"Special thanks to Terry Pfeffer, Realtor"
 
The 6th Annual Bonita Blues Festival will be held on -
March 9th and March 10, 2012 at Riverside Park in Bonita Springs...
Mudbone
Karen Lovely
Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida - Music Therapy Program
Magic Slim and the Teardrops
Mudbone
Bonita Springs Assistance Office
Kim Page
Music for Minors
Tinsley Ellis
Wounded Warriors
Trampled Under Foot
Stringtown
Skyla Burrell
Gator Nate

Buy Tickets

Tickets for Friday are $20
Tickets for Saturday are $25
Kids 12 and under FREE with paid adult
Save yourself a few bucks and buy the Two Day Pass in Advance for still just $30!!!
(Tickets will be $40 at the Gate)
1. Choose Ticket Type ...
2. Click the Ticket
You can increase quantity during checkout
For each ticket purchased online we are including a handling fee of $1.25 to help offset the PayPal charges.

Note - you do not need a PayPal account to buy Advance Tickets, you will be given the option to use your regular credit card instead during checkout.

Bring your PayPal receipt to "Will Call" Ticket Collections at the Gate.

Comments/Feedback

Do you have Feedback from this year's festival? Have any suggestions - let us know by using our feedback form here
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SW Florida Blues Society

SW Florida Blues Society

Hey Blues fans there is a new source for keeping updated on local live blues music. The Southwest Florida Blues Society has been formed it is a non-profit corporation dedicated to local music.

Visit Them  

Volunteers

An essential part of the Festival is the Volunteer crew. We are looking for Security, Gate, beverage ticket sales, T-shirt sales, Trash-Picker-Upper, VIP Waiters, Set-up crew, Tear-down crew, etc for 2012. Want to help out?

Then click here to Volunteer

Newsletter

Keep up to date will all the news and happenings of the Bonita Blues Festival!
Bonita Blues Festival Newsletter


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Donate Now

Please join us as we raise funds to support our mission.
Donation can now be made directly from our Website.

Note - you do not need a PayPal account to use the donate button, you will be given the option to use your regular credit card instead.

Alternatively, you can fill out the form on this page and mail your donation.

Media Sponsors

Spotlight Magazine
Spotlight Magazine
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2012 Bonita Blues Festival
2012 Bonita Blues Poster

Welcome blues fans to the 2012 Bonita Blues Festival

We are very excited about the 2012 Bonita Blues Festival. We have been working on putting together a great line up for you this year, a line up that includes storied performers like Magic Slim and the Teardrops  and Tinsley Ellis , and unbelievable rising stars like Trampled Under FootKaren LovelyDamon Fowler GroupMel Melton  with the Wicked Mojo's and Skyla Burell . We have also included great local artists to showcase this year which include StringtownDeb and the Dynamics , The Kim Page BandMudbone featuring Rick Howard and the Gladezmen.

The Bonita Blues Charitable Foundation is proud to announce the charities  we have selected to assist this year. They are the Bonita Assistance office, which offers "a hand up not a hand out", The Music for Minors Program, supplying instrument's for local kids who can't afford them, the local chapter of the Wounded Warriors Project and The Music Therapy program at the Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida, which we had an opportunity to experience first hand and just seeing the effects of music on these children, we are so proud to add them as a charity this year.

We hope you will take notice of the early sponsors that our listed on our website. Without sponsors we could not bring the festival to all of you. We hope you will support the sponsors because they are the reason the Bonita Blues Festival is now in it’s sixth year! If you would like to become a sponsor of the Bonita Blues Festival please contact us. This is a non-profit event and the proceeds will be distributed locally to our charities. We still need your help to make this the best event yet.

Please join us in the lovely city of Bonita Springs at Riverside Park, on March 9 – 10, 2012 for a great weekend of blues music. Just kick back, dance or relax and through your efforts, we can all help put smiles on the faces of our attendees and charitable recipients.

Have a Bluesafull day,
Kevin and Jennifer Barry
Len Eckert
Directors of the BBCF

 
BBCF Boat Parade Winners

The BBF Committee won best non-profit in the boat parade!

BBCF Boat Parade Winners

 
BluesSource Review

The 2011 Bonita Blues Fest recently received a stellar write-up in BluesSource. Read on friends....

I may not be very smart ...... and I've been told that on many occasions, but I've proven the saying "You can't teach an old dog news tricks" is totally not true. In my mis-spent youth I was always under the mistaken impression that "bigger was better." Well when it comes to blues festivals, that's not necessarily true. I've been to the Chicago Blues Festival, Pocono Blues Festival, San Francisco Blues Festival, Tampa Bay Blues Festival, The Heritage Blues Festival and the list goes on. But I'm finding that the smaller, town backed festivals are more enjoyable to attend: the Madison Ribberfest in Madison, Indiana, Michigan festivals including the Kalamazoo Blues Festival, the Flint Blues Festival, Old Town Blues Festival in Lansing. And now I can add the Bonita Springs Blues Festival to this list. This was our first visit to this festival, and I can tell you it won't be our last.

The city of Bonita Springs, Florida is not large by any stretch, but with a population of almost 44,000 it's not small town USA either. Nestled in between Naples and Ft. Meyers, it's become known as the "Gateway to the Gulf."  But it has small town sensibility and supports its causes. A group of friends went to a music festival at Pine Island and, because of a random comment made there, the Bonita Springs Charitable Foundation was born. And from that came the Bonita Springs Blues Festival.

Read more...
 
Background

Bonita Blues Charitable FoundationThe Bonita Blues Charitable Foundation was founded to present high-quality Blues music to our community while raising funds to support local charities.

Over the past four years we have donated approximately $30,000 to charities including, The Liberty Youth Ranch, The Shelter for Abused Women and Children, Healthy Start, The Bonita Springs Assistance Office, the Immokalee Friendship House and Music For Minors. For 2011 we have once again selected the Bonita Springs Assistance Office and Music For Minors as our benefactors for our fifth festival.

2011 CommitteeThe Bonita Springs Assistance Office lends financial and other support to anyone in the community that needs help. Music For Minors provides musical instruments to children that cannot afford them and encourages them to perform well in school so they can keep the instruments. In 2010 the proceeds from the festival provided fourteen instruments to children in Lee County.

As founders, we are so grateful for all of the support we receive from the community to make the Bonita Blues Festival a success. From the beginning the City of Bonita Springs has encouraged and supported our efforts. We are very fortunate that the City of Bonita Springs has the finest outdoor venue is southwest Florida. Of course, none of this would have been possible without our sponsors, advertisers and the many volunteers that donate their time throughout the year and at the event.

We are so excited to present the milestone, fifth-annual Bonita Blues Festival on March 11 & 12, 2011. Please join us for a stellar line-up of musicians as we support our local charities.

Bonita Blues Charitable Foundation
P.O. Box 367385,
Bonita Springs
FL, 34136.
Tax exempt number 26-1094480

 

2012 Festival Fast Facts

imageWhen
Friday March 9th,
Saturday, March 10th


imageTime
Friday, ~ 2pm-9:15pm
Sat., ~ 11:30am-9:30pm


imageWhere
Riverside Park - Bonita
Get Directions

2012 - Friday Line Up

MudboneMudbone
2:00pm - 2:45pm
Deb & the DynamicsDeb & the Dynamics
3:15pm - 4:00pm
Damon FowlerDamon Fowler
4:30pm - 5:45pm
Karen LovelyKaren Lovely
6:15pm - 7:30pm
Tinsley EllisTinsley Ellis
8:00pm - 9:15pm

2012 - Saturday Line Up

Gator NateGator Nate
11:30am - 12:15pm
Kim Page BandKim Page Band
12:45pm - 1:30pm
StringtownStringtown
2:00pm - 2:45pm
Skyla BurrellSkyla Burrell
3:15pm - 4:15pm
Mel MeltonMel Melton
4:45pm - 6:00pm
Trampled Under FootTrampled Under Foot
6:30pm - 7:45pm
Magic Slim & the TeardropsMagic Slim & the Teardrops
8:15pm - 9:30pm

Blues Festival Accommodations

A special thanks goes out to the Hampton Inn Bonita Springs/Naples-North for all their help and their generous donation of rooms for the artists. The Hampton Inn is located at 27900 Crown Lake Boulevard, Bonita Springs, FL, 34135 Tel: (239) 947-9393.

holiday Inn ExpressAlso, special thanks to Holiday Inn Express of Bonita Springs, for also donating rooms for the bands for the Festival this year.  Located at 27891 Crown Lake Blvd., Bonita Springs, FL 34134, discounted rooms can be booked here at a rate of $95 per night. That's an even better rate than last year! Reservations can be made by calling 239-948-0699 and asking for the "Bonita Blues Rate."

Comfort Inn of Bonita SpringsAlso thanks to the Comfort Inn of Bonita Springs for donating rooms for the bands. The Hotel also has reserved a block of discounted rooms for the festival weekend for $95.99 per room, per night plus taxes. Make reservations by calling 239-992-5001 and ask for The Bonita Blues Festival rate. The hotel is located at 9800 Bonita Beach Road.

Trianon HotelsAnd finally the Trianon has offered a special rate of $145 plus tax for a block of rooms. Reservations can be made by calling 800-859-3939 and asking for the Bonita Blues Rate.

Comfort Inn of Bonita SpringsAnd there's more ... The Bonita Springs Lodge & Suites, located at 28600 Trails Edge Boulevard Bonita Springs, FL 34134, is offering a “Bonita Blues Festival” rate of $85.00 per room, per night single or double occupancy over the festival dates, by calling (239) 495-9255.

Festival Background

Area businessmen Mike Pfeffer and Kevin Barry founded the event to raise money to help the homeless, abused women and children, and babies in our community
Learn more...

Contact Us

Address: P.O. Box 367385,
Bonita Springs, FL 34136
Email us:info@bonitablues.com