The Orange County Blues Festival was an annual multi-day

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

event held in

Dana Point, California Dana Point () is a city located in southern Orange County, California, United States. The population was 33,107 at the 2020 census. It has one of the few harbors along the Orange County coast, and with ready access via State Route 1, it is a po ...

. Similar to the nearby

Topanga Canyon Blues Festival The Topanga Canyon Blues Festival is an annual event held in California, attracting blues acts from across the United States. It began in 1982. Like the Orange County Blues Festival, it attracts some of the major blues artists in the United Sta ...

, it attracted some of the major blues artists in the United States. Some of the most notable artists to have appeared there are Canned Heat, Johnny Copeland and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

. The Orange County Blues Festival has since been replaced by the Doheny Blues Festival, a newer event that takes place at another location in Dana Point.

History

The Orange County Blues Festival was located at Heritage Park, Dana Point. The festival was created following a discussion between Portland Blues Festival organizer John Vincent and resident of Dana Point, Jim Oakes. With the popularity of outside festivals increasing, the two sought to bring one to Orange County. Due to Vincent's ties, the festival was largely modeled after the Portland Blues Festival. In addition to the main stage for the headlining acts, another stage was set up for school bands play. There was also a fine arts fair with between 35 and 50 stall booths. Some of the proceeds of the festival were to go to a youth recovery program. The promoter for the 1993 event was Eric Jensen.''Orange Coast Magazine'' November 199
Page 32 September OC Exclusive: Blues Festival Mark Dowdy
/ref>

Issues

In 1994, the organizers of the festival were involved in a legal dispute based on who held the naming rights to the event. Jim Oakes claimed he was the owner of the festival name. Former partners John Christian and John Dew were wanting to organize a rivaling blues festival as well. The festival was set to go ahead in September 1994 but was halted by a conflicting event. Oakes had applied for a permit for the festival to be held from the 24th to the 25th at Heritage Park, but it was discovered by city officials that a wedding had been booked for the 24th in the same location. City officials informed Oakes that the wedding had first priority. To complicate matters even further, another festival also named the Orange County Blues Festival was set to take place on October 1 at

Doheny State Beach Doheny State Beach is a protected beach in the state park system of California, United States, located on the Pacific Ocean in the city of Dana Point. The beach is a popular surf spot located at the mouth of San Juan Creek, which flows from th ...

. The organizers of the Doheny State Beach festival were the former partners of Oakes.

Past lineups

;1993 * Sept 24: Rod Piazza & the Mighty Flyers, Al Blake,

Lynwood Slim Lynwood Slim (born Richard Dennis Duran, August 19, 1953, Los Angeles, California; died August 4, 2014) was an American blues harmonica player and singer. Slim was best known as a singer in the style of smooth easy jazz/blues, as well as his harm ...

featuring Kid Ramos. * Sept 25: Johnny Copeland, Canned Heat, Al Rapone & the Zydeco Express,

Guitar Shorty David William Kearney (September 8, 1934 – April 20, 2022), known as Guitar Shorty, was an American blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He was known for his explosive guitar style and wild stage antics. Credited with influencing both ...

, Latele Barton and the Taildraggers, King Ernest,

Smokey Wilson Robert Lee "Smokey" Wilson (July 11, 1936 – September 8, 2015) was an American West Coast blues guitarist. He spent most of his career performing West Coast blues and juke joint blues in Los Angeles, California. He recorded a number of albums ...

. * Sept 26:

Earl Thomas Earl Winty Thomas III (born May 7, 1989) is an American former football free safety who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Seattle Seahawks in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft. During his time with the Sea ...

, Beau Jocque & the Zydeco High-Rollers, Robert Lucas, Juke Logan, Brenda Burns. ;1994 * Cancelled ;1995 * Junior Wells, Rod Piazza & The Mighty Flyers,

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the ''Bill ...

Jeff Healey Band Norman Jeffrey Healey (March 25, 1966 – March 2, 2008) was a Canadian blues, rock and jazz singer, guitarist, and songwriter who attained popularity in the 1980s and 1990s. He reached No. 5 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart with " Ang ...

, Luther Allison''OC Weekly'' Thursday, Sep 16 199
He Smoked! by Buddy Seigal
/ref>

References

External links

Magazine advertisement with the highlights

Magazine advertisement with list of artists. Etta James insert

Weekend Reviews : Pop Music : Strong Performances at New Orange County Blues Festival by Bill Kohlhaase
{{Coord, 33.462931, -117.697216, format=dms, display=title 1993 establishments in California Music festivals established in 1993 Blues festivals in the United States Festivals in Orange County, California Music festivals in California Tourist attractions in Orange County, California