BY SHERI TRUSTY

The 6th Annual Put-in-Bay Music Festival returns to South Bass Island on Saturday, Sept. 17 with a focus on American Blues. The Put-in-Bay Music Festival is part of “The Big Day at the Bay” which offers a variety of activities from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The music festival will feature free concerts in the parking lot behind Boathouse Bar and Grill, 218 Hartford Ave., Put-in-Bay beginning at noon.

A full schedule of events can be found at www.visitputinbay.com/search-events.

“We’ll have a number of different bands playing traditional blues songs and some new ones,” said

Music Festival Committee Chairman Peter Huston. “We thought it would be great to have a whole concert of people playing this type of music.”

Bands performing at the festival include Colin Dussault Blues Project; EVOLUTION; Reese Dailey Band; The Good, The Bad, and The Blues; and Frankie Starr and the Stamper Starr Band. Island legend Bob Gatewood is the event’s emcee.

The music festival is supported by Miller Marina, E’s Carts, Global Transport, Ohio Arts Council, Put-in-Bay Chamber of Commerce and the National Park Service.

Boathouse Bar and Grill offered to host the festival in its back parking lot when a seawall construction project forced the event to move to a new location this year. The festival will be held on a paved lot with handicap porta johns available. Guests are encouraged to bring chairs and blankets to the concerts.

In addition to the Put-in-Bay Music Festival, “The Big Day at the Bay” will feature Halfway to St. Patrick’s Day Parade at 2 p.m., the Put-in-Bay Township Fire Department Clam Bake beginning at noon, and the Miller Boat Line 5K at Put-in-Bay, which begins with a 1-Mile Family Fun Walk at 9:15 a.m. The 5K Run/Walk begins at 9:30 a.m.