m. Chris Leblanc
6:30 p.m. Intermission by Gymfit
AARP Front Porch Stage
4:30 p.m. - 5:30 p.m. Hanna PK
Mamie Porter performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
Saturday, April 22
Visit Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stage
11:30 a.m. - 11:45 p.m. a.m. Opening Ceremonies
11:45 a.m. -12:45 p.m. The Peterson Brothers
1:15 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Shannon McNally
2:45 p.m. - 3:45 p.m. TC Carter Band
4:15 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Elizabeth King
5:45 p.m. - 7 p.m. Brother Dege
7:30 p.m. - 8:45 p.m. Tommy Castro & The Painkillers
9:15 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. Southern Avenue
AARP Front Porch Stage
1 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Anais St. John
2:45 p.m.- 4 Dwight James & The Royals
4:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. Emily & The Fried Honeys
7 p.m. - 8:15 p.m. DK Harrell
Albert White performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
LA 1 Stage
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Troy Turner Band
2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Sam Hogan & The Rhythm Ramblers
4 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Sundanze
5:45 p.m. – 7 p.m. Veronica Lewis
Blues Backstage Interviews
12:15 p.m. - 12:45 p.m. Shannon McNally
1:30 p.m. - 2 p.m. TC Carter Band
2:15 p.m. - 2:45 p.m. The Peterson Brothers
3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Elizabeth King
6 p.m. - 6:30 p.m. Tommy Castro
7 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Southern Avenue
Busker Stop
12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Peter Simon
1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Anthony Parker
2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Ace Dubois
3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Worth Powers
4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Nancy Broussard
5:30 p.m. - 6:15 p.m. Uncle Chess
Aretta Woodruff performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
Sunday, April 23, 2023
Visit Baton Rouge Swamp Blues Stage
Noon – 1 p.m. Sugarharp
1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. Leonard “Lowdown” Brown
3 p.m. - 4 p.m. Mia Borders
4:30 p.m. - 5:45 p.m. Luther Kent
AARP Front Porch Stage
1 p.m. - 2 p.m. OMT Band featuring Floyd Patterson
2:30 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Gregg Martinez featuring TK Hulin and Johnny Allen
4 p.m. - 5 p.m. Kenny Acosta
LA 1 Stage
12:30 p.m. - 1:45 p.m. Clay Melton
2:15 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. Kristen Diable
4 p.m. – 5 p.m. RL Boyce & Lightnin Malcolm
Lillie Lewis performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
Blues Backstage Interviews
11:30 p.m. - 12:15 p.m. Blues Vue-“Carol Fran: Tous Les Jours C’est Pas Le Meme, Every Day Is Not The Same”
1:45 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Sugarharp
2:30 p.m. - 3 p.m. Leonard “Lowdown” Brown
4 p.m. - 4:30 p.m. Gregg Martinez featuring TK Hulin & Johnny Allen
Busker Stop
12:30 p.m. - 1:15 p.m. Cliff Patrick
1:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m. Holger Nozel & Bruce Lamb
2:30 p.m. - 3:15 p.m. Hex Windham
3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m. Jim Standley
4:30 p.m. - 5:15 p.m. Ameal Cameron
Fans of Blues music relax before musicians begin to perform during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge. This year's Blues Festival organizers are looking for volunteers.
While the festival is still free to the general public, the festival offers a BFF (BluesFest Fan) Experience Pass for those who want a little lagniappe. Passes are on sale now at https://bff.brblues.org/.
The BFF Experience Pass is $200. Each pass includes complimentary food and beverages, private bar and bathrooms, and an exclusive area to mingle, dance, or sit and watch the festivities. This area is sponsored by Louisiana Seafood with food by Jolie Pearl, River Center Catering and Raising Canes.
BluesFest Kids Area, sponsored by Raising Canes, will be located at the Old State Capitol grounds from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. It features drum circles by Kids Orchestra, face painting and arts/crafts activities by Line4Line Baton Rouge.
Albert White performs during the Baton Rouge Blues Festival on Sunday afternoon at downtown Baton Rouge.
Blues Bonus Events include:
• Blues Lagniappe, Tuesday, April 18 at LSU Hill Memorial Library from 5:30 p.m. p.m. - 7:30 p.m. pm. Presented by BR BluesFest and The Reilly Center at LSU, Speaker Kevin Green presents “Black Music and the Copyright House of Horrors” followed by a panel discussion moderated by Maxine Crump entitled “Young, Blues Blood” with panelists DK Harrell, Hannah PK and Carter Wilkenson. Free and open to the public.
• Blues Vue-Sunday, April 23 at 11:30 a.m. am in the Blues Backstage Tent on North Boulevard in Downtown Baton Rouge.
• A free screening of Carol Fran: Tous Les Jours C’est Pas Le Meme, Every Day Is Not The Same. It will wrap at 12:15 p.m. just in time for the second day of Blues music kicking off on the Festival grounds.
The Baton Rouge Blues Festival, which started in 1981, is one of the oldest free blues festivals in America. All revenue generated from the festival goes toward the mission of the Blues Foundation to help continue the goal to promote, preserve and celebrate the Swamp Blues music native to Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Follow the festival on Twitter at @brbluesfest, on Facebook at facebook.com/brbluesfest or at batonrougebluesfestival.org for the most up-to-date information.