The Mississippi Valley Blues Society voted at a special board meeting tonight to move the 29th Mississippi Valley Blues Festival from its home in Davenport's LeClaire Park to a downtown Davenport location. The Park is predicted to be flooded during the dates of the Blues Festival, July 4 through 6. The Army Corps of Engineers predicts that the Mississippi River will crest above flood stage this weekend, and will not have receded enough by July 4 to make the Park usable.
The MVBS board, after lengthy discussions of many alternatives, decided on a location on 3rd Street in downtown Davenport, with use of the Adler Theatre for Tent Stage performers. Bandshell acts will perform on a stage on 3rd Street west of the skywalk, weather permitting. If the weather does not cooperate, the Bandshell stage performances will be moved to the Great Hall of the River Center.
"Of course we didn't want to have to move from LeClaire Park," said Karen McFarland, Entertainment Committee Co-Chair. "But the 3rd Street and Adler venues will still provide great quality music, and parking is abundant in the area."
Further details about the layout will be forthcoming, including the free parking for motorcycles, vendor spaces, and admission gates.
The Mississippi Valley Blues Festival was forced by the flooded Mississippi River to move three previous times: during the great flood of 1993 (when the festival moved to the municipal airport in Mount Joy) and also in 2001 (in the parking lot of Modern Woodmen Park), and 2008 (on 2nd Street in downtown Davenport).
The Festival volunteers are experts at moving logistics in a hurry. And this year's move to 3rd Street promises to run smoothly, "given the mistakes we made and now know how to avoid from 2008," said McFarland.
