We would love to know your thoughts about this year’s festival. Please leave a comment and let us know!
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You guys did great. Purchasing tickets we easy to do and you didn’t rip people off with a huge service charge. The tickets arrived in a timely manner. Thank you for your great service and I really appreciate it.
My son and I attended the festival for the first time. We live in Sylvania, GA and the short drive was well worth the trip. The line up was outstanding. My husband and I have been a fan of Marcia Ball since we saw her 12 years ago and of course she did not disappoint.
My son and I loved Mingo Fishtrap.
You definitely have new fans from Sylvania,
GREAT JOB!!!
Once again, you have managed to out do yourselves. As always, the music was fabulous, the food fantastic and the weather, although a bit warm, was wonderful.
I still cannot believe that I have lived in Georgia for 22 years and only found out about the festival 5 years ago. I have been attending every year since my first festival and will continue to go as long as I have breath to breathe. Thank you once again for putting on an outstanding show.
This is one of the best Augusta area events of the year. My wife and I have been going for many years and we always get a group of friends to join us. Some come from Atlanta. We look forward to the festival each year and plan our schedules around it. We DON’T want to miss it. As always, we had a blast.
Fantastic event. Beautiful weather. Plenty of parking. Friendly staff. Awesome food vendors. Amazing music. Couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. Already looking forward to next year !!
We had a wonderful time – of course it was very hot this year but most enjoyable. Kudos for setting up the bands so quickly.
Awesome show and lineup. Well done!
As a first time attendee, who joined friends who had been several times, I was very impressed. The line-up was very good, as was the sound, venue, and food.
Mark in NC
Attended for the first time with friends that have been coming for years. We had a great time. The music line-up was excellent. The accommodations for food, shade, drinks and facilities were all well planned. We plan to come out again next year!
I had a great time! This was my first visit and this festival will now be an annual event. All of the bands were amazing! I’m looking forward to next year.
It was a good festival but not the best. The people were great. The food choices were slim – need more vendors. The sound was ok, could have been a little louder. The performers were okay, but not the best. There were no WOW moments like St. Paul and Jaimoe last year. There are a lot of artists out there, and many of them local. Scout the talent this summer and find us some new blood. Try and get Big Head Todd – great blues man right there! See you next year.
Mark
The lineup was great and the weather was good. We’ve enjoyed this fest in the past and plan to do so again.
That said, I must say we were disappointed to get there at 10 am to find two rows of canopies all ready set up. Upon inquiring as to how that happened,I was informed that those were staff canopies. We also spoke to some folks who told us they went to the site on Friday evening and set up. Neither situation is right…dare I use the fair word?
We also would hope that you’d try to have more variety of food vendors. Other than the Mediterranean truck it was hot dogs, burgers and bbq..nothing against those foods. We have been to other small fests that have more variety. Surely all the fans would enjoy more food diversity.
As I said, we’ll be back but we’d like to see some changes made.
Our second time. Had a great time! Reasonably priced and good food and drink. Slope of the field is perfect for viewing. Disappointed that their was no bio of Blind Willie on the program and not enough blues music. Kinda odd that there was only one black musician the whole day. That said, all the acts were quality. My favorites were John Hammond (yes!!) and Mingo Fishtrap. We like the size of the festival and that it is just one day.
Ticket arrived within a week after order. Lineup was very good and
Mingo Fishtrap was awesome! food venue was good as always.
Only complaint was the beer vendor. How can Anheuser-Busch not have Budweiser on tap? this is the second year they have featured
several brews, but have chosen not to include America’s great lager!
Please have at least one tap on hand for next year! Thanks for a great
venue each year!!
I look forward to this Festival more than all holidays combined. Seriously. Again it was a beautiful experience . I had the pleasure of bringing a first timer…it was as good as taking a kid to Disney World. We had a BALL.
Once again congrats on a fantastic line up. Thanks for Mingo Fishtrap who in my opinion stole the show. Keep up the good work. ( I don’t think anyone would mind if you brought back St Paul And The Broken Bones OR Mingo Fishtrap.)just sayin’
Our first but definitely not the last visit to this fun event.
Event staff and vendors were all very helpful and friendly.
The entertainment exceeded expectations.
A very nice venue for a festival. Good view. Liked the tent area. Nice food and vendors. Easy parking. Good placement and number of Portajohns. A well run venue.
I was somewhat surprised at the lack of Blues music although the performers that were there were good.
I was also surprised that it appeared to be a segregated event as far as musicans and attendees.
It continues to be a wonderful festival!
The festival was outstanding as always. From the email notifications and updates to the brown paper tickets to the performances, no complaints. Looking g forward to next year.
The festival was outstanding. Well organized and all the people involved
were professional and extremely helpful. All of the performers were great,
especially Chris. The people of Thomsen were friendly, courteous and
helpful. We stayed at the Hampton Inn, and the night clerk was very helpful in finding us a place to eat. We will be back for the next festival. Thank you to all the folks involved in putting on this festival.
Thank you for another well organized event with terrific musicians. We had a bit of trouble hearing Chris when he was playing acoustic. Sound was good on everybody else. We arrived at 11 am (thought that was when the venue opened) and found there were two rows of tents already up, which was surprising to us and some friends who have been coming for 20 years. Is there a new policy? We had no problem hearing even though we were on the third row of tents, but seeing wasn’t easy. Had it not been so hot (one of us gets sick from sun/heat) we would have sat closer up. Overall, it was marvelous! Even the porta-potties were clean! And the water for washing hands is nearly luxurious.
Excellent service. My name was at the gate for two entries, the show was good and we had a nice time. I’ll use you again next year. Thanks.
Absolutely loved the music this year. It was a very strong line-up. Marcia Ball and John Hammond were fantastic. Had not heard Mingo Fishtrap previously. They were wonderful. A real treat! ! Love them. Too bad it was too hot to dance!!
Suggestions: * Lower the volume on the wonderful music you play between groups. We want to talk to friends and enjoy down time in-between & it was too loud this year to do that comfortably. *Would love to see recycle bins for all those plastic bottles. * Appreciate the $1.00 price again on water since I buy so many! Beer reasonable too. Thanks!!
Great line-up included one of my fav’s John Hammond
Another great festival lineup. I have been to all 22 festivals and loved everyone of them. Waiting for next years festival.
We pre-ordered tickets and that could not have gone better.
But I lied… when we got on site the person checking our tickets asked if we wanted the nicely designed general admission tickets as souvenirs.
Everyone working the event was very helpful and friendly.
The venue was perfect with the gradual slope creating multi-layered
viewing opportunities for all.
The entertainment was top notch.
Our first visit but certainly not our last.
As expected, had a great time!
Really loved Mingo Fishtrap, Bruce Katz, Chris Smither & John Hammond.
Hard to wait a year for the next one!!!
3rd year in a row for festival, enjoy the scale and lineup. I second the comment about early canopy set-up. Why not just rent 1 large canopy and set it up for staff? Appreciate the volunteers and all they do; but seems a little skewed to have the entire front 2 rows “pre allocated.” Port-a-potties were clean, even late in day! Great job overall. Felt sorry that John Hammond was largely ignored by anyone farther than 30 feet away. Soft, acoustic – style performers are better in more intimate settings.
Great music; great shape if field; good sound; looking forward yo next year!
Been trying for several years to attend but life kept getting in the way. McTell vest will be an annual event for us from now on. Fantastic lineup!! We are regulars on Delberts Sandy Beach Cruise so we are big fans of Marcia, and Bruce Katz. My all time favorite guitarist was there as well., none other than Anson Funderburgh. Mingo Fishtrap was the reason we were not missing the festival this year and they were amazing as usual. Loved every act on the lineup, food was very much compatible with an outdoor event and the prices were VERY modest. Nothing to complain about. We were treated well everywhere we went in Thomson.
Til next year,
Kevin
As always, this was a lovely, easy day with great music. It was my first time using Brown Paper Bag tickets which is a great concept and very efficient. As mentioned by a couple of other commenters, Chris Smither and John Hammond were difficult to hear. I agree also that another food vendor or two would have been great. Loved the Athens popsicle cart and the Thomson cheese straws, etc., booth. Wish more vendors served drinks with ice in refillable cups or that we could bring in our own cups & just buy refills. It’s always a horror to watch thousands of plastic bottles going to the landfill. Every year I discover another fabulous performer. Thanks for keeping Blind Willie going.
I forgot to mention in my other note that I was disappointed in the absence of African-American performers. The audience reflected that, with very few African-Americans.
Thanks for your time
IT WAS PERFECT AS ALWAYS. “Y’ALL ‘DID GOOD'” I’ve KNOWN SEVERAL BANDS/PERFORMERS YOU’VE HAD WHICH IS ALWAYS A PLUS. THIIS YEAR I FOUND ‘MINGO FISHTRAP’! I LOVE it when you hear new bands/performers that you add to your ‘playlist’.
Because I am an ALLMAN BROTHERS’ FAN, I am partial….to BLIND WILLIE and his music. Last year’s JAIMOE’S JASSSZ BAND WAS SPECIAL BECAUSE OF JAIMOE AND ALL MY FRIENDS IN THE BAND. oF COURSE i’m a BIGGER ERIC CLAPTON FAN….I think y’all should try for ERIC, just kidding. ROBERT RANDOLPH and THE FAMILY BAND is a suggestion for next year, JACK PEARSON, CHUCK LEAVELL is always a big draw and a JAIMOE return is a good idea. JAIMOE’S JASSSZ BAND is playing for our GABBAfest 9-25-27TH IN MACON, GA.(Georgia allman brothers’ band). We are inviting everyone to come for the weekend.
I did tell BILL JOPLING I would help do anything y’all needed, especially entertainment suggestions, but I’m thinking BILL is not as involved as in the past maybe? I IMAGINE BILL BEING A COMMISSIONER, lends his support in many ways.
thanks again for a VERY HOT DAY….MUSIC and a touch of the weather….
Suggestion for next year – Big Joe and The Dynaflows’ ask Marcia about Joe. Mike Zito and The Wheel.
Great festival – fun location – clean (did you notice 98% of the ticket holders DID NOT LEAVE LITTER.
Music and food both very good and everything was prices so you could afford to eat.
Only negative —- there was NO Recycling! What a shame.
I/we all will come back again….. especially if you provided a way to recycle. I took everything home and put it in my recycling bin.
Thanks for having Chris Smither — been following him since 1989. Love his style.
Thanks for asking my thoughts. Sadly, my group and I decided not to attend this year. We’re Blues fans, and this seems to have turned more into a music festival than a blues festival. Not criticizing, it’s just not for me. Good luck in the future. If you turn it back around towards what got you going, we’ll be back!
The good.. The music was good. Nice lineup. Many years attending and will be back for more. I know the old time bluesmen are growing sparse but try a bit harder. Food and drink prices are fair. More food venders would be nice.
The other… Do you really believe for a minute that two rows of tents were for staff? (family and friends)? Set tents the night before? Two good reasons to encourage people to not attend again. The audio man needs to pay more attention when acoustic artist are on stage.
We shall see if adjustments are made for next year.
Great festival; great lineup! Just a reminder: the blues. R&B and soul are good, but this is a blues festival. Sixth year in a row and had a great time, as usual.
Was unable to attend due to an injury and the injury occurred to late to attempt a refund.
I was not in attendance because of an injury which occurred to close to the time of the event to request a refund.
Brought to new folks with us who had a great time. Serious dearth of black musicians and you had only one female musician, who closed the show and was awesome, but blues is about diversity. Need more food options and more vendors in general would be great. Maybe you are charging too much? Usually you can find jewelry vendors everywhere, and more wood carvers etc. A lot of us blues fans are aging, and healthier food options would be great. Agree with others who mentioned lack of attention but audio crew. It was hard to hear some of the numbers from the back canopy row, where we had to be since I have Lupus and can’t be in the sun. If the rows are going to be that far away, then the music needs to be louder. But we had a blast and will be back, hopefully with more new folks next year. Check in was easy, portapotties and wash stations kept clean and stocked. All workers and security were very friendly. Thanks, we appreciate the effort and time that goes into having a great festival!
This was our first time and we will make this a yearly event driving in from Atlanta. We loved all 6 of the headliners–I purchased 2 John Hammond cds afterwards,and we thought the sound was great. We liked the food and enjoyed the whole day. We have gone to the Dluluth MN Bayfront Blues festival many times and liked this one day festival maybe better. Could you try to get Bob Dyllan sometime???
Could not be any happier. Still smiling from this year’s festival. Great line-up. Weather great, maybe try one week earlier? Food quality seems bumped over previous years. Could we get Charlie Musslewhite or Trombone Shorty back sometime? See u next year! JB
This was one of the best festivals in a long, long time. First, the artist selections were excellent and almost all blues. I like all kind of music but seeing as this is a blues fest, I love the fact that the 3 headlining bands were true blues bands of all different genres. I especially loved seeing Little Charlie, John Hammond and of course Marcia Ball. Also loved Chris Smither. I really enjoyed Mingo Fishtrap as well as a group that was a little different than the rest. Keep booking blues bands primarily and don’t stray far from it.
As for the rest of the festival, its just perfect. I go to many, many events and this is the best organized. Love the setting with the natural amphitheater. Everything remains very reasonably priced….thanks so much for keeping ticket prices reasonable, water at $1 and T-shirts at $15. Everything about this set up is so first class, from the quick stage turnover between artist, to the artist staying to interact with the fans, to the way everyone at the festival is treated. Keep up the great work….this is the best festival anywhere.