The festival will take place from noon to midnight on Saturday at the Alpena County Fairgrounds. All-day passes are $30 per person, at the gate. The lineup includes Chris Crown and the Get Down Band from noon to 2 p.m., Charlie Millard from 2 to 4 p.m., Motor City Josh and the Big 3 from 4 to 6 p.m., Erich Goebel and the Flying Crowbars from 6 to 8 p.m., Tosha Owens with Broken Arrow Blues Band featuring Robyn Crongeyer from 8 to 10 p.m., and The Jimmys from 10 p.m. to midnight.

“It’s our 20th anniversary,” said Ed Hickok, president of the Alpena Blues Coalition. “We’re pretty proud of that.”

He’s excited to offer a lineup of excellent blues musicians, some returning, and some new to the Alpena Blues Festival.

“We do have an interesting mix of bands this year,” Hickok said. “We have two new bands that we’ve never had before, and we’ve got four bands that we’ve had before, and they’re back by popular demand.”

News File Photo Tosha Owens and Broken Arrow Blues Band entertain concert-goers at the 17th Annual Alpena Blues Festival. They will return to the stage Saturday at the fairgrounds.

Hickok said the festival provides a different kind of entertainment than is typically offered in Alpena.

“Blues is really the seat of American music,” he said, adding that nearly every other type of music was influenced in some way by the original blues performers. “Blues and gospel, if you will, kind of gave birth to rock and roll.”

He referenced the Muddy Waters song, “The Blues Had a Baby and They Named It Rock and Roll.”

“It was the original music of Americana,” Hickok said of the blues. “And it persists today.”

He added that blues music has influenced a wide variety of musical genres, from country to rock, and more.

“Tying it back to country, Johnny Cash, he was well thought of in blues circles, as well as he was in country circles,” Hickok noted.

He said the blues offers a wide range of musical entertainment, and a lot of great lyrics.

“It’s got some really interesting lyrics, too, if you listen to some of the blues lyrics,” he said. “They’re very real-world. They’re not sugar-coating anything … They’re talking about a slice of life.”

In addition to providing 12 hours of high-energy music by talented artists from Michigan and Wisconsin, the Alpena Blues Festival is also a fundraiser to Stamp Out Hunger with the Blues. Attendees are asked to bring a non-perishable food item to the festival to be donated to The Friendship Room in Alpena, which provides nutritious, quality meals Monday through Saturday at no charge to patrons.

Food and drink will be available for purchase at the festival. No outside food and drink will be permitted. Pets are not allowed.

For more information about the festival, visit alpenablues.org.

Hickok added that the Alpena Blues Coalition has brought programs into local schools to expose students to the history and influence of blues music, and they will continue to offer those programs in the future.

He added that families are welcome at the event, and children 12 and under get into the festival for free.

Active-duty military personnel get into the Alpena Blues Festival for free by showing their military I.D., Hickok added.

“We enjoy bringing this good, quality music genre to Alpena,” Hickok said. “Not only do we love the music and love bringing it to Alpena, but we also want to Stamp Out Hunger with the Blues. That’s been one of our missions for a long time, and it remains our mission.”