A break in the heat helped make the Blues Funk Festival Saturday evening at Larry G. Crites Memorial Park, Festus, all the more pleasant, organizer Barb Lowry said.
The annual event, which made a return after a year off in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, featured performances from blues musicians Hudson and the Hoodoo Cats and Skeet Rodgers. The free concert festival is sponsored by the Festus Tourism Commission.
“I think it went really well,” said Lowry, the Festus recreation and tourism director. “It was pretty hot in the afternoon, but when the sun went down it was in the low 80s and there was a nice breeze. It made for a nice evening to be out.”
She estimated the crowd size as high as 1,000 people.
“There were several hundred to a thousand,” Lowry said. “There was a very good crowd out there.”
Attendees brought lawn chairs and blankets to sit on as they listened to the performers up on the park’s large stage. Some people danced on the patio area in front of the stage.
She said crowd members also enjoyed the fare of food trucks and not only youngsters had fun at the Bubble Bus as it spewed out bubbles.
“The food trucks were well-received,” she said. “The kids – and some adults – played in the bubbles.”
Lowry said no restrictions were put on attendees due to the recent surge in reported COVID cases, but people seemed to social distance on their own.
“I’m going to say they were social distancing,” she said. “They were in their own groups, with the groups spread apart.”
The 2021 Blues Funk Festival marked an important anniversary for the festival because of last year’ cancellation, Lowry said.
“This should be No. 11, but this will be the 10th annual Blues Funk Festival because of COVID last year,” she said.
She said she hopes the 11th annual Blues Funk Festival happens next year.
“We would like to have it again,” Lowry said.
