For 15 years, the Bruce Telecom Lighthouse Blues Festival has been bringing music-lovers together in Kincardine. This year’s festival, taking place on July 11th – 13th, will provide live music fans, especially blues fans, with one of the most exciting weekends of the summer.
Kincardine is a happening place all year round with lots to see, including its historic lighthouse standing proudly overlooking Lake Huron, but it really flourishes during the summer months when its beaches, community gardens, trail system, local shops and restaurants are filled with sun kissed explorers. When the warm July breeze carries the sounds of electrifying performances from some of the country’s best, there’s an undeniable sense of liveliness that swells here. This is the effect that Bruce Telecom Lighthouse Blues Festival has on the town.
While many festivals and live music series have successfully captured the spirit of Canadian entertainment in the warm weather, the energy that flows so palpably through Bruce County is different. This is why organizers Rick and Marilyn Clarke, and Brad and Craig Kirkconnell sat down with Mike Brough and Rob MacLeod of The Coast FM in 2009 to start an event that would capture something special in this part of the world for years to come.
What started in 2010, as a small, but mighty backlot celebration of lively Blues music hosted at The Bruce has continued to grow into something much more than an annual music festival. It’s a tradition, a staple, a big ball of electric, spirited performances, and one of the most important weekends for blues music in Southern Ontario.
From humble beginnings, the festival now takes place over three days, across seven main and side stages, and features over 45 artists from across the world. This year’s festival will feature performances by artists like Shakura S’Aida, Blackburn Brothers, Davy Knowles, Shawn Kellerman, and Chambers Deslauriers and many more.
“This is the kind of event that doesn’t just fill your cup; it keeps finding you new ones.”
On Friday and Saturday night, the festival presents 12 headlining artists from across the world, to thousands of concert goers. During the day on Saturday, the festival hosts their Street Festival in cooperation with and support of the Kincardine BIA. Here, the fest shines a spotlight onto a collection of 25 talented local and regional artists as they take their acts to the stages between Queen St. and shoreline of Kincardine.
The beautiful thing about a festival like this one choosing to highlight regional and local, is that it gives festival-goers a true glimpse into the stories, personas and abilities within the area. I personally love local stages, because this is where I find the majority of the new music I listen to. I’ve come across artists who have earned a lifelong fan in me, all thanks to showcases like these.
One of the festival’s staple events is the Sunday Morning Gospel session on the Sunday Morning Gospel Revival Stage. Here, blues music does what it does best and celebrates origin stories, group singing, and all things Gospel music.
With more demand each year, the festival is constantly striving to add new showcases and festival stages. In 2023, they developed an additional Thursday night showcase event. The Indigenous Artist Showcase stage is dedicated to promoting established and up-and-coming Indigenous talent who are currently, or soon to be taking the blues scene by storm.
New this year, the festival will host a Sunday Afternoon Swing Concert. The concert, taking place in the beautiful waterfront greenery of Victoria Park, will feature the 20-piece Lighthouse Swing Band. This is a chance for festival attendees to bring their dancing shoes and to rock step throughout the afternoon in a stunning location.
What I personally love so much about a festival like this, is the ability to take in such an array of talent in such a ridiculously beautiful setting. One moment, you’ll be completely energized by a set by a local artist like Samantha Martin and the Delta Sugar. Next, between a lunch break to watch the waves, you’ll end up dancing to a group of heavy-hitters from Nashville, who are straight off the road from tour.
This is the kind of event that doesn’t just fill your cup; it keeps finding you new ones. Whether it’s accidentally catching a brand new-to-you artist on a sidestage, participating in the power of group singing at the Gospel Revival, dancing to the Swing Band, experiencing new Indigenous Blues artists, or being present for a performance from one of your all-time favourites; you get caught up in the magic here.
A festival that celebrates one genre reminds you just how diverse music itself is, as every artist brings their own unique life lesson, playing style and energy to the table.
You can go into a weekend like this with a plan, and end up coming out of it with a long list of unexpected experiences that will fill your memory bank for years. The camaraderie, the intention, the lineup, the local food, the backdrop, the coming together of community to celebrate blues music…weekends like these sort of transcend time.
When you’re participating in something like this, you forget about the outside world for long enough to sink your teeth into real moments of connection, music and people.
Words by Marshall Veroni
Photos by Nick Harding
