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Good2Go at Bluesfest 2010. Photo by Ming Wu.

Ottawa Bluesfest 2012 - July 4-15

Ottawa's biggest and best music festival takes place this year from July 4-15, 2011. This year's event takes place at Lebreton Flats & the War Museum, near downtown Ottawa. You'll find lots of news and links on this page, including a growing list of local blogs covering the RBC Royal Bank Bluesfest.

The 2012 Bluesfest Line-Up

• The headline performers will be announced at a gala dinner on April 24, 2012, to be held at the Canadian War Museum.
• Rumours about Bluesfest headliners usually start appearing in early January. I'm writing this in December 2011 so it won't be long before we start to see some intense speculation about who's playing. Madonna? Paul McCartney? Rolling Stones? It's an annual tradition in Ottawa to make wild guesses about headline performers.
• We'll post the latest rumours and speculation to the OttawaStart Blog if we hear anything.

Tickets

• Tickets usually go on sale in April via CapitalTickets.ca. We'll post the details to the space once they're confirmed.
• In 2011, full festival passes were $260, weekly passes were $140, and youth passes $99.
• Single day passes are also available.

Stage collapse info & ticket refunds

The 2011 line line-up

• Over 200 acts played at the 2011 edition fo Bluesfest, including Soundgarden, The Black Keys, Death Cab for Cutie, John Fogerty, Ben Harper, A Perfect Circle, Girl Talk, The Tragically Hip, The Flaming Lips, Steve Miller Band, Death from Above 1979, Erykah Badu, My Morning Jacket, Joe Satriana, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Billy Talent, Peter Frampton, Bootsy Collins, The Roots, Galactic, Blue Rodeo, Rise Against, Tegan & Sarah, Dropkick Murphys. Here's a complete list of confirmed acts.
• See also: Bluesfest adds Just for Laughs comedy line-up

Recommended Links

• ottawabluesfest.ca (official site)
  The official site of the 2011 Cisco Ottawa Bluesfest includes a full calendar plus an interactive schedule marker to help you plan out your visit.
• OttawaStart Twitter Feed
  Each day around 11:00am we'll post our daily pick, plus we'll point you towards interesting Bluesfest news and links throughout the festival.
• OttawaStart Blog: Bluesfest
  A collection of current & past articles about Bluesfest from our blog.

Blogs and websites covering the festival (from 2011)

• If you're blogging about Bluesfest, tell us about it so we can add you to this list!
• Apartment613
• The Big Beat / Peter Simpson
• Byward of Mouth
• Corner Shop Studios
• The Festival Goer (Ottawa Citizen)
• Front Page Media
• humplik.com
• In The Round
• Labelle Photo
• National Capital Rock (photos)
• Now Open (Denis Armstrong / Ottawa Sun)
• Ottawa Blues This Week
• Ottawa Citizen: Bluesfest
• OttawaJazzScene.ca
• Ottawa Life Magazine
• OttawaStart Blog: Bluesfest
• Ottawa Sun: The Scene
• PhotogMusic.com (photos)
• Sandy Sharkey
  Bob FM's morning host is staying at a hotel downtown so she can be really close to Bluesfest. She's posting daily photos and notes.
• Flickr Bluesfest Group / Ottawa Bluesfest photos on Flickr

Our daily Bluesfest picks:

• To come!
  

Photography rules

• NO Professional Photograph Equipment
  (small hand held cameras without additional lenses are fine). That means if you have an SLR camera, you probably won't be allowed to snap photos during the show.
• You also can't bring audio recording devices or video cameras.
• More rules & regs are on the Bluesfest FAQ.

Parking & access

• Parking is limited at the site so if you can, take a bus or taxi, walk, or cycle to Bluesfest.
• Cycling: Take one of Ottawa's scenic bike paths, then park in one of the secure bike parking areas.
• Bus: Take OC Transpo to the Lebreton transit station. It's the best way to get to the event. You can also take the O-Train, which stops close by at Bayview.
  

  During Bluesfest, the O-Train will be extended to a 15 minute service, with the last train leaving Bayview Station at 12:00 am midnight, Monday to Saturday. On Sunday, the O-train will be extended to 11:45 pm from Bayview Station.  

  Routes 94, 95, 96, 97 and 98 will be supplemented as needed from 11:00 pm-11:45 pm, to accommodate the crowds leaving at the end of the night. More info...

• If you have to bring your car, the closest parking lots include: Place de Ville (Queen and Kent), Place du Portage (Rue Maisonneuve) and Terrace de la Chaudière (Rue Eddy)
• Road closures:

  Wellington Street between Vimy Place and Booth Street is reduced to one westbound lane and two eastbound lanes between midnight to 3 pm daily. Wellington Street between Vimy Place and Lett Street will be reduced to two westbound lanes and one eastbound lane between 3 and 6:30 p.m. daily.

  Wellington/Ottawa River Parkway will be closed from Parkdale Avenue to Booth Street from 6:30 p.m. to midnight daily. Finally, Booth Street from Albert Street to Wellington Street will be closed from 6:30 pm to midnight daily.

• More info from the Bluesfest official site...

Map of the Bluesfest site

A brief history

The festival started in 1994 with over 5,000 people attending a Clarence Clemons concert at Majors Hill Park. Since then, the festival has grown to feature over a week's worth of concerts, entertaining over 200,000 fans each year.

Related Links

• David Scrimshaw's Bluesfest Schema
  Check out these great tips and strategies to make the most out of your Bluesfest experience.
• Ottawa Blues Society
• Wikipedia: Bluesfest
• YouTube: Bluesfest video
• Flickr: Bluesfest Ottawa

Related Guides

• Ottawa Jazz Festival Guide
• Ottawa Concerts Guide
• Ottawa Festivals Guide
• Ottawa Events Guide
• Ottawa Music Guide
• Ottawa Tourism Guide
• Ottawa Hotels Guide

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