Bluesfest Windsor line up takes a left and has one more surprise

By Lori Baldassi

There may still be snow on the ground, but Bluesfest Windsor is already in summer concert mode.

They announced its 2018 lineup and promised one more surprise announcement to come — the headliner will be announced in May.

Gathering at the Windsor Star Café for a press conference, Rob Petroni, president of Bluesfest Windsor, announced the lineup for the annual July shows.

Recording artist Beth Hart and Johnny Lang represent the blues, and classic rock is coming to the stage with Pat Travers, Night Ranger and Extreme.

However, on the Sunday of the festival the music takes a left turn with a “Back to the 90s Tour” taking the stage featuring Vanilla Ice.

“Every year the shows grow exponentially,” said Jeff Burrows, the artist’s director for Bluesfest.

Paul Bonaventure, president of Show Time Productions, has been the production head for Bluesfest for about 20 years.

“It’s the biggest show production-wise that we have ever had,” said Bonaventure.

Last year’s shows broke records in online sales and attendance which allows Bluesfest to make larger donations to charity.

Transition to Betterness is a local community organization dedicated to providing comfort for those impacted by life altering illness. It has received funding from Bluesfest this year to purchase TV rentals for a year for the patients who spend extended time in the oncology department.

“Their generosity has helped us do so many things and support so many programs,” said Amber Hunter, executive director of Transition to Betterness.

For the complete line up and ticket information, visit the Bluesfest website or Facebook page.