BERWYN – It’s been said the blues can open a door to your soul, and one west suburban music venue is doing just that.
FitzGerald’s is hosting the second-annual Berwyn Blues Festival from Friday through Sunday at 6615 Roosevelt Rd.
WGN News Now spoke to Will Duncan, the owner of FitzGerald’s, about the upcoming event.
“We’ve recently been awarded the keeping the blues alive award from the Blues foundation which was really exciting last year, and we’ve long been a host of great music festivals,” he said. “This is the second anniversary of our blues-focused festival which features incredible Chicago blues artists and blues artists from all over the country.”
The headliners for this year’s Blues Fest include Ruthie Foster, JD McPherson, and Grammy Award winner Cedric Burnside along with 30 other acts on two separate stages.
Other artists include Larry McCray, Carolyn Wonderland, Jontavius Willis and Mud Morganfield, the oldest known son of Muddy Waters, plus local artists Toronzo Cannon, Corey Dennison, Lil’ Ed and The Blues Imperials along with the Altered Five Blues Band out of Wisconsin.
“There will be live music going on two stages all day long with a little bit of time in between so folks can float from our indoor, historic nightclub environment out onto our expansive patio with space for a thousand people, ” said Duncan. “So, there will be indoor and outdoor music going well into the night.”
Doors open on Friday at 4 p.m. with the music starting at 5 p.m, and performances start up at 1 p.m. the next two days.
“It’s going to be a really special weekend celebrating blues music in all its forms here at Fitzgerald’s in Berwyn, and I hope people come out and join us,” said Duncan. “It’s going to be a beautiful weekend too. We actually picked this particular weekend because we heard once, and I don’t know if this true, that this is the weekend statistically most likely to be beautiful weather in Chicago, according to Tom Skilling.”
Tickets are still available and can be purchased on the venue’s website.
“We have a couple of different options for folks. There’s a general admission ticket of course. There’s also a VIP ticket which gains access to a reserved seating area with full-service dining from Babygold Barbecue, our restaurant next door,” said Duncan.
You can learn more about the Berwyn Blues Festival in the video above.