Clemson Blues Festival Expanding

The Clemson Blues Festival continues to grow.

Vince Jackson, one of the festival's organizers, said that the 2014 festival will expand to include other areas of Pickens County.

Jackson spoke to Six Mile Town Council during their August meeting.

He said the 2013 festival, held in April, was “very successful.”

“We had about 4,000 turn out,” Jackson said. “It was a great event. Next year, we're expanding. We're going to a full week, expanding from four days to a full week.”

Although it's called the Clemson Blues Festival, the event encompasses a wide range of music.

“We have rock, we have gospel, we have reggae, we have a lot of different things we're bringing into the area,” Jackson said.

The third annual festival has received some tourism funding to help facilitate the expansion. Jackson is visiting all the municipalities in Pickens County.

“I'm asking them to come onboard with us and to have an event in your location,” he told council members. “That's something we can work out and talk to further about. I just wanted to sort of scratch the surface tonight.”

The festival had been housed at venues in Central and Clemson. Those cities are still onboard, but organizers would like to see other cities join in.

“Pickens is interested and Easley is interested,” Jackson said. “I didn't want to leave Six Mile out. I think it would be a good thing for Six Mile.”

The main event is the all-day concert on April 19 at Patrick Square in Clemson.

“We've had it there for the last two years, it works out really great,” Jackson said. “Last year, they put up a big circus tent. We had seven bands.”

The 2014 festival will allow bands more time to play, Jackson said.

“We'll probably have about four bands next year,” he said. “The bands didn't get to play long enough – they wanted to play longer, so we'll have fewer bands and let them play longer.

“We're talking about some big-name talent,” Jackson said. “Last year, we had Mac Arnold and Plateful O' Blues, from the Greenville-Pelzer area. Mac's a very famous blues guitarist. He played with Muddy Waters. He's played with The Temptations, The Supremes and bands like that.”

He said the festival is beneficial to businesses, as it brings in large crowds.

“We ask for donations from businesses and sponsorships to do this,” Jackson said. “We've raised quite a bit of money in the past and expect to do it a again. It's just a good time. What we're looking at is making this a destination event for the Upstate. People have told me it could be a Spoleto (Festival) if it's done correctly. We're not adverse to that. We would welcome that.”